Story as told to me...I wonder if there is truth in it?

In the late 70's someone I knew related a story to me about his time in the British army. Listening to him at the time I could only think 'this sounds like and should be made into a film'.

Doug would have been about 70 in 1976. I was aware that he was an old soldier who had served in Malaya against the communist insurgents. For me though, of greater interest, was his tale of being part of a secret British Engineer unit sent from India to help the Cheng Kai Shek Nationalists in China in the late 30's. 

Doug and his group of about 20 soldiers were sent in to help the nationalists against the communists even though the country had been invaded by the Japanese at the same time. From his reports they were moving cross country helping repair or blow up bridges / infrastructure. One of things Doug also said was how corrupt the local leaders of the troops  could be. Apparently they often bartered with the enemy as to whether bridges would be destroyed or left in tact. 

A big surprise was revealed by Doug when one morning the British unit woke up to find themselves under arrest by the Chinese troops they had been escorting and helping. In the following weeks they were led as prisoners cross country by their captors. Doug related how the conditions they were living in were very poor, a lack of food, illness and terrible weather causing the deaths of several in the group. With this hopeless situation in play Doug's commander decided to lead an escape of ten men away from the nationalist Chinese who had betrayed them. Apparently the escape was easier than they could have hoped but it was into a hellish situation where they were wandering in unknown surroundings with three potential enemy groups all likely to kill them. 

Doug told of a difficult journey made even more difficult by the fact that the groups commander actually went temporarily insane there and then! In response the groups survivors resolved to carry their commander with them rather than leave him behind. They literally tied him to a stretcher screaming and shouting before gagging him in case he gave away their presence. Weeks went by and the group made their way towards the Burmese border and a hope they might run into friendly troops and be saved. In the event this rag tag bunch were intercepted and arrested! Almost unrecognisable as troops they were taken as prisoners to India ironically to the city where they had originally set out. There they stayed for a month in prison unrecognised having been originally dispatched in secret to China. 

Then, out of the blue, an officer involved in the original dispatch from India returned to the Indian base and identified this bedraggled group as British troops. 

As fantastic as the story sounds Doug had one more twist to his tale to report. The commander, who had suffered temporary insanity and been carried kicking and screaming for hundreds of miles by his loyal troops, was awarded a significant medal for his success in bringing out and saving the group!

Well that is the story as related to me. It sounds like a Hollywood movie script. If anyone can give some background / confirmation to all this I would appreciate it😊.

Same sex marriage plebiscite

#marriageequalityaus #auspol

Back in the previous millennium Australia considered becoming a republic, PM John Howard played a tricky game in posing the 'question' as follows:

Australian republic referendum, 1999. A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.

Back then Aussies baulked at the idea of having parliament vote to elect a non-executive President. Many refused to accept the implication that the 'people' could not be trusted to directly elect a President and voted the  question posed down.

Roll on to 2016. Here we are scuffling over the prospect of a direct vote/plebiscite on same sex marriage. Times certainly change, for in this case, most reasonable people are preferring to entrust any decision to a majority vote of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament rather than conduct a public vote. Ironic as well that the Republican Malcolm Turnbull is the tricky one posing the question. 

The question will be: Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry? This being decided by a simple majority of voters. If I remember rightly the way the question was posed on the Republic was all important in seeing it defeated back then. Right now,  I sense this is a ploy by the conservatives in politics to delay marriage equality. Many people rightly fear the hate speech that a plebiscite will encourage, so much so that the vote idea may actually be voted down by the opposition 😥

#marriageequalityaus   #auspol

Twenty-fourth season of football coaching in Australia....

Twenty-fourth season of football coaching in  Australia and still loving every single minute! 

Just doing some holiday sorting out and came across the football shirts of most of the sides I have coached here in Australia since 1993. As can be seen by the styles and makes they stretch across two and half decades of football style and fashion.

Having started teaching at John Paul II, Marayong in 93', I coached the College 1st & 2nd XI 's for four years in the Metropolitan Catholic School's (MCS) and the Girl's side in the Metropolitan Combined Catholic School's (MCCS) for three seasons. I was also lucky enough to coach the NSWCCC (95' 96') Representative side for several seasons before leaving for Chatswood at the end of 1996.

My new school at Chatswood was St Pius X College and I took over the 1st XI coaching role in 1997. Because SPX was in the independent schools system, I also moved across into their representative football alignment and coached the Independent Sporting Association (ISA) for many years and NSWCIS (97' 00' 02' 15' 16') Representative sides. 

Twenty four seasons coaching in Australia

NSWCCC

Worked with this side from 1994 to 1996. We were winners of the NSW All Schools Championship in 1996. A young Nicky Carle and his brother Leo helped us to that win. Nick later went on to play for QPR and Sydney FC. Michael Cunico was another player who gained higher representative honours for the Australian U17 Joey's side and NSL club Northern Spirit.

John Paul II Marayong (MCS & MCCS)

Spent four fantastic years at JPII working with both the Boys and Girls Under 18 sides. The boys took out A and B grade doubles in 93', 95' and 96' also winning the statewide NSWCCC Cup in 1995. Not to be outdone the girls won the MCCS for the first three seasons of its existance 94', 95' and 96'!

St Pius X College (ISA) Now in my 20th season coaching at SPX. In that time we have won numerous ISA Minor Premierships with the 1st XI but also went on to win the Championship in 98' 00', 07', 09', 12' and 14'. The side also won the St Andrew's Cup in 00' and 04'. The college 1st XI also won the Queensland based High Energy Cup in 14'. Perhaps the college's most significant football achievement was its two wins in the state based NSWCIS Cup in 12' and 14'. Three players of note being Daniel Bateup who progressed to Australian Schoolboys; Chris Semaan who played professionally in Belgium and Huatan Delphi who played for the Iranian Under 23 team and professionally in the Serbian Second Division. 

Independent Sporting Association (ISA) this side is a representative side involving players from St Patrick's; SCECG's; St Andrew's;  St Spyridon's; Redfield's; Chevalier; Oxley; Oakhill; St Paul's; Central Coast GS; Blue Mountains GS and St Pius X College Chatswood. The side competes at the NWSCIS selection trial for the NSW All Schools Tournament. Shannon Cole of  St Patrick's Strathfield is a current A League player with Western Sydney Wanderers having previously played with Sydney FC

NSWCIS  This team takes in players from a variety of Associations. GPS; CAS; AISIES; NCIS; CSSA; RAS and the ISA. These Associations select their players from all over NSW. I coached this side over a number of years including 97' 00'  02' 15' and 16'. We won the All Schools competition in 15' many of our squad going on to represent both NSW and Australian Schoolboys including Lachlan Scott who has just been signed to the Western Sydney Wanderers A League squad and Ryan Blumburg recent Nike Challenge winner who is off to play in England

Berowra Football Club 
Worked with several boys and girls sides at the club. Including as assistant to the U15B side who were premiers in 05'. Took the girls side from 03' to 07' winning the U14A U16A and U18A competitions in 03' 05' and 07'. The U18A making the Champion of Champion Semi-finals in 07'.

Representative football coaching....oh what a buzz!

Representative football coaching in Australia.
Having originally emmigrated to Australia in 1992 I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with numerous school representative football sides since then.
MCS
Having started teaching in the Catholic system I was initially involved  with the Metropolitan Catholic Schools (MCS) in the mid-1990's. This side drew players from the immensely strong league of Fairfield, Campbelltown, Parramatta, Marayong, Emu Plains, Eastwood, Greystanes, Ryde and Auburn. This MCS grouping itself went forward to play the Sydney based Metropolitan Catholic Colleges(MCC), South Coast, Central Coast and North Coast representative sides in a tournament to select the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges (NSWCCC) team.

Adam Scarpin
MCS>CCC>NSW 1996

NSWCCC 

Once selected the NSWCCC team went forward to play at the NSW All Schools tournament.

Valentines Park - Glenwood. venue for All Schools Championships

This tournament consists of CCC, two Combined High School (CHS) teams and the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) team. This All SchoolsTournament has been going for over 30 years and is used as the selection trial for the full NSW Schoolboys team which plays at the annual All State Competition. Once again this a selection trial this for the Australian Schoolboys team!
While working at John Paul II Senior, High School Marayong I was involved in coaching both the MCS and NSWCCC sides ....in 1996

Trent Worral NSWCCC Rep 96'

I was involved with the winning side CCC. This team included Nick and Leo Carle, Buddy Farah, Adam Scarpin, Chichi Mendez, and Malcolm Meliac who all went on to play higher football, Nick playing in England with Crystal Palace. One of my John Paul II own players Michael Cunico and Newcastle's Clayton Zane both made it right though Australian Schoolboys and on to the Australian Joeys side.




Moving Systems
In 1997 I found myself changing school and joining the ISA which was part of the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Association.

At this time being on the coaching team in 1997' 2000' and 2002'. During this time a couple of players from my own school St Pius X College went on to higher representative honours, David Prentice making the NSW Schoolboys team and Daniel Bateup, the Australian Schoolboys side.
ISA

Through the 2000's I worked primarily with the St Pius X College 1st XI and the Independent Sporting Association (ISA) team, which was our representative pathway to the CIS team.

Anthony Fiorenza SPX's first CIS player

While CIS and CCC always had good players it was usually the CHS teams that dominated. Not surprisingly because the had a vast numerical advantage in terms of schools / players to choose from.

David Prentice who made the NSW side
and Daniel Bateup of Australian Schoolboys

The ISA side takes part in an annual selection tournament with GPS CAS AICES NCIS CSSA and RFA to choose the NSWCIS squad at the All Schools Championship. Personally I have worked with the ISA side from 1997 until the present day. 

Back with NSWCIS again.....2015

It was a huge honour then when in 2015 I was chosen to be Coach of the CIS team at the All Schools Tournament out at Valentines Park. I was already familiar with many of the players in the squad through the GPS CAS AICIES CSSA NCIS and ISA representative teams who played in the CIS selection trial.
Because the squad players come from all over NSW we only got together once beforehand. As a way of getting maximum benefit we actually played Manly Utd Under 18's in a trial as opposed to training sessions. This worked well, as we gelled, with a strong performance in a 2-1 win. The tournament mirrors the National Championships and goes over two days.
On the Day 1 we were up against the tournament favourites CHS I. After a fair start the wheels seemingly fell off as we went 2-0 down after just 15 minutes! Then suddenly something clicked and our 4 5 1 formation began to overwhelm the CHS I boys and we scored 4four unanswered goals before half time! 4-2 at the break. In the second period we controlled the game and pleasingly added a fifth with a penalty kick. It would be true to say that the Valentines Park crowd were stunned....someone had ripped up the script.
Day 2 saw us take on the CCC side who had also won their first game. In a high quality match we got out to a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes  to go but paid the price of not scoring again when CCC scored twice late to grab a draw. Fortunately our goals scored placed us at the top of the ladder.
Our final game was against CHS II. Here there was no score at half time but the game exploded with goals as twice we led only to be pulled back level. In the event a wonderful goal from centre back Ryan Blumberg settled the points and a 3-2 victory. He ran the length of the field beating multiple opponents before slooting home.
This result secured CIS the title. Only the second occasion in thirty years that CIS had won it. In recognition of the squads dominance seven of our players were selected in the NSW side while two also made the shadow squad. For me as coach it was a fantastic experience with what is definately the best Under 18 football squad I have ever worked with. Assistant coach Steve Fochesato and manager Richard Newton being equally impressed.

NSW Squad selections from CIS. 
Lachlan Hughes; Lachlan Scott; Lachlan Roberts; George Firth; Ryan Blumberg; Jay Foster; Nathan Phillips.
Shadows: Nathan Polinski; Johhny Dimopoulos

George Firth plays himself into a NSW Schoolboys spot

Centre back Ryan Blumburg

Tom Lyons of CIS

CIS attack v CHS 1 a 5-2 win

Lachlan Scott finish

CIS v CHS II a 3-2 win

Lachlan Hughes made NSW again

Ryan Blumburg on guard

NWSCIS - All Schools Champions 2015

NSW All Schools Championship Trophy

Things we collect .......

Spurs shirts going back to 1982

Growing up in a Tottenham family - daughter Cassie

Over time we all collect things that mean something to us. For me most of my collections relate to sport and football in particular. Since I was a young boy I always collected football programmes...especially for my side Tottenham. I literally had hundreds, most often from matches I had attended. At White Hart Lane there were stalls where you could buy programmes for games from all over the UK. Unfortunately my original collection came to an unexpected end. I used to keep them in boxes in our pram shed around the flats. Every so often I'd go down to have a look, admiring pictures of our players and triumphs from former years. When I was away at University in Leeds my mum decided to have a 'clear out' of the shed and gave all my old programmes to the young son of a friend of hers. Gone. All gone! Included amongst my losses.....European Cup Winners Cup Final 1963 v Athletico Madrid....FA Cup Final v Chelsea 1967....John White memorial Programme....League Cup Finals 1971 & 1973! I did half heartedly ask mum to get half of them back again but it never happened :( Fortunately, undeterred, I started to collect programmes again and have a fair number today including many from the NSL and Internationals here in Australia.
In a more general way I have also accumulated lots of sports clothing from sides I have either played for of coached in the past 25 years or so. Representative shirts and track suits for football associations figure highly. NSWCCC and NSWCIS, MCS and ISA all have their place in the pile.
Probably my biggest collecting obsession has been of football shirts ....those belonging to my club Tottenham in particular.

WHL1998

From the early 1980's replica shirts became available to supporters and quickly this became a massive industry especially as 'sponsors' were gradually adopted displaying their names on the shirts. One infamous 'sponsor' event happened at the 1987 Spurs v Coventry FA Cup final when only half the Tottenham shirts displayed the logo ....a PR disaster!

Pulling them all together

Having collected such club shirts for over 30 years I have amassed quite a few. The seemingly annual practice of changing the design or sponsor on a regular basis has meant that there are many variations on shirts. Of course the  idea of an 'away' jersey was quickly supplemented by the 'alternate" third shirt. Hence my collection includes variations on the spurs lily white but also purple, navy, brown and yellow shirts all bearing the Spurs cockeral. My prize shirts are the 1982 Centenary isssue and a long sleave genuine shirt that was acquired apparently from the Spurs dressing at White Hart Lane!
Holsten were Spurs longest serving sponsor over the years while Hewlett Packard, Investec, AIA, Aurasma, Autonomy, Mansion and Thomson's  all had their time. The current shirt maker is UnderArmour but previously Le Coq Sportif, Addidas, Puma, Hummel, Kappa and Admiral all provided kit.
Anyway I recently decided to pull all my Spurs shirts and stuff together to give it an airing and see just how much I had. Yes I'm a bit of a football anorak;)