Jane Ross Team GB Olympic Blog Week 2
Glasgow City striker Jane Ross continues her weekly blog for us as part of Team GB. 
We’re now into week 2 of Team GB being together as a squad. It definitely feels to me like we’ve been together for longer, only because we have done and experienced so much in such a short space of time! After spending our first week at the Champney Springs hotel near Loughborough, we departed on Monday 16th and set off for the athlete’s Olympic village in London. We travelled down by bus and I was really looking forward to the prospect of seeing the village. When we arrived at the village we had to go through a number of security checks before arriving at and entering the welcome building where we were met and welcomed by Sir Clive Woodward and also where we received our accreditation passes. The village was impressive to say the least and just being there and seeing the place was really exciting. From the food hall (which was an experience in itself and could supposedly seat around 5000 people) to the accommodation and the things to do around the village, everything was just like…. wow!
Once we had arrived at the village, one of the first things we did was to attend a welcome meeting from the BOA. We were spoken to by Andy Hunt (Team GB Chef de Mission), Sir Clive Woodward, Dame Kelly Holmes and some other key members involved in the games. Kelly Holmes provided an insight into her experiences as an athlete competing in the games and the speech she gave was greatly inspirational and motivational. After the meeting it was off to see our accommodation where we would be staying for the night. The accommodation for the athletes in the village consists of apartments with 3 bedrooms, each rooming 2 people. There is a living area with a T.V, fridge etc, and then 2 bathrooms. The rooms 
were cool and I was really excited when I first walked into mine. Everything from the bed covers and the GB logos on the wall, to the gifts for each athlete awaiting us on our beds- it was all just amazing! I felt like I needed to pinch myself to wake myself up as the whole experience of the day didn’t quite feel real. All I could do was smile and think to myself how fortunate I was to be getting the opportunity to experience it all! That evening the majority of the squad spent their time in the games room within the village, which was quite an impressive place packed with pool tables, football tables, computer games and more. It was good to visit the village and experience it all as it is different from the hotels we’ve stayed in/ will be staying in whilst not based in London. I think it was important to go and familiarise ourselves with the place prior to the start of the competition so that the next time we’re there (for the final group game against Brazil) we will be settled and familiar with the place and it won’t be a new experience to us all.
The next day after visiting the village, we were off to Darlington to start preparing for our friendly match against Sweden on 20th July. We travelled up to Darlington by train along with the men’s football team, who were staying in the same hotel as us for the rest of the week. The Rockliffe hotel, where we were staying, was lovely and yet again the training facilities were right on site- amazing! From the Tuesday to the Thursday before the match we trained each day, with two training sessions on the Wednesday. Then on the Friday it was game day and time for the first official match for the squad as Team 
GB. It was only the squad of 18 players selected for the Olympic tournament that were available to play the game, with the four reserve players (myself being one of them) unavailable to play. I still participated in the pre-match warm up and sat on the bench along with the team and so still felt a part of it all. The game was shown live on BBC1 and the final score ended 0-0. The Swedish team were a good side and the friendly provided a tough challenge for the team in preparation for the start of the Olympic tournament, which was now only 5 days away! The game enabled the players to put aspects we’d been working on in training into practice and there were many positives to be taken from the performance. After the game we had dinner at the Stadium before staying on to watch and support the men’s team play against Brazil.
Anyway as I write this blog we are now heading off to Cardiff, which is where we shall play our first two games of the tournament. Life with Team GB is going well and I’ve enjoyed every minute of the experience so far. Everyone in the squad seems to be looking forward to the tournament finally getting under way with the first game against New Zealand on Wednesday (4pm kick off) at The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Pictures thanks to Jane. Top
- Jane with the Olympic Torch. Middle - Jane's room in the Olympic Village. Bottom - the Games Room in the Olympic Village.
24.07.12
