3) The one where 2020 doesn’t mean perfect vision…

Christmas 2019 came and went. We travelled to Poland to spend time with my wife's family as we do every other Christmas and it was the usual mixture of food, alcohol and the staple Polish conversations around the table about religion and politics. 

In January, I was still feeling a combination of nerves and excitement for the upcoming games, receiving a nomination to a Euroleague round in Poland in March and also my flight details to Tokyo. I would travel via Singapore - voted one of the world's best airports to transit in, with cinemas, games areas, open air swimming pools and an indoor waterfall! My 9 hour wait between the UK and Japan suddenly looked very exciting indeed!

The Polish nomination was in a town too far away from any of my wife's family to make it a slightly longer visit, but I was really looking forward to it nevertheless; it would be a final opportunity to get some valuable feedback to prepare for the Summer. Due to logistical issues, I was asked to book my own travel to Poland which was easy enough - years of travelling between the UK and Poland have etched an airport map into my brain for pretty much every carrier and every city in the country! 

However, as we got into February, talk about a new virus from China started to feature quite prominently on the news. My memories of the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak are of disbelief and confusion, from a personal perspective, from a professional perspective and from a basketball perspective:

• I remember Boris Johnson going to a hospital and shaking hands with all the Covid patients (and then contracting the virus himself and nearly dying from it, as his fiancée was about to give birth to their child). 
• I remember my dad being in hospital (not Covid-related) and all the staff looking nervous, as if they knew a storm was coming. 
• I remember the email from IWBF saying all international club events are cancelled with immediate effect - Poland was off.
• I remember the images on the news of hospitals in Italy where the virus was ravaging families. 
• But most of all, I remember the Lockdown announcement where Boris Johnson told the nation that we would lose loved ones as a result of this virus. This statement will live with me forever, and is the number one reason that I am insistent on going to referee at the Games.

Shortly after the UK entered its first lockdown, it was announced that Tokyo 2020 was being postponed for one calendar year. To say I was gutted is an understatement, but I fully understood and respected the decision and waited patiently for further information. 

Lockdown was a novelty to begin with. Schools were closed to most pupils, staff were on a rota system where we hardly had to go in and it gave my family and me a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with each other. We built dens in the garden.

'PE with Joe' became in internet fitness sensation (and my wife still completes his HIIT workouts nearly 18 months on!) and we started to do more together as a unit. 

As part of the 'permitted exercise' rule of lockdown, I decided to join the ever-growing community of Lycra-clad MAMILs and buy myself a road bike. Taking my eldest son out on his bike to teach him about cycling on deserted roads was really really cool - it also gave him a distraction from his growing levels of anxiety. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him (and his younger brother to be fair) to be surrounded by news of viruses, hospitalisations and death. The time out in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside was a distraction we both needed. 

                    

Captain Sir Tom Moore also featured very heavily on the news over the Spring, raising SILLY amounts of money for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of April. This inspired my best friend and me to plan a fundraising adventure of our own. The NHS looked well-set with the £30m+ raised by Captain Tom, so we decided to raise money for Mind - the mental health charity. We planned to cycle from Morecambe on the West coast of England to Bridlington on the East coast. A total distance of 170 miles over 3 days using the official Way of the Roses C2C route was decided upon, so we set to work with the organisation. We found B&Bs to stop in, a clothing company to provide our branded cycle gear, a cycle sat nav company provided free devices and the all-important fundraising page was set up. Training could begin in earnest, but we needed the lockdown rules to change before we were allowed to proceed and actually DO the ride. As soon as those changes were announced, we set the date for August Bank Holiday weekend and set everything in motion. 

The ride itself was such an amazing experience - the feeling of excitement as we left Morecambe and pride as we arrived in Bridlington were indescribable. We raised nearly £3000, all of which went straight to the charity to provide those in need with mental health support. 

In my excitement of completing the ride, a Facetime call to my parents from Bridlington promenade was in order. Although I didn't know it at the time, this would be the last time I would see my dad before Boris' prophecy came to pass over my family. Five weeks after completing the ride, my dad contracted Covid-19. Three weeks later he was dead. "We will lose loved ones..." 

In my Rio2016 blog, I joked about my parents buying me a basketball for my 8th birthday (and regretting it ever since). Dad was a pretty good baller back in the day, teaching me how to play, being my first coach and doing some refereeing for our games as well. It's because of him that I am involved in this amazing sport and nothing will ever change that. He may no longer be with us physically, but I will carry him with me to Tokyo, in my mind and in my heart. 

For my first major international tournament (the European Championships in 2015), I paid my respects to Ian 'Polly' Pollard - the FIBA referee and tutor who showed so many young officials the ropes and did such a wonderful job in preparing me for the future, before cancer took him far too soon. 

I dedicated my time in Rio to Bob English - the former IWBF referee and tutor who actually initiated me into the world of wheelchair basketball by leading my very first referee qualifications, and continues to be a huge support throughout my refereeing career. (He also had a few cracking stories to share about his and Keith Kerhsaw's time at the Paralympics in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000..!)

But this one is for you, Dad. 

Little did I know that bouncing a ball with you on our driveway in Preston all those years ago would lead me to this, but here I am. I'm standing on my own two feet, knowing that you are with me. (But I'm blaming you if I fall over on court and melt my trousers...)

The motto for this year's postponed Games is "United by emotion". So many people have lost loved ones due to Covid-19 in the last 18 months, and you will never know what the person next to you has been through or is currently dealing with. Emotions will be running extremely high for the duration of the Games and I don't think there will ever be a Games like this again. The key to success for everyone is to be kind. Being kind (or at least respectful) to each other is an expected social convention, however how often do we make an effort to be kind to ourselves? Olympic Kindness

In Tokyo, we will be restricted to our hotel rooms for the duration of the Games when not officiating - no shopping, sightseeing or socialising. This is the deal. These are the conditions of entry and there are severe consequences if these rules are broken. 

At a recent meeting, it was announced that IWBF have enlisted the services of a sports psychologist to support the unique mental pressures that officials and supervisors will be under when at the Games. This is a MAJOR step forward - many officials will be putting a whistle in their mouth for the first time in 18 months, and for their first time to be on a global stage is a source of worry for many. That supervisors have also been included as well is amazing, because the provision of feedback to referees is a key component to our success and development. It can also be the making or breaking of us, so it is MASSIVELY reassuring that all stakeholders are being thought of in such a way.

In fact, the whole organisation of the Games has been impressive so far. The communication, the levels of thought that have gone into safety measures, clear consequences have been provided and everyone knows where they stand. 

It will certainly be a unique Games - one where I'm sure we'll be united by much more than emotion.