There are many comforting sounds and environments we experience as we grow up. The sound of a heartbeat. The smell of your favourite cake in the oven. A special perfume or a particular place to visit. All of these can have a comforting, reassuring effect - a safety net or comfort blanket if you will.
As if it were in any doubt, one of my such places is the wheelchair basketball court and this week has unequivocally reaffirmed that.
This is a picture of me from last Wednesday in my referee uniform, refereeing a game for the first time since Sunday March 8th 2020. Stepping onto the court gave me goosebumps of excitement and nerves. Would I remember what to do? Would I remember the signals? Would I remember where to stand and where to move to during the game? It had been 514 days between games!
After the first few minutes, it was as if the last 18 months had never happened. It was almost as if a time machine had transported me back to pre-pandemic times and I was doing just another game. It was exciting and it felt natural. Seeing the chairs move and hearing the sounds of them on court had the equivalent effect on me as a newborn baby hearing it's mother's heartbeat. I felt safe and allowed myself a moment's thought of life being 'back to normal'.
It felt SO good to get back onto the court, and not just to try and brush up on things before Tokyo. Seeing friendly, familiar faces and hearing the wonderful musicality of the north-eastern dialect brought back memories of my teenage years. Even the 90 minute drive to and from Teesside was a pleasant part of the day, since travelling is an inherent part of the role that we undertake.
The players had all been training for a few weeks, but it was only after recent British Wheelchair Basketball guidance was updated that referees have been able to return to the court as well, and the timing has been spot on for my preparation. We used the 3-person referee system to remind my body and brain and considering none of us had used it for more than 2 years, I think we did a pretty good job over the equivalent of two and half games. Fortunately it was a friendly match so the players were all very understanding and any errors were handled well.
The most comforting feeling of all however was the following morning. After arriving home from Teesside at 00.30am, I awoke at roughly 7.30am to a feeling of what I can only describe as a reassuring, contented ache. It was almost as if the muscles I hadn't used in months were thanking me for neglecting them no longer. They were rewarded with an extra 30 minutes lie-in!
A huge thank you needs to be made to Lee Fawcett and everyone at Teesside Mohawks Wheelchair Basketball Team for letting me join in Wednesday's session.
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