Note from the editor Thank you for choosing to read issue 6 of More than a Game Magazine. We really do appreciate you deciding to read our e-mag and we hope you enjoy the read. In this issue we have something for everyone with an interview with GB Hockey star Mark Gleghorne, a BBL season overview, the first of 3 articles with our resident Tennis coach Leon and much much more. We also got to talk with members of the ‘100 marathon club’ which was very interesting for us to write. To learn about their passion and what keeps them going was inspiring. We hope that you are also inspired, and you never you know you may end up running a marathon!
At More Than a Game Magazine we are looking to continue to grow. If you would like to get involved, please get into touch via our website.
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In this issue Meet the ultimate running group – the 100 marathon club. Pg 4 We speak with members of the 100 marathon club about their motivations and what makes them keep running!
BBL – We look back on another great BBL season and the highlights! Pg 6 We look back on another great BBL season at some of the biggest moments of the season.
Loosen up! Our 1 of 3 articles from resident Tennis coach Leon! Pg 10 Our resident Tennis coach Leon provides tips on how to ‘loosen up’ on the court!
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Remember those moments with a goal celebration overshadows the actual goal? Pg 12 We look back at some of the bizarre and controversial celebrations in Football over the years!
Interview with Mark Gleghorne – Pg 14 With speak with GB and East Grinstead star Mark Gleghorne about World League preparation and playoff heartbreak with his club
MTAG Book Recommendation – Pg 16 Our book recommendation this issue with Graham Hunters ‘Barca’. Barca is about the greatness of Barcelona and the magic of Messi amongst others!
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Meet the ultimate running club – The 100 marathon club Most people aim to run a marathon at some stage in their lives. Some get as far as running a half and decide that would be enough, some even push and complete a full marathon. The ‘100 marathon’ club is an exclusive club for those who have taken marathon running to the extreme. More Than a Game spoke with a few of the members from this unique running club to find out more about their hobby.
MTAG- What has been the toughest marathon you have ever run?
Paul Barton, 37 has run a whopping 290 marathons to date and has no plans to stop anytime soon!
If you had to define your marathon career into one memory, what would that be?
Paul (left) in action in 1 of his 290 races
Paul - The toughest marathon I have run is the Charnwood Marathon in Leicestershire, which is a self-navigating course. This particular marathon was in March 2013; in blizzard conditions and it took me 7 hours 12 minutes to complete. This was due to the severe weather conditions and lack of visibility as everywhere was covered in snow...... but we got there in the end!!
Completing four marathons in four days all under 4 hours.
Can you ever imagine stopping? No - whilst I am still able and enjoy it, I will continue to run - but I may reduce down to only 2/3 per month!
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Phillip Howells( pictured below) is another seasoned runner, who has recently been named by the National Rail Senior card has the most active OAP in the UK. At the ripe age of 68, Phillip has overcome several obstacles. The biggest obstacle being diagnosed with heart disease 3 years ago, despite being advised against running he has run 30 marathons since the news.
Brenda Miere is another keen runner and also has been making a name for herself. Brenda has currently run the most marathons for a female in her home country Ireland. The number currently sits at 138 marathons, including 10 in 10 days and is in the lead by 74! Brenda’s next big challenge is a whopping 100 kilometre trek across the mountains in Transylvania, Romania. The aim is to get to the 200 race mark by the end of the year!
(Above) The 100 marathon clubs tag line!
Phillip, along with his friend Ed set up a business called Phil and Ed which focuses on helping others get active. Their website, www.edandphil.co.uk concentrates on individuals and their goals. Phil and Ed’s venture has been growing and includes several organised events with raising money in mind.
If you have a story about a great accomplishment, please get in touch via our website www.morethanagamemagazine.co.uk
Phillip also keeps himself busy with health and safety work as well as even canvassing as an MP.
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BBL – Fans Highlights It has been a hugely successful season in the BBL and was topped off fantastically when 14,700 fans headed to the o2 for the playoff final. Huge congratulations to Newcastle Eagles who won the full sweep. For those unsure what a full sweep it is when a team wins all 4 trophies up for grabs; so the playoffs, the overall league, the cup and the trophy. It was a remarkable achievement by the Eagles and fully deserved. Throughout the season the fans have seen some great entertainment from all over the league. We look back at some of the biggest moments this season! BBL History made at the o2 arena
On the 10th May, history was made at the o2 arena when 14,700 piled into see Newcastle Eagles and London Lions go into battle. The prize was the biggest in the league, the BBL Play off trophy. Both teams put on quite the show; GB captain Drew Sullivan dazzled fans with 11 points in the first 5 minutes as well as Eagles point guard Rahmon Fletcher putting in a MVP performance. It was a great advert for British Basketball and we hope it has a knock on affect next season.
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Newcastle Eagles with the SWEEP
By far the best team in the league throughout the season, Eagles showed their dominance by winning the full sweep. Led by MVP Charles Smith; the lively point guard Rahmon Fletcher and not to forget player coach Fab Flourney, Eagles took no prisoners. After winning the playoff title, Fab claimed it may not be the most talented team but it is the best team he has coached!
Fun and games in Cheshire If there was any drama in the league, you can put your house that the Phoenix were involved somehow. Not to take away any of their on- court achievements, as when they got playing they could give anyone a game. The team got a big boost with a marquee signing of former NBA player Julius Hodge. Hodge brought the team an edge and was popular with fans but reportedly had a few behaviour problems. It ended in tears as Hodge was cut and ranted on Twitter labelling coach Coffino a “Snake” and Donaldson “Evil”. Phoenix didn’t do too badly without Hodge though as they finished 4th and made it to the semi-final.
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Sheffield Sharks hitting form at the right time After a frustrating start which forced the coach to cut Allen Payne and bring in old favourite Mike Cook, the tide soon turned for the Sharks. They went on a great run and secured their place in the playoffs. They went a step further and beat 2nd place Riders and only lost by a single point against Newcastle Eagles in the first leg of the semi – finals.
Charlie Buckets showing everyone how it is done Now the real question is, why has it taken this long for the BBL to award Charles Smith the MVP award? After winning his 5th playoff title at the o2 as well as his 20th cup, Smith cemented his place in BBL folklore with a MVP award too. Smith averaged 18.6 points and 5 rebounds in the season and won the MVP in the BBL Trophy final triumph against Leicester Riders.
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Zaire Taylor breaking the hearts of his former club Worcester Wolves in the Playoffs.
Last season’s MVP Zaire Taylor leaving the Wolves and joining the London Lions was big news in the Summer. After winning the MVP and leading the Wolves to playoff victory, they knew what the New Yorker could do on his day. Lions won the first leg in Worcester by 5 points in a pretty tight affair which set the stage well for the second leg. Zaire Taylor scored a season high 41 points and dumped the Wolves out of the playoffs as well as breaking the hearts of his former fans in the process. Taylor showed his pedigree by reaching his 3rd final in 3 seasons with the 3rd different team. What do you think was YOUR teams season highlight? Let us know what you think on our forum at the website www.morethanagamemagazine.co.uk
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Loosen up- Part 1 of a 3 part article! For me, the two most important aspects in tennis are keeping it simple (I LOVE SIMPLE) and even more importantly, staying loose. Only yesterday following his defeat to Fernando Verdasco in Miami, Rafa Nadal said "it's not a question of tennis. The thing is the question to be relaxed enough to play well on court." The benefits of staying loose include increased racket head speed and therefore more power, more control, consistency and accuracy, less effort and energy used, less strain on the body and therefore less risk of injuries, a better feeling shot and a better looking shot (which let’s be honest, we all care about a bit!). On a serious note, if a shot is looking good but not going in, you know you’re on the right path to success and with more good practice the desired results are not far away. In short, being loose will result in a shot that will feel better, look better and go better. So you could say it ticks all the boxes. Not only do I think it's incredibly important, I feel it is something often over looked by many coaches.
Technically on the groundstrokes and serve, the goal is to create as much power as possible with the least amount of effort. Roger Federer is the best example of this. He is incredibly loose and therefore hits his shots with immense power very efficiently. No matter how good your technique is and how capable you are, if you are tight, it will be impossible to perform your shots well. If you can remain loose, hitting the ball technically well becomes much, much more likely. I generally find that when a player can remain loose, their swing takes care of itself. What do I mean by tightness? Tightness starts in the grip. Generally if you can hold your racket loosely, all the muscles in your arm will remain loose and if you hold your racket like your life depends on it, every muscle in your arm will tense up like the Incredible Hulk. 10
Try it now to see for yourself, trying to swing with a loose grip and then a tight grip, which one can you swing faster with? Obviously when you’re holding the racket loosely. China’s Li Na showing her perfected technique which led her to be world number 2 at one stage.
Photo courtesy of freedigitalimages.co.uk
Players will often question the logic worrying that the racket may come flying out of your hand on contact if they’re barely holding the racket. My response to that is that players will generally grip the racket tight subconsciously for a split second on the contact point.
I therefore encourage players to hold the racket as loosely as possible. The exception to this theory is on the volleys where the gripping tighter on the contact point should be more of a conscious effort. The ‘loosen up’ message in this article is generally aimed at the shots of the game that involve a swing, i.e. the forehand groundstroke.
So what causes players to tighten up? For me, the most common causes for being too tight are: 1) Fear of making a mistake 2) Trying too hard 3) Over thinking 4) Getting frustrated 5) Lack of confidence. As tennis players we can all relate to these and other causes including nerves, internal and external pressure.
Now overcoming these causes is far from easy. I would say being loose is the thing most of the players I teach struggle with more than anything. It’s usual for players to be far too tight. In fact I’d say it’s normal, it’s a minority of players who are able to control their emotions and therefore can stay loose when the rest of us would tighten up. Though saying that, even the top players in the world aren’t immune to feeling pressure and nerves in the big moments. They are just able to manage their emotions better than the rest of us. And there certainly has never been a player who has never tightened up.
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The most bizarre football celebrations We are now in an era where even the way players celebrate their goals are under the microscope. We have seen cart wheels to spider man masks and even seen a player sprint the entire pitch to celebrate in front of their old fans (you all know who that one is!) We have a look at some of the most bizarre celebrations we have seen! Temuri Ketsbaia taking exception to an advertising board. Scoring a last minute winning goal should really be a moment of joy and jubilation; however when Temuri Ketsbaia did just that against Leeds back in 1992 he had other ideas. Ketsbaia removed his shirt, threw his boot into the crowd and took exception to an advertising board and repeatedly kicked the board. Team mate Pistone did try to calm the feisty Georgian down but was shoved away in the process. When asked about the incident Ketsbaia claimed frustration was the reason: “I scored a goal, I was happy to score a goal but I was frustrated not to be playing. It’s not a normal celebration but I play
with passion and all I wanted to do was play. It wasn’t malicious” We dare to think how he would have reacted if he had missed the target!
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Robbie Fowler causing a stir after scoring in the Merseyside Derby
Robbie Fowler was subject to a fair amount of abuse in the Merseyside Derby back in 1999. Everton fans reportedly accused the man Liverpool call “God” of taking cocaine. After Fowler scored a penalty to tie up the game he went over a pretended to sniff one of the white lines. Fowler certainly paid the price, he was slapped with a £32,000 fine as well as a 4 game ban. Gerard Houllier did attempt to cover for his star striker by claiming he was pretending to eat grass…
Italian celebrates scoring by head butting the dugout In the amateur Italian game between Ponticelli and Riolo Terme; one striker scored a 30 yarder and celebrated the only way he knew by running to the dugout and meeting it with a head butt. It was quite the head butt as he went straight through the glass. He was then greeted with a straight red card by the referee. Talk about a change in mood!
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Mark Gleghorne- East Grinstead and GB star on GB prep and playoff disappointment. With GB Hockey heading into a huge few months, More than a game caught up with Mark Gleghorne to find out about preparation, the new players and also the challenges ahead for is club East Grinstead. It was a tight game between you and Argentina. Overall how do you feel preparation is going for the qualifiers? Yeah it is going well. It has been a hard club season so we are tired but we are preparing well. We were disappointed to only draw with Argentina in both games. One game we battered them, but the second we didn’t so that was frustrating. We are off to Belgium soon for a couple of games so that will help our preparation. After such a great atmosphere at the Lee Valley for the Germany game, is everyone pretty keen to get back there for the Australia game? It is always good to get to play in front of a crowd; we don’t get to play at home to a home crowd too often either.
Photo courtesy of England Hockey
It is also beneficial to play at the Lee Valley to get a feel for the pitch before the World league. There are different pressures playing at home naturally but again it is all good preparation.
You have 2 young players coming through in the GB set up now in Ian Sloan and David Ames, how have they got on so far?
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Yeah they are doing well. They have been training with us for a while, but were ineligible to play in the actual games. I remember what it was like coming up and I was keen to play so I imagine they are keen to get playing too. Your club East Grinstead had a tough loss in the playoff- final to Wimbledon. After winning the league and only losing 2 games, how tough was that to take? How tough is the league getting? Well I wasn’t actually playing in the playoffs as I had to go back to Ireland for personal reasons, but it was a tough loss for the guys. Throughout the season we hit form here and there, but in the playoffs we didn’t quite get there. Wimbledon peaked at the right time and that helped them through. In the finals the teams are so close it really can go either way. With the Holcombe changes, how tight is next season going to be?
It is going to be very tight next year. To be honest a few years ago the league wasn’t too competitive, as 2 teams were running away with it. The league wasn’t up to the best standard so I welcome the new teams coming in and making a stir. It helps the national team as the players are scattered around the league and competing at a high level.
Photo courtesy of England Hockey
GB take on Australia at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Saturday 13th June. The GB Women’s team head to Valencia in June for their World League competition.
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More Than a Game Magazine book recommendation -
‘Barca’ by Graham Hunter This issues book recommendation is Graham Hunters 2012 smash hit ‘Barca’. Barca is an in depth look at the greatest Footballing side of our generation, if not ever. Hunter analyses every aspect of the golden generation of Barcelona, from the rise of Lionel Messi to the success obsessed Pep Guardiola. The book also goes into detail the truth behind the ruined relationship with Jose Mourinho and lifts the lid on how close they were to appointing him as head boss. Guardiola - the Legend Barcelona have taken success to another level in recent years, with a style of football that the world had never witnessed before. The book covers the risk of taking on Guardiola as first team coach after 1 season as Barca B coach, and how they reaped the rewards. Guardiola took some huge risks; the biggest one was dumping legends Ronaldinho and Deco and bringing in untried Iniesta and bringing back Fabregas and Pique. Guardiola went from midfield maestro to tactical genius. His obsession to create a system would take over every wakening minute, which in the end took his toil on the Spaniard.
Messi Lionel Messi has taken the world of Football by storm since making his arrival at Barcelona; although hasn’t always been singing and dancing for the Argentinean magician. Messi was brought to Barcelona with his family to pursue his and his families’ dream of playing for Barcelona. After years of medication for his growth as well as Barcelona’s reluctance to sign him up originally, it could have turned out very differently for Messi. Thankfully for Barcelona and the world the Football, Messi signed to ‘La Masia’ and the rest is history.
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Hunter passes on his knowledge and passion fantastically to the readers. All Football fans have to respect the fantastic role the club has taken in Football, and how their brand of Football has left us at times speechless. Throughout the book, the reader gets to know the players and the drive within them to become the greatest Footballing side. Got a sport book which you would like to recommend? Get in touch via our website with your suggestions!
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If you enjoyed this issue you will love our others too.. All our issues are available to read online at our website www.morethanagamemagazine.co.uk Issue 1 – Our first ever copy! This issue includes a feature with newly reformed Haringey London Racers, Interview with GB Hockey star Ashley Jackson, Health and fitness with GB and Coventry Blaze’s star Russell Cowley and much more!!
Issue 2 – This issue we have a feature with one of the oldest Ice Hockey teams in the UK Streatham Redskins, an interview with Newcastle Eagles legend Charles Smith and a book review on the great Angelo Dundee and much more!
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Issue 3 – This issue includes an article on the foreign invasion in English Football, a feature with Wimbledon Hockey Club, an Interview with GB international Kieron Achara as well as a interview with GB under 20s star Ben Lawson and much more!
Issue 4 – This issue includes a feature with Elite League eventual playoff winners Coventry Blaze in their run up to the playoffs, an interview with British Ice Hockey legend Tony Hand, an interview with Cheshire Phoenix’s main man Demond Watt and much more!
You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter with sneak previews on our latest issues!
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Issue 5 – This issue includes a feature with GB Hockey as they prepare for the World League. We also caught up with the Wimbledon players, who have just won the playoffs. We have an interview with Sheffield Sharks point guard BJ Holmes as well as an article about ‘what nation really dominates the Champions League’.
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