Evening all,
Well 2014 has definitely continued on the momentum on the previous
year of continuing the search of getting a paid reporting job and continuing
the work I love to do. But also there was some excellent progress made in other
departments which made me have some real highs and also some major lows in
2014.
But where to begin I hear you cry, well I think that there is only
one place to start and unusual it begins with football but of a different kind.
Gillingham Ladies FC
At the beginning of the year, there were some tough negotiations
about whether I can be available to be part of the small team of working on the
media department with the club. At the time of the New Year, the club were playing
at Chatham Town FC and they were looking to expand their media team. It was
decided that I would help out Charlotte and Julian and join them for the rest
of the season. Sadly it would wait until March until I could join them. The
first game which I covered for the team was an excellent 6-0 win over Herne Bay
Ladies in the Semi Final.
Despite the great result, my other paid job meant that I was very
limited to work with the girls over the rest of the season. I did manage to
bump into the beautiful Charlotte on Easter Sunday as I finally put a name to
the face after all of negotiations at the beginning of the year. She built a
great media team which I will know will help me get another step on the ladder
and get me my first paid job as a reporter. The season for the girls was a
great one, they went onto to win two trophies and narrowly miss out on the
league title. I decided to stay on for the new season and continue the
momentum.
The summer saw a lot of change at the club which saw the Ladies
get taken over by the Men's team and we all moved to Priestfield for the first
team games. It was an honour and privilege to join them for the new season although
it was a different team from the end of last season as majority of the girls
switched along with the manager to Brighton and Hove Albion Ladies. However
some of the girls stayed on including Lauren and Emma who are class players and
with some the new girls like the lovely Ellie and Ashlee coming into the team
and a new manager as well it was going - and still is - a tough season but I'm
hopeful the girls will turn it around in the new year.
An expansion in the Media team also helped me concentrate on doing
more professional work on my own this time with the reserves which I have
reported on some good games, seem some really professional performances from
girls playing the game at just aged 16 years old and a couple of key cup wins
in Charlton and Billericay. As always I have acted in a professional way and I
use my ingenuity to help profile the reserves in a new light. The feedback I
get from the team and girls is always very professional and they so like the
work we do as well. All we go to do I maintain this high stand for the rest of
the season which I know we will do very easily.
Elsewhere away from football - I won't mention the men's teams as
there is nothing new to report here - I did get my teeth further into something
following on from last year:
Kent Kings Speedway 2014 season
There was a lot of change of personnel going into the new season
with a new captain and some new team mates for him. But they got off to a good
start in the National League and the Knock-Out Cup - despite having a terrible
record in the National Trophy - and they only lost one meeting at home during
the season. This combined with a good victory on the road in Kings Lynn, meant
that in only their second season in existence, the Kent Kings made the end of
season playoffs. Sadly though for the team, they did not make though to the
final despite having a slender lead going into the second leg. It was a privilege
and an honour to report on the whole second season and seeing some amazing
talents come though the system especially Danny Ayres who I have a feeling is
going to be a great rider in the new season. It will be tough with all of the
changes for the 2015 season but I hope the Kings can build on this in the new
season.
Away from the track, it is also getting political as well with q planned
extension of the 'curfew' at the ground going to the council but annoyingly it
got rejected. With this new season in mind and despite the changes to the team,
I do fear the future of speedway is up in the air but I am hopeful for the team
sake - as well as the town as Sittingbourne needs to get some sort of tourism
into the town and avoid Central Park becoming a "white elephant" -
that something can be agreed on. If not then another sport will go away from
the county for a long time.
Back to the topic in hand, apart from my reporting work - which
also doing more work alongside Medway Council again with their coverage of the
'Medway Mile', the 'Big Splash' and also extensive coverage of the 'Wheelchair
Rugby League 4 Nations' all work I now do alongside the folks at Medway
Council, I also took the plunge and completed my driving tests. I managed to
complete my theory tests despite some challenges of passing them and then on
the fifth attempt I passed my practical driving test which meant I was able to
be unleashed on the roads. And then there's...
Dates
Yes you did hear me right, the dreaded 'D' word that has
definitely not been associated with me for a really long time. Well I decided to take another plunge into the
market of online dating this May. And oddly enough, it was a good idea. I did
manage to go on a few dates one in London which I thought went very well. Then
I went on a couple in and around Kent which sadly did not go well at all. It
was a risk I was willing to take as you get them when you are on the dating
scene. Luckily though in November I did manage to get in contact with a lovely
young lady who I have met on a couple of occasions who I really do like a lot and
I will be probably going to see her again in the New Year. Where will this take
me? Where will I go from here...?
Who knows??
All is this in the past six months has let me finish this year on
a high but we finish on something which I didn't expect to have when I was
young but everything that has happened to me in the past has let me down this
path which I'm trying to get better every day.
Anxiety
Back in the summer for no reason at all I did suffer from a few panic
attacks which normally happen when I am trying to relax and unwind after a long
day either working as journalist, bed salesman or even a warehouse operative. And
they were getting worse and worse and even on one occasion they stop me from
doing my reporting work. So I went to get some help and my counsellor has told
me to focus on different things that make me happy and banish my negative thoughts
from my mind. Even to this day I am trying my hardest to use this help to
overcome my Anxiety and it is getting easier every day. I just got to keep this
up during the New Year.
And on that note, we must end this review of 2014. I have gone a
long way since started unemployed at the beginning of the year and with the
stuff I have on the horizon in 2015 - a football holiday to Germany, the Rugby
World Cup, new news events to report on, new interviews to be made, new stories
to be told, new car, new friends to be made and hopefully a new girlfriend who
likes me for being a good dam good journalist - I hope that this year will be
the year of all years.
Well to you all - that will do for now, so have a merry and
enjoyable 2015 and I hope it will bring everything that you want from it.
Till next time,
I'll Sithee and 'appy New Year to y'all
