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WEEKEND REPORT:
SOBHYS CONTINUE TRAINING –
DAD ARRIVES
Although the family is spending the week to play exhibitions and
promote the sport, they also need to maintain their own training
routines. Amanda and Sabrina are continuing their rigorous
preparations for the World Junior Championships in July and the
Caribbean climate has been helping to give them that extra edge.
 Saturday
night their dad arrived at 10:30pm... on time. The airline most
likely read my report. Now that Khaled Sobhy has landed,
the real training regime begins. I like to call him the
drill sergeant.
However, he certainly rewards a hard training session with the
appropriate relaxation time as we headed straight to the beach
on Sunday afternoon around 2pm.
This time I introduce them to another of our local cuisine
called “Bake n Shark”, or as
others dispute, “Shark and Bake”. The family spent the next half
hour enjoying their lunch with the utmost delight. |
EXTRAS #2
A Trini
Treat ...
Bake 'N Shark
Video report, and of course, the recipe ... |
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FRIDAY:
TRAINING DAY 1
After a much-needed night’s sleep, we hit the courts Friday
morning to get in a morning training session.
What was intended to be a 90-minute session to get a feel for
the courts turned into a two-and-a-half hour session of drills,
racquet work, conditioned games, and solo practice .... can you
guess what came next?
 After
any hard training session, you’ve get to replenish your fuel
system and boy did we build up an appetite. Their host family’s
mother, Heidi Knaggs, took them for lunch at El Pecos
Grill, which was a grilled food place with a Caribbean flavour
touch.
Pasta salad, seasoned parsley potatoes, fried plantains, green
fig salad, lentils peas, jerk chicken, grilled lamb, bbq
chicken, and lots more to choose from. And then there were the
sauces... sufficient to say that appetites were sated and energy
was refuelled!
 Later
that night would be Trini curry, but for now ... Off to the
beach!
We drove up through the North Coast mountains to get to Maracas
Bay and stopped off at the lookout point to take some pictures
before arriving at the beach.
It was a quiet Friday afternoon so the crowd was sparse which
added a nice serenity to the ambience.
However, they weren’t ready to take in the relaxation just
yet... round two for the Friday training session was about to
begin.
Some core exercises and interval sprints on the beach comprised
their late afternoon session for the day before we all enjoyed a
dip in the calm waters of the Caribbean Sea.
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THURSDAY:
ARRIVAL NIGHT – “TRINI TIME”
 So
there is a much-used phrase in Trinidad known as “running on
Trini time.”
Obviously other parts of the world think people in their own
country might always be late, but it’s especially relevant in
the laid-back Caribbean lifestyle.
I figured that I might have to explain this to the Sobhy family
on Opening Night in case things didn’t start at the scheduled
time ... apparently the explanation was required much sooner
than that as our pilot was a Trini ...
 With
a scheduled departure time of 5:35pm and everyone on board by
about 5:10pm, we proceeded to stand still on the runway for at
least another 45 minutes.
Occasionally there would be a teasing movement of about 300 feet
before the plane would top again. According to the pilot, there
was a back-up of planes waiting to take-off from the runway, but
I wouldn’t be surprised if he was on his phone trying to beat
the next level of Angry Birds or worse yet, waiting for his
download of the previous night’s American Idol episode to
complete before powering off his phone for takeoff.
 However
Amanda, Sabrina and Omar were keeping themselves quite busy
playing cards to help pass the time.
At about 6:40 we finally took off from JFK airport and arrived
in Piarco International at 11:30pm.
Looking forward to a good day of training and event preparation
ahead!
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Preview:
SOBHYS VENTURE TO TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Ryan Abraham reports
 Trinidad
& Tobago asked, let there be squash... Q.P.C.C. responded: SOBHY
IT!
This event started off merely as a seed of an idea when I first
moved back to the U.S. to work as an Assistant Squash Pro at the
Field Club of Greenwich. Having left my post as National Coach
to take up this opportunity, I still felt a strong allegiance to
my home club as well as to the local youth in the sport.
After seeing Amanda play at the U.S. Junior Open in December and
hearing that she was going to attend and play for Harvard in
2011, I knew then that she would be the ideal role model for the
juniors at home. I have always been a strong advocate for
balancing sport and education, and having graduated from Harvard
in 2006, I know how hard the journey will be for Amanda.
In January, my new home club, the Field Club of Greenwich hosted
the Harrow Greenwich Open, and when I saw Amanda there again, I
introduced myself and asked her if she would ever be interested
in playing some exhibitions in the Caribbean ... rhetorical
question apparently.
 Five
months later, the event has come into fruition and Q.P.C.C.,
well known worldwide for hosting international cricket matches,
has played a huge role in taking this event to next level.
Amanda, accompanied by her family, will be playing a week of
exhibition challenge matches against top Caribbean and Trinidad
champions as well as assisting with junior clinics.
Stay tuned throughout the week for updates on exhibition
results, scholar-athlete interviews, beach outings, sweet T & T
culture, and lots more...
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