Peyton Ackley - The Beginning of Change

Chapter 22 - Team Bonding

Meeting the team was a stressful experience, to say the least. I was thankful that I already knew Steph, Caitlin and Kyra, but it was a big team so there were still a lot of people to meet. I had a good chat with Ellie Carpenter early in the day to hear about how she's been travelling after her ACL injury. It turns out that the support she's been getting at Lyon has been much better than the support at Arsenal which I was pleased to hear. Sam Kerr would have been an interesting Aussie to talk to about her injury, but because of it, she wasn't able to attend the camp.

I spent most of my time getting to know the rest of the medical team and learning how they work. As I was only a temporary member of the team I didn't have a massive office like I did at Arsenal, instead just a shared space with some physio beds but I ultimately didn't mind. Jacqui Benz, the lead physiotherapist, showed me around the hotel and introduced me to the rest of the team. I didn't expect there to be so many of us, but when you look at having a doctor, three physios, a massage therapist, a sports scientist and two sports analysts, it starts looking like quite a large team. 

Thinking that my day was going to be relaxing was a mistake. Steph busted into my hotel room earlier telling me that the team was going bowling and they wanted me to join, which for some odd reason I agreed to. I'm not sure if it was that I was missing Leah and needed to do something to distract myself or what, but now I'm going bowling.

I chose to wear a simple pair of jeans and a baggy t-shirt, which I thought was going to be too casual, but when I headed down to the lobby and saw a bunch of the other players in tracksuit pants and shorts I realised that I was with a football team after all. Kyra bounced over to me and placed an arm around my waist.

"Can I have Noah's number?" she asked sweetly.

"Kyra..." I replied. "Please be careful, don't break his heart."

She promised me that she wouldn't so I gave her his new number and even his Snapchat which she was pleasantly pleased by. She ran over to Charli and Mini displaying a big smile on her face, and her spot was filled by Steph.

"You excited?" asked Steph.

"Yeah, it'll be cool to get to know the team," I replied with a closed mouth smile.

"You nervous?" she asked next.

I nodded not wanting to admit that I was in fact... terrified, but I was trying to put a brave face on because they are just footballers. The bowling alley was a short walk up the road and I walked the whole way with Steph on one side and Ellie on the other. I didn't expect to make any new friends when I was with the Matildas, but Ellie and even Hayley have been really inviting. Sadly, they both play in European countries meaning I won't see them very often, but it is rumoured that Hayley might be moving again.

We split up into groups at the alley, and thankfully I was with Steph, Ellie, Hayley and Teagan. Teagan was nice and funny, and this was the first chance I'd gotten to speak with her this trip but she was all smiles and high spirits.

I was going to be forever thankful that I was last on the list of five for bowling because it would soon be made aware that I was in no way a bowler. I reminded myself that I couldn't be that bad, but I was proven wrong. Stepping up to my bowl my first attempt involved me dropping the ball onto the lane and the second was just me bowling the ball straight into the gutter. I turned around to return to my seat and Ellie and Hayley were sitting in the corner quietly laughing to themselves.

"Cut it out you guys," I told them finding my seat.

Steph looked bewildered as she gazed at me wondering how I didn't know how to bowl. When my second turn came around she walked up to grab a ball with me and made me pick a different one to last time.