Don't Hand Terrorist Their Victories Schools!

I am really saddened to see schools cancelling trips to London because of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Just what are they teaching their children by doing so? 

Do these schools not realise that there are tens of thousands of school children living in London every day and with millions of other people commuting on the underground, the buses, going to museums and living their lives as normal. 

Every time a decision is made not to visit the terrorists gain another victory. Before anybody has a go at me and asks if my daughter should go, her school went on a visit to London last Monday!

Why make our children more afraid than they need to be?

Terror Attacks - What to do?

Recent events in Tunisia have brought this issue to the forefront of our minds. A single gunman going bananas with an automatic weapon and murdering innocent tourists, probably when they are at their most vulnerable, lying on a beach in swimwear. Horrendous, terrible. Indeed it is. So what to do?

What is it that terrorists want, indeed what does the word terrorist actually denote? What does a terrorist now have to do? Anything or nothing.That may seem a strange question but let's look at it.

A terrorists sole purpose in life is not necessarily to murder, or to blow things up. A terrorists main purpose is to bring terror into our lives. Terror. Being afraid of something that might happen because we now know it has happened before. So what does a terrorist now need to do in a holiday resort abroad, any holiday resort? It really could happen anywhere. The answer is nothing. Not if we let the recent happenings in Sousse determine what we do. If we decide now not to go on holiday then have the terrorists achieved their aim? Have they planted that seed of doubt in our minds that make us decide not to do something because we are afraid of the possible consequences? If the answer is yes then they have achieved their aim. In effect they have won. That is a difficult thing to accept isn't it?

So do we go on holiday? Do we fly on an airplane? Do we go, for instance, to London, New York, France where there have been atrocities in the past? Makes you think doesn't it?

I don't have the answers to these questions. We all need to weigh up the risks of all that we do and then make our own decisions. All I would say is that we need to understand what terrorism is and

what it can do to us. What are the real risks? What are the risks actually perceived by us because the terrorist wants us to look at them in that way? Who is going to run our lives? Us or the terrorist?

Really, really difficult isn't it?

The Olympic Dream Gets Nearer!

As my regular readers will be aware I have applied to be a volunteer at both the Olympics and Paralympics next year and am being considered to be part of the Anti-Doping Team. I have blogged about this previously and if you wish to see how this has progressed or is progressing you might like to take a look at my previous dribblings at:

http://steveodare.blogspot.com/2011/01/me-at-2012-london-olympics-i-hope-so.html

http://steveodare.blogspot.com/2011/02/me-at-2012-london-olympics-big.html

Back to the present. Things are, rather excitingly, moving on. I have been invited to take part in a Test Event in August that will take place at the Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park itself.

The event itself is the  London International Basketball Invitational which is a truly international sporting event with not only the GB Team taking part but the national sides of Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia also.
More details of the event can be found here:
http://www.hoopsfix.com/2011/05/london-international-basketball-invitational-announced/

To say that I am excited about this prospect would truly be an under-statement. What will I be like if I actually do get selected as a true Olympic volunteer? Doesn't bear thinking about to be honest!

Prior to the event I have to attend some training which will take place at the Hackney Community College in London. Starts at 9.00 am. Looks like a very early start for me travelling from Skegness! The things I do for Queen and country!

I am hoping to learn an awful lot more about how an Anti-Doping team works and to gain experience of working behind the scenes at a large international sporting event as well as proving my mettle to those who will be making the final selection for the volunteering roles.

I will update again once it has all taken place. Wish me luck!!!

Me At The 2012 London Olympics. I Hope So!

I decided to volunteer as a Gamesmaker, bit of a twee name, really a volunteer to help out, at the 2012 Olympics and the Paralympics. I thought that this would be an opportunity of a lifetime to be involved in something like this. I signed up for this months ago, hoping that I would get selected as one of the 70,000 (I think) people that they would need to run the games. Having filled in the appropriate forms on-line, it was then a case of sitting and waiting to see a. If you get through the initial selection and b. To see what would be on offer. You are offered a specific role which is not negotiable, take it or leave it. As I understand it this could be just about anything from working in the stadium itself, helping out with the actual events, to being a car park attendant.

I was very pleased to receive an email yesterday inviting me to an interview at the Excel in London Docklands to become part of the Anti-Doping Teams. Really pleased with that. Sounds very exciting and dealing directly with the athletes it will put me at the heart of the action. I hate the use of drugs in sport as it turns the events from being the ultimate in human endeavour to being nothing more than a competition for the scientists producing the drugs and it has very little to do with the athletic ability of those that are using these products. Those that take the drugs are cheating not only their competitors but also themselves.

Just hoping now that I impress enough at the interview to be given the role. Only 3 weeks to wait before I attend so fingers crossed.

I will post an update when I have more to tell.