A very grateful “thankyou”
Whatever success Timperley Lacrosse Club has enjoyed over the last decade is in no small measure due to the fantastic job done by Di Gill in running the Saturday morning Beginner Sessions.
The sessions have produced enormous numbers of lacrosse players both boys and girls, and men and women who have gone on to play senior lacrosse and a significant number international lacrosse.
The task has been enormous and Di is taking a well deserved rest after 13 years of effort. The legacy she has left at Timperley is fantastic and has made the club what it is. A lasting legacy would be for us to build on what she has created and take the club on to the next level.
Last Saturday was an emotional occasion but I am sure Di would want us to now be concentrating how to continue her work rather than say what she did is impossible to replicate.

Treaty of Rome
This year has seen the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome which set up the EU. To mark the occasion the 27 members of the Union issued a declaration setting out their continued commitment to the principles on which it was founded.
Given that the politicians who have driven us to the disaster which is about to engulf us have identified being in Europe as the source of our problems and have persuaded the ignorant and uneducated people who voted to leave the EU that this was the case, it may be useful to restate the objectives of the EU.

Rome Declaration
25th March 2017.
Rome
60 years ago, recovering from the tragedy of two World Wars, we decided to bond together and rebuild our continent from the ashes. We built a unique Union with common institutions and strong values, a community of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, a major economic power with unparalleled levels of social protection and welfare.

Unity is both a necessity and our free choice.
The Rome Declaration –signed today by the Leaders of the 27 member states, the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission –is a pledge to make the European Union stronger and more resilient, through even greater unity and solidarity amongst us and the respect of common rules.

What is the problem?
All my life I have had an interest in history and geography so I was inevitably interested in the formation of European institutions after the 2nd World War. These institutions have created a European Union which embraces the human values which will make the world a better, safer place. The Rome Declaration embraces all the aspirations that I would hope have guided my beliefs. These beliefs would seem to be as relevant today as they were 60 years ago. To reject them inevitably raises questions about a person’s principles and beliefs. The rejection of these principles, by England says a lot about the sort of place that the country has become. Not one you can be proud of – squalid, racist, bigoted and mean spirited.

The problem is the Old People
It has been often said that the referendum, majority wafer thin though it was, was due to the votes to Leave of the older generation. This may well be so, although I have only ever met 4 people of my generation who voted “Leave”. However, a recent quote from the writer and campaigner for democracy Anthony Barnett, said;
“Brexit is an old people’s home, (and its English not British) - it is government of the old, by the old for the old –and it will perish with the old. “
Fortunately the old will die significantly faster than the old.
Certainly Brexit will deprive the younger generation of their future and the opportunities created by the European Union

Where do we go from here?
So Theresa Mayhem has sent the suicide note and is asking us to follow after her by jumping off the cliff because it is the will of the people .In fact it was only the will of 17,410,742 people out of a population of 65,409,375(31/3/2017) so some 48,000.000 are being asked to follow the government to disaster.
Already, only a couple of days after triggering Article 50, it is clear the 27 remaining members of the EU are not in the mood for a friendly, easy divorce. The issues seem innumerable and insuperable. Companies like Nissan, Toyota and PSA have committed to the UK apparently on the understanding they will retain free access to the single market –seems highly unlikely this will be obtained. In a similar vein trade deals with India (only on the condition of increased access to the UK for Indian citizen) or the USA seem light years away.

We must get together as a nation to make Brexit (Engexit!) Work
Pigs might fly!
I have not known a nation more divided than the UK is currently. Mrs May is more stupid than I think she is if she truly believes she can ever heal the wounds she has inflicted by invoking Article 50.
I detect no mood for compromise amongst my “remain” friends and contacts. The London Anti Brexit March would indicate that the 48% is still pretty resolute.
The New European had a poster in its latest edition which said;
Stay Angry –Fight Brexit
Which is exactly where I am. I have never been angrier in my life.
The future could look slightly better if our political system was not broken. We have a Tory government which is not only incompetent and dishonest but even without the challenge of Brexit it fails in every area. It consists of second class people who cannot deliver an economic policy, not to mention Education , Health, Transport, Law and order, (prisons and police are both in disarray ),social care for all people who are disadvantaged and exposed (food banks and homelessness are not a sign of a successful society), Housing and even Sport .
The situation is made much worse because we have no effective opposition. When people have more confidence in the current government than the opposition party you know we have a problem. For a fleeting moment I thought Jeremy Corbyn offered a way forward. It did not take very long to realise that he was totally incapable of providing competent political leadership –a disaster. Parliamentary democracy only works if you have an effective opposition which holds the government to account. We have an incompetent and dishonest government and no opposition.

We are going to have a Mayor!
When you are retired you become holiday makers and spend your way through your children’s legacy.
Last week we had a week in South West France cruising the rivers around Bordeaux and drinking and tasting a lot of wine. I am now an expert! However the surprise package was the city of Bordeaux. We had been given negative views but the reality was that it was a jewel. The riverside site was stunning with glorious 18th and 19th century buildings all gloriously stone buildings recently cleaned. The riverside has spacious public gardens and walks and cycle ways. Redundant riverside buildings have been transformed into great shops, cafes and restaurants. The city has a very modern tram system. In the historic city centre the trams leave the overhead cables and run on solar powered batteries. The residents credit the city’s resurgence to the recent mayors who have been able to lead policy and its implementation. The current mayor is Alain Juppe who has been in post for the last decade. A former Prime Minister he was a candidate for the next President but did not make it through the opening rounds. Apparently the residents held a celebration as they realised how lucky they were to retain their mayor.
Mayors who operate like city CEOs are common over the world but not in UK’ except in London where it has been a huge success and part of the reason for the dominance of the capital. Even a buffoon like Boris Johnson was a relative success. It was not that the job is easy but the potential for progress is enormous.
The city and its metropolitan area are a growing phenomenon. In the 1970s it was obvious that there was a role for an overriding authority with responsibility for areas such as transport. In Manchester we had AGMA (the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities ) the system seemed to work well until Margaret Thatcher took against the concept , probably because large metropolitan regions tended to be socialist so even they were successful they went.
Mayors are now back in vogue. Certainly Greater Manchester over the last 30 years has benefitted from strong leadership from the focal city (Manchester) from strong characters like Howard Bernstein and Richard Leese. The city, if not the whole region, is booming. To spread benefits wider arguably needs leadership with a wider brief.
So we are going to get a mayor! The election is on Thursday 4th May. Andy Burnham is the pre vote hot favourite at 1/6 but we have just seen Brexit and Trump. Make sure you vote. It is key for Manchester to maintain the momentum of the last 3 decades.

NCAA Div 1 Lacrosse
For the followers of Division I Lacrosse this has been one of the most exciting and close fought seasons in recent years. Every weekend there are major upsets and close OT games.This was no exception.
JHU returned to winning ways when they entertained high flying Rutgers at Homewood and inflicted a 12-6 defeat on the Scarlet Knights.
Perhaps the big game of the weekend saw Syracuse travel to South Bend, Indiana and take an 11-10 victory over the No1 ranked Notre Dame.
Another close game saw Yale edge past Penn 14-12 in Philadelphia.
The rankings seem like a revolving door. Top of the this week are Penn State with Syracuse at 2 and Hofstra 3 with last week’s number 1 Notre Dame at 4. JHU have edged back up to 10.
Last year’s Champions North Carolina are languishing 19 with beaten finalists Maryland at 8.
The fight for playoff places is hotter than ever. Legendary Syracuse Coach Roy Simmons always said “It is how you play in May that counts.” But you have to get to May first!

The Altrincham Renaissance Continues
The Rebirth of Altrincham town centre continues apace. Restaurants continue to open but also take steps forward in quality.
Those who read the Guardian (most of you I am sure!) will have noticed in Saturday that Saturday’s edition contained a very positive review of the Con Club by the respected Restaurant critic Marina O’Loughlin. Ms O’Loughlin is one of the country’s most demanding judges and her comments can make or break a restaurant. She is very positive about the Con Club commenting favourably on the food, the staff, and the atmosphere and decor. If you thought it was difficult to get a table at the Con Club my prediction is “you ain’t seen nothing yet!!”
Perhaps more importantly, though a tad more boring, was the news that the vacancy rate for shops in Altrincham has dipped below 10% for the first time in a decade. In 2010 the vacancy rate stood at over 30%, arguably the worst rate in the country.
Additionally, the number of visitors to the town centre has risen by 8.2% for the first 3 months of 2017 despite the delayed public realm works on Stamford New Road.
With the amount of building work going on in Altrincham it does seem that momentum is growing. We will hopefully see the growth of a town centre that Altrincham deserves.

Frustrated of Manchester and Skipton
This season all our junior teams (I still consider U19 to be a junior team) have reached their respective Cup Finals. I cannot recall that Timperley have ever done that before when we have been fielding 4 teams. Neither can I recall any other club achieving this.
Lacrosse is one of the most difficult to play. To be good you have to have great stick skills. If you can’t catch and throw you will struggle.
Strategies and tactics are interesting and challenging and for a team to play well it needs to practice. In the US a D1 College team will practice and train for perhaps 5 hour a day for 4 or 5 days and play at least once for the 4 month season. They will have come out of a school system where they will have a similarly intense regime (except, perhaps practising for “only” two hours a day.) If you play BUCS Lacrosse at a UK university you will practise, perhaps 3 or 4 times a week and play once.
Similarly, you will not play violin for the Halle unless you have done some practicing in your life.
I am the first to (reluctantly) admit that lacrosse is probably not the most important thing in the world but if you decide to play then you owe it to yourself and to your team mates to be as good as you can be.
I have spent most of this season watching the U12 and U14 teams practice on a Wednesdays. Both teams have excellent coaching and players who could go a long way in the game. As far as I am aware neither squad has ever had a full turn out for practice and often there have been 3 or 4 players missing.

How you play is how you practice.
I have spent my life in sport and all the “stuff” I have read indicates that successful athletes always do better academically than non-athletes. The reason is simple. They learn to organise and maximise their time.