{"id":1589,"date":"2021-03-15T15:59:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T14:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dodgeball.hu\/en\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2021-03-16T00:22:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T23:22:13","slug":"i-hated-my-first-session-anthony-aldred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dodgeball.hu\/en\/i-hated-my-first-session-anthony-aldred\/","title":{"rendered":"I hated my first session – Anthony Aldred"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this installment of our internation interview series, we asked an iconic athlete of dodgeball, Anthony Aldred, about his beginnings, tournaments and favourite moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Can you give us a bit of a background of your Dodgeball playing career? When did you start playing dodgeball?<\/strong>
– I started playing dodgeball in 2013 after I graduated from university. My flat mate at the time invited me along and I\u2019ve been playing ever since. Since then I\u2019ve gone on to play as part of the Granite City Guerrillas men\u2019s team winning quite a few competitions and league titles in Scotland and also getting the opportunity to play in England at open events and the British Championships. In 2017 I made the Scotland Highlanders Men\u2019s team and took part in the Six Nations where the team came away with a gold medal. I\u2019ve also represented Scotland at the European Championships in 2017,2018 and 2019 along with the Northern European Championships in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* What inspired you to start playing dodgeball?<\/strong>
– I was less inspired and more intrigued about it. My flat mate had been trying to get me to go for a while but I was too busy finishing off my degree to get involved. Once I graduated I went along with him and a few others. I hated my first session, but everyone seemed to enjoy it so I went back. I\u2019m glad I did as I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anthony Aldred <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Do you remember your first time on the court?<\/strong>
– Not in great detail, but I remember being targeted early on in most games because I was the new guy. It probably didn\u2019t help I was wearing blue and everyone else was wearing a black Granite City Guerrillas vest so I stood out ALOT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Your most beautiful moment in your career?<\/strong>
– Winning the bronze medal at the Euros in Italy 2018. The atmosphere of that event was amazing along with the setup and I truly felt like I had contributed in a positive way to achieving that medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Best event you played at?<\/strong>
– I\u2019d have to say the 2018 Euros in Italy. I think having all the teams in such close proximity really made the social side and after party amazing! I got to speak to people I hadn\u2019t before each night which has set it aside from other events. I won\u2019t miss queuing for breakfast, lunch and dinner though<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* What are you most important achievements so far on a national and club level?<\/strong>
– At club level our highest achievement is either the Scottish Championship or Scottish league. They are pretty similar with only a few clubs for the league but a few extra teams for the championship. Unfortunately Scotland doesn\u2019t have a huge amount of clubs but we are hoping these events become more competitive in the future as other cities and towns get teams and the sport grows in our country. Nationally my highest achievement is a gold medal as part of the Scotland men\u2019s team at the UKDBA Six Nations event in Liverpool 2016. But I\u2019m more proud of the Bronze medal from the 2018 European Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Scotland
Scotland Highlanders – Anthony Aldred<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

* How do you prepare before tournaments?<\/strong>
– In the lead up to a tournament it\u2019s all about team practice for me. You need to become a tight unit and look after each other on court. So I\u2019d want as much game time with my team.In the moments before a game I\u2019m probably getting a quick snack or going for multiple nervous toilet stops though<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* How many times do you play a week?<\/strong>
– Normally it\u2019s between 2-3 times a week depending on what training or events are happening. It\u2019s a mixture of open sessions, team sessions and international training along with competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Any tips you can lend to aspiring dodgeball players?<\/strong>
– Find your strength and focus on that to start with. If you try and learn or focus on too many things you won\u2019t see much progress and get a bit disheartened. Plus if you have one great skill It will give you something to fall back on in a game and you can kind of direct play towards your strength. Focusing on one thing also allows you to break things down into tiny parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Brady or Lebron James<\/em>\nLebron. I played basketball when I was younger and although I don\u2019t keep up to date with it now, I\u2019m definitely more   interested in what\u2019s going on there than American football.\n \nColdplay or Ed Sheeran<\/em>\nNeither! They are both terrible. \n \nGran Tourismo 5 or Carcassone<\/em> \nGran Tourismo 5. Only because I grew up playing the Gran Tourismo games, Need for Speed Underground is where it\u2019s at though.\n \nThe Mandalorian or The Queen\u2019s Gambit<\/em>\nThe Mandalorian\u2026 but only because of the memes! I haven\u2019t watched either. \n \nDog or Cat<\/em>\nDogs! I love dogs. Plus I\u2019ve got a dog and do t think I\u2019d ever own a cat.\n \nChicago Pizza or Big Mac<\/em> \nPizza! Lots of options and great hot or cold.\n \nTomato or Chilli <\/em>\nTomato, I\u2019m not good with spicy foods.\n \nBora Bora or Kathmandu<\/em>\nBora Bora, I\u2019d just love to relax next to those crystal clear waters.\n \nRangers or Celtics<\/em>\nBoston Celtics\u2026 because basketball. Neither if you mean the football teams here in Scotland. I have to support my local team of Aberdeen for that\u2026. MON IH DONS!\n\nCloth or foam ball<\/em>\nCloth. It\u2019s what I know and have played the most, but I\u2019m keen to try foam. I just wish the rules were consistent across all the ball types for ease. <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
*<\/strong> Which team or nation is your favorite opponent?<\/strong>
– Sweden. They are such a fun team to be around and the last time we played them at the Euros in 2019 it was such a close game. So close and action packed but also super friendly and fair. It ended in a draw and I don\u2019t think anyone was disappointed by that. They have improved hugely since I first saw them but still bring a fun aspect to the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* Who is your best dodgeball player?<\/strong>
– I don\u2019t think there is one player that stands out above everyone else as \u2018the best player\u2019 for me. That\u2019s not to say I don\u2019t think players are great , there are a lot of players I admire. I just think I\u2019d be doing players a disservice if I named just one person. There are definitely a lot of quieter players that are going a bit unnoticed because of bigger personalities too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
* You have built up an amazing collection of sports jerseys! Just how many do you own? <\/strong>
– I\u2019m not 100% sure but I think it\u2019s in the region of 200 dodgeball shirts now. But that\u2019s continuing to grow and it\u2019s definitely something that\u2019s snowballed as the Instagram account has grown. But I\u2019m still enjoying speaking with everyone along the way and swapping my way to new and exciting shirts\/teams.

* Do you remember which one was the first you got?<\/strong>
– The first shirt outside of the club I play for was the Malaysian WDA 2016 Home shirt made by Ozz Vampo. It\u2019s yellow and black tiger stripe and mandarin collar had me hooked, so I just had to get one. It took a while to get here so I might have received a different jersey before it, but it was definitely worth the wait. It was great to learn about all the other teams playing at the time too and Malaysia definitely set themselves apart as looking super professional in their photos and social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Granite City Guerrillas <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
* We had a year which foiled many things. We barely had any Dodgeball tournaments, for example. What would be your most important takeaway of 2020?<\/strong>
– To have fun and enjoy dodgeball when we get back to playing. Let\u2019s enjoy the game, enjoy the sport and enjoy being surrounded by our friends. It\u2019s why we play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* Finally, what advice do you have for those who are just being introduced to this wonderful game? Why play dodgeball?<\/strong>
– Play dodgeball because it\u2019s fun and you can meet some amazing people from different places in the world. It\u2019s also a very inclusive and supportive sport too and one you can play at all levels depending on what\u2019s important to you and continue to play into old age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BF\/MKR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this installment of our international interview series, we asked an iconic athlete of dodgeball, Anthony Aldred, about his beginnings, tournaments and favourite moments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,4],"tags":[78,9,65,74,27,79,11,52,80,69],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-news","tag-anthony-aldred","tag-dodgeball","tag-dodgeballfamily","tag-dodgeballnation","tag-edf","tag-granite-city-guerrillas","tag-hungarydodgeball","tag-interview","tag-scotland-highlanders","tag-wdbf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t