Let me just start out by saying,…”Someone one needs to write about this”. The road to the Wubble begins for me now. It’s important that I diary this journey through this restart of sports. I hope I don’t get so consumed and miss a moment to take it all in. I hope I don’t miss a moment to just be in the present. Let me begin with my days prior to starting. I don’t expect this road to be easy. Here we go…
The Women’s National Basketball Association ‘WNBA’ had a restart date and that date was coming fast. They cleverly renamed the bubble the “Wubble”. I am the second wave of officials who will be entering the Wubble to officiate games. I knew I had to get back into officiating shape. COVID19 made it hard to keep up with my regular workouts. My current work out was a high intensity training session from the Nike training app and an outdoor run. The Nike workout was about thirty minutes and I got my run up to two miles. I did this about three times a week. Naturally because of COVID I was nervous about being in a gym. I just don’t trust folks to follow the guidelines. The workouts where good but I want to push the envelope.
Diana “Dee” Hernandez-Avalos
Assistant Coach, Sports Performance coach for the Arizona State University
Three weeks prior to departure I called on Diana “Dee” Hernandez-Avalos to help me with a workout that addresses the movement of a basketball referee. She currently works as Assistant Coach, Sports Performance coach for the Arizona State University. Two years ago, while refereeing, I stained my hamstring and she was helpful in improving my performance and strength. I trusted her and man did she come through.
She knew I had too workout in my apartment. We Facetimed to see how much space I had to work with. She also knew I didn’t have many weights, so we improvised. I took a book bag and filled it with the five pounds weights and books. The workouts lasted five days and she broke them up into two sections. The first, third and fifth day is a lift day. Day two and four is mobility day. The lift days where broke into four sections and at the end I had to do a circuit workout to get my heart rate up. One day was jumping jacks, followed by skater hops and then a plank. Man on man, I did a lot of planks. Each set was a minute and repeating ten times. I had access to a pool in the morning, so on day two, after mobility, I would swim for thirty minutes. Needless to say, after every workout I was exhausted. By weak three, I knew it would be a habit and there was no turning back. I also knew that I would have some lapses. If I fell off the horse, which I did, I would start up again the next day and run the workout into the weekend. My wife joined along and we made it a team effort. It was great to have that accountability partner during those times when you doubt you can push your effort a little further. After a week of the training, I wasn’t happy, but I quickly saw results. This work out was tough. After every work out with my hands on my hips I would say, “YOOOOOOOOOO, I’m done.”
Below is a taste of the workout she had me doing. At some point I will make the entire workout available.
Side note: Work hard to get your form right. I watched a lot of videos to help me with that process. I also have the advantage of having a wife who is an athletic trainer. Every time my form looked out of wack the drill sergeant came out of her.
When I arrive in the Wubble, I will be quarantined in a hotel room for a week before I hit the floor. Dee said she would forward a list of exercises for the small space in the hotel room. Ugh.
Life of a basketball referee uncovered.
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
Begin your journey back to sports.
