Scholar and gymnast Sam Oldham on mentor Geoff Shreeves and winning titles
Monday 3 April 2017 09:20, UK
Meeting one of the world's greatest football managers, being sick just before a national championships and ending the week with silverware.
It's fair to say it won't be a week that gymnast Sam Oldham will forget in a hurry.
Being a Sky Academy Sports Scholar, the 24-year-old from Nottingham has enjoyed the support of an incredible mentor.
Sam talks about his trip to the Etihad Stadium and his battle over food poisoning to perform at the British Championships.....
One of the best things about the Sky Sports Academy Scholarship programme is having a mentor.
Over the last four years I've been very fortunate to have become good friends with my mentor and Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves.
Being a huge football fan and growing up in a household where the theme tunes to all the best footy programmes were the soundtrack to my childhood. Finding out I would be partnered with the man who interviews all my top players and picks the brains of the world's top managers was amazing!
My journey as a Scholar has been career and life-changing and being able to talk to Geoff has made a huge positive impact on my gymnastics.
Thanks to Geoff and the Scholarships team a dream of mine to shadow my mentor on a match day was made possible. That game was Man City v Liverpool at the Etihad earlier in March. I met Geoff before kick-off in the Sky production truck where the Super Sunday show was being constructed in real time which was so interesting.
When you watch a match on TV you take for granted that you're seeing the finished product. It's probably similar to someone watching gymnastics at the Olympics on TV. They see the final edit and it's the gymnast's job to make it look effortless. What they don't see is the decades of blood, sweat and tears that have gone into perfecting that routine or sport show.
Next was meeting the voice of football Martin Tyler. He was very generous with his time and answered all my questions!
Geoff has two main jobs on match day - the pre and post-match interviews with managers and players. I had to pinch myself throughout the day as I stood in the tunnel next to Jordan Henderson or David Silva patting me on the back.
I also got a radio mic to hear all the conversations between the production team, Geoff and Martin's legendary commentary. I got pitch-side seats behind the Liverpool dugout with a perfect view of Jurgen Klopp facing the crowd when James Milner scored his penalty to give the visitors the lead.
The match was brilliant for the neutral fan with both teams attacking. I felt a little uncomfortable enjoying the game being a Manchester United fan but I had my United scarf in my coat pocket! The game was a 1-1 draw with Sergio Aguero equalising for City which was fair in my 'professional' opinion!
I was then back in the tunnel with Geoff and was in the media zone for interviews. When you hear you're going to shadow someone, you think you'll be in the same room maybe. But to hear Pep Guardiola was astonishing. It was a privilege to watch my mentor doing what he does best.
It will be a day I will remember for a very long time. I can't thank enough the people who made the match day experience dream a reality and most of all Geoff for being a true gent and giving me an insight to his world behind the camera.
A week later I was on the other end of the camera lens competing at the British Championships in Liverpool. I had prepared well but 24 hours later I was up at 6am and throwing my guts up after eating something dodgy. The GB gymnastics team doctor, nutritionist and I came up with a plan to give me the best chance of competing.
I accepted the challenge! It's a massive thanks to all the people that helped me through a tough 48 hours that I even started it. As I lined up in front of the Floor judges on my first apparatus I was aware I had only begun eating the day before and that I had a serious task.
My routine was solid as I did my tumbles but my legs were not on song and I had big steps on all my landings. As I ran for my final tumble the inevitable took place and there was just no juice in the tank. I understated my dismount and my legs felt like I had lead in my boots!
I did well on the Pommel Horse with just small execution errors and it gave me a confidence boost for my next events.
Rings was solid and then I was first up on the Vault. It's an explosive event and I unfortunately I over-cooked it and put my hands down on the landing. I was actually quite surprised I had so much power from the vault horse following my lack of energy stores.
On to the Parallel Bars and I believed I could still take the title despite my errors. My routine went incredibly well and awarded a 14.70 and it was close to that average I was looking for heading into the final routine.
Training on my new routine on the High Bar has been brilliant but I haven't been able to replicate that in competition. I raised my arm and saluted the head judge to a packed Echo arena, took a deep breath and begun my last routine.
The first two releases were smooth but on the full twist in double somersault I was too close to the bar and had to perform a 'free swing'. This significantly impacts my difficulty score but more importantly it had a huge effect on my tiring muscles.
The rest of the routine was an absolute dog fight and my timing was off for all my turn elements. I was also cramping and as I dismounted it was a case of the floor hitting me, not me landing on it!
It wasn't to be! The All-Around British title means a great deal and I intend to have my name on the trophy before I retire! There were some real positives and to be crowned the British Parallel Bars champion was a great achievement!
I've discovered that my body is capable of high level gymnastics even when it's running on fumes and I'm really excited to get back in the gym to work towards my next competition - the World Cup in London next weekend.
