Postcards From Camp #1

📍 London St Pancras Station

July, 2026

5.54am.

I’ve got 7 minutes until my train to St Pancras.

From there, we’re catching the Eurostar to Belgium to face the number 1 side in the world for a couple of practice games before next month’s World Cup.

It’s weirdly quiet and anyone here is more intent on minding their own business than engaging with the environment around them.

It leaves me alone with my thoughts in the early hours.

That can be pretty dangerous. That can be pretty fun. That can also be pretty productive.

What happens on the pitch is a fraction of what goes into these trips. There will be 2x60 mins of gameplay and yet here I am before 6am visualising some moments and scenarios that I’m likely to face in the next few days.

I’m big on imagery. It plays a huge part in not just my pre-game routine but in the way I approach the game in general. In truth, I probably think about it too much and it means I can struggle to stay present in times like this.

There’s a calming element to an early morning rise. Yet the reason I’m up so early is the reason I don’t appreciate it to the full extent that I should.

I’ve spoken about the escapism that accompanies my writing. There’s definitely a carry over that I’m acutely aware of into day-to-day life and that undoubtedly transfers over to my hockey.

You can’t help but to extrapolate beyond the confines of the immediate imagery when you’re alone like this. You think about the rest of your squad. The bigger picture. Your opposition. What are the other countries doing in their prep right now? Are we ahead of the curve?

Your mind can race away from you in times like this if you’re not careful.

You just have to keep bringing yourself back to what you can control. We have a couple of games against the best side in the world. Preparation doesn’t get much better than that. We can’t control what anyone else is doing so it does no good to waste any energy on it.

I can be guilty of over analysing and whilst it’s a trait that is slowly diminishing with experience (in a good way), it still has its advantages when I’m looking for a 1% here or there.

So for now, I’m up early and heading in to St Pancras and that 1% has come up in the form of visualising some of the plays and situations I might find myself in based on the setup that Belgium has against our own.

Whilst that might not prove to be of any real value across the rest of this week, there’s just a small chance that it might.

And that’s good enough for me.

One final thought

I’ll share a lyric from the song I’ve attached to the post announcing this series.

Analyze by Norman Sann

“My desire for going platinum eradicated the silver lining.”

Food for thought ahead of Postcard #2

From a train platform,

Nick