Ade Adepitan
Pictured, Ade on his trip to New Orleans for the NBA show in February this year.
Nearly half way through the year and I've had another busy and varied month. We came so close to winning the League but narrowly lost out to the Sheffield Steelers. The following week, we gave a rather lacklustre performance at the Andrevergauwen cup in Paris and I returned to England feeling physically and emotionally drained.
Fortunately, I had the perfect antidote for my recent sporting let-downs, and that was to have a cast for a sculpture of my torso made! I was approached by up and coming Bristol based sculptor Ben Dearnley about a month ago. Ben is currently in the process of creating sculptures of Paralympic and Olympic athlete's in action with a view to displaying them at the 2012 Games in London. So as vain as it may seem, the thought of having my image immortalised possibly in Bronze felt like a cool idea! Although the whole process meant I had to sit still while I was covered in a plaster mould for close to an hour which was quite bizarre!
On the 9th and 10th of May I travelled up to Manchester to work as part of the BBC's commentary team for the Paralympic World Cup. Along with my co-commentator Ronald MacIntosh, we covered all of the Great Britain Men's and Women's games. It was a strange experience not to be part of the Men's team especially when they lost to the USA in the final. It was very hard to keep a balanced view because I wanted them to win but it's something I will have to get used to as this was good preparation for the Paralympic Games in Beijing later this year.
The morning after the Paralympic World cup final I caught a 6am Flight to Tel Aviv to compete in my second ever international tennis tournament. The week got off to a stressful start, as El Al airlines managed to loose my luggage for 3 days so I had to borrow clothes from other players whilst I waited for my stuff to be found. I was also knocked out in the first round of my singles match, which I should have won as I was 4-1 and 5-1 up in the first and second set. I came pretty close to smashing my rackets during and after that match!
Fortunately for me, the tournament ended on a slightly better note as me and my doubles partner Philip Cochrane, (also part of team Invacare), made it all the way to the second draw final and lost a pro set match which finished at 2am. I think fatigue got the better of us! The frustration of the whole week however was put firmly into perspective after we saw a road sweeper knocked over by a reckless driver outside our hotel in Tel Aviv. It was serious accident and my prayers go out to that guy and his family.
On the 17th of May, I returned to the UK and had a long day of judging for the Blue Peter Postcard competition. Over a period of about three months, former backstroke World Champion Katy Sexton, Blue Peter Editor Tim Levell and I had to whittle down thousands of postcard entries until we had 17 finalists. The finalist would try to impress us and show why they should be part of the Paralympic and Olympic handover ceremonies in Beijing - a once in a lifetime opportunity. The finals were held at White City and it was done in an X Factor style. After nearly nine hours of deliberation, we finally settled on our two winners who will be announced on Blue Peter later this month. For more info on winners, check out bbc.co.uk/bluepeter.
On 19th of May, I helped to launch the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes scheme. Jonathan Edwards, Mark Foster and I spent the day promoting what is going to be a very important scheme for future British Paralympians and Olympians. Lloyds TSB and Sports Aid will be giving young up and coming athletes money as well as other forms of support, which will help to increase their profile within their local communities. For more info check out Lloyd's TSB/localheroes.co.uk (note grants are only awarded on recommendations for you sporting governing body).
On the 20th of May, I went to Peckham as an NSPCC Ambassador for the Hand in Hand School Teams Launch. This is a great project which helps young children who are seen as problem kids at school. It gives them an outlet for their anxieties, people to talk too and a chance to shine. I had a really nice day and saw some very special kids being given the opportunity to express themselves. All in all, a good day.
The next day I was sent a script for a casting for the Secret Diary of a Call Girl staring Billie Piper. The casting was on the 22nd so I only had about a day and half to prepare for what would be a demanding role if I got the part, especially as it involved an intimate scene with Billie Piper! I think they'll make their decision as to who gets the role in the next couple of weeks. Not sure about my chances as the part was written for a shy and quite small guy but you never know...
24th of May was the beginning of the British National Tennis championships in Gloucester. I played in the B Division of this tournament in 2007 and lost every game - I remember leaving the tournament cursing everything related to tennis! So this year I was hoping for a better result. I knew it was going to be tough because my coach Stuart Wilkinson had entered me in the second draw which was one level above B Division and only a level below the main draw where all the top ranked players were competing. So I think I surprised a lot of people including myself when I got all the way to the final and won the second draw.
It was a great feeling - I won 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 and I finished the game off with an ace! Watch this space - my next tournament will probably be the Swiss Open early in July. Check out www.bbcsport.co.uk
I finished another crazy month in style by performing with the No Fit State Circus - well, only in rehearsal! This was for my showreel, which is the equivalent of a CV for a TV Presenter and Actor. No Fit State are a modern day circus company who were performing at Victoria Park in East London. They are very different to what you would expect from your normal circus. The performance is very edgy and they like to break the rules. I called them up and asked if it was possible to interview some of their performers. Ali Williams, Creative Director and one of the founding members of the company, suggested that I should try out the trapeze. I tried it but I wasn't satisfied by that so I also tried the exhilarating reverse bungee in which I was put in a full body harness and catapulted from my wheelchair 50 ft into the air! Now that's what I'm talking about!!!! For more info on No fit circus check out Nofitcircus.co.uk.
The question now is what am I going to do next month....