Monday, July 23, 2007

Monday, July 23

First official day of camp,was absolutley great !!!
The weather was nice, perfect for the camp photo.
We started the day with all the campers dressed in orange, navy and orange and the coaches in light blue, navy and navy, making for a pretty picture.
We will have the pictures available on Friday for the kids begore the close of camp.
We took a photo of the dutch players and the dutch coaches and each of them will receive a copy from the camp.

The training was good and the games competitive. The teams were mixed today and the locals and dutchies mixed and started building relationships as teammates.

The afternoon sun was warm and the tempo slowed considerably during the training phase.
The competition of 8v8 generated more interest and enthusiasm and the energy level increased considerably.

The lunch and dinner breaks were well received and the fresh strawberries were a big hit with the dutchies. Everyone was very well behaved and the day went without any incidents.

The evening games of 11 v11 were played at an increased level, just from yesterday.
There were many positive comments about the level of play and the competition to be in top group continues to build.
The coaches evaluate the players adter each session and plan the next day based on the player's performance. The general opinion is that the level overall is good.

I wear an Ajax cap during the day against the sun and that was cheered by some of the dutchies and others chanted other clubs, so it was a bit of fun.

I think the first day has set us up for a great week as the players are competing every time against good players.

I will check and see if we can post pictures on this site.

Glad to see your comments and I will contuinue to post a daily report.
As I spoke with the dutch players, they said they were emailing home with their own camp report.
TM

4 comments:

fam. vd Laan said...

Hi there, it really is great to read about the soccercamp. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning, is read about our kids. Hopefully it will work to put some photo's on the blog. We are very anxious to see what it will look like, those 70 players in the same uniforms doing their favorite thing: playing soccer. What a great experience!!! Say HI to everyone there, best regards from family vd Laan(Michelle and Jordie)

Astrid said...

Hi there,
It's really fun to read what our boys are doing the in St. Louis!! Did you really were an AJAX-cap??? Vitesse okay, but ajax.... hihi!
I'm curious to see the pictures, really fun if they wering the same clothes.
next year the soccercamp in Holland?? bring the sun with you because it's raining here...
can you give Stefan a big hug from all of us here, because we miss him!! lots of love from Astrid, Hans en Lisan en Grandparents!!

theo-bibia basten said...

hello everyone,

I hope the boys and girls can learn from eachother and the language is not a big problem for them. So have a nice second day with good weather and nice games.
Special greetings to Daan and Tim

bye bye
theo & bibia

marcel said...

Well you guys seem to fit an awfull lot of soccer in one day. This must be a great experience for our soccer fanatic kids. I would appreciate it though when you stop talking about the weather as we are soaked in rain and more rtain over here. Finally the "Ajax cap" clearly shows that you are due for a refreher course in Holland. Ajax last championship was in ???