TUESDAY, March 24, 2009
After 2 days of no service on the computer and difficulty getting a signal for the cell phone, I will now provide an update, as best as I can remember.
Sunday: after breakfast, we had a meeting /reunion with the dutchies from last summer and the guest families for this trip. It was a great turnout and everyone seemed excited to see each other again.
Following that we had a training session led by Harry, Theo and Henk ( 3 dutch coaches). It went very well. It was also on Sunday that the weather started to change -- cold and windy, but dry. After training, there were 2 options: visit the War Museum 40-44 or go to a local senior level amateur game.
Monday: Thhe weather turned for the worse -- cold, windy, now wet. We trained and just did finish the session before we had showers. After a big lunch (dinner). we went to the Opan Air Museum in Arnhem -- and it rained (hard) and it was cold and windy. Some of the buildings were not open and it was a walking tour. After the tour, we loaded the bus to go tour games in the evening in Arnhem against the local youth team. It was quite an experience for our players as the dutchies had a degree of playing sophistication and using the body that made life difficult for us.
we played 2 games - 2 different age groups and we got better as the games went on, but did not have enough to overcome the local teams. A good learning experience and hopefully we will better because of it.
TUESDAY: another cold, wet and windy day. We trained in the morning and got blasted by freezing rain. We were able to get most of the session in before we had to give in to the weather. Then it was off to Nijmegen, tpo the local soccer shop ( many purchases) and to the NEC grounds for a stadium tour and to watch some training sessions. Then off to our games for the evening -- we did better, but did not do enough to win. We finished the night with pizza at a local restaurant.
Wednesday: we will spend the day in Germany and play Schalke 04 youth team.
2 comments:
Terry, Jan and all:
wish I was with you. The economy just got in the way.
For those who don't know:
MLS got under way last weekend and there were some great goals/games.
Only Dutch player in the league is Van den Burg - in Dallas now, where his child can get top medical treatment.
The WPS, with a goal to be the TOP women's league in the world, is starting up this weekend. Great players! We have a team in STL called Athletic and I'll be the liaison for the referes.
High School: girls starting play this week. CBC doesn't have girls in the school, meaning Terry knows nothing about girls... :) :)
I forgot:
when you are at Gelsenkirchen/Schalke 04:
I almost died when we (US)allowed the Czechs to score so early in WC2006! Koeller spent the whole warmup scoring headballs via serves from the right or left. The US surely saw this...but: the defense couldn't stop the warm up drill!
Be sure to visit the "Hall of Fame" on the second level of the stadium...not just the company store.
The players will enjoy the grass "parked" in the parking lot...and then rolled into the stadium for games....just like the new Arizona Stadium for US football
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