USA Select Team to Argentina
May 30 to June 11, 2006
Coach’s Comments at the Halfway Point
By Geoff Carlston, Ohio University
Our double decker tour bus is just going through a 3-mile tunnel that takes us beneath the Parana River in the central region of Argentina. The team (they live up on the upper deck of the bus) are for the most part asleep. Looking out the window it is easy to see we are not in the United States. Horse drawn wagons, children in uniforms walking to school, pueblos, and buildings both dilapidated and modern mark the scenery. Many people move around by bicycle, others by cars, all very small and high gas mileage. I think I have seen 2 SUV type vehicles in the time we’ve been here.
We have been to Buenos Aires, Mendoza and San Francisco so far and a few things have become very clear to all of us. First of all, the Argentine people are extremely welcoming, genuine and proud of their country. Last night after our match I had a group of folks come over to me and start to talk, asking many questions, but the predominant one was “Te gusta Argentina?” And the answer from all of us is certainly “Yes”.
Second, the food is unique and it seems to keep coming. Last night we ate with the Argentine National Team players and the first plate consisted of ham, cheese, potato salad and two flavors of calf tongue. Most of the players ate some of it until the Argentine girls told them what it was and that pretty much ended that course. Even Amanda from my team, who is a pretty low maintenance eater, couldn’t finish it after thinking about it a bit; ”I kept thinking that I was tasting something that could be tasting me.” Classic. After that chicken stuffed with 100 things, then some pork and of course, always a truckload of breads of all shapes and sizes. To end there is always desert and this time it was home made ice cream with a cookie and fruit mixed in for good measure. Now I know why I haven’t seen a scale since arriving in the country.
The players have been great and seem to be taking the sights and culture in every chance they get, whether it is trying to communicate in Spanish/English with the Argentine players or embracing the paddles when it comes to sub in games.
We are en route to the city Nogoya where we will once again play a local club and the Argentine National Team. Their national team, who we will be playing for the next four days, is strong. It has been interesting for the players and coaches to see the different style of volleyball that the Argentines play. All the teams we have seen have been very disciplined and just do not make many mistakes. The first few matches in Buenos Aires and Mendoza were against physically much smaller teams but they all could hit every shot in the book. Both of our teams lost our matches in Buenos Aires because our opponents just didn’t make many mistakes and we did. I think it was eye opening for our players, who have all played at high levels, to get beat by a much smaller, twenty and thirty-something team.
Both teams made some mental adjustments for the Mendoza matches, realizing that they needed to be aggressive yet patient in order to win at this style of volleyball. The Mendoza matches went much better overall as we played back to back nights, flip flopping between “Regatas” of Mendoza and another top-league club team from San Juan
The freshman squad played Regatas the first night and won 3-1. Reed and I were pretty happy at the progress they made just in terms of tactics, we made less errors and played much more aggressively. This continued the second evening as well, beating San Juan 3-0. The “A Team” also did very well, finding a nice balance between their great athleticism and being smart.
There were a bunch of kids at the events and it was really cool to see the players hanging out with them and having some fun. Some wanted autographs, some players gave them T-shirts, but mostly it was just the experience of bridging both language and cultural barriers for both sides.
Last night we played two teams at a much higher level. The freshman or “jovenes” played Freyre, a local club team and combination of the same discipline but much more athleticism than any teams we had seen thus far. The venue was exciting, some 600+ fans in a small gym, chanting and having some fun. Our players came out a bit nervous and struggled the first two games, losing both. They settled down and found their groove with passing, allowing us to run our middle attack and spread the offense out a bit. The players showed some resiliency and won game three pretty convincingly. But as is the case with all of the teams we’ve seen they don’t get too flustered and are quite stable. This helped them take control of the match in defeating the freshman squad 3-1.
The A squad played against the Argentine National Team after our match ended. The national team, as would be expected, is a whole other level of athleticism and experience. The A team really controlled almost the entire first game, siding out with them point for point and gaining the advantage with our big block, especially by Christina Kirk who had 4 blocks in the game. Again, the experience and discipline of the Argentines came through as they won 4 of the last 5 points to take the first game. They went on to control the rest of the match with their serving and offensive attack, winning 3-0.
So at the halfway point of the trip, one can only say that it has been an incredible experience for us all. We play the national squad 4 more times as well as other Argentine teams and feel confident that both teams will continue to improve as they play together more. Perhaps more important are the cultural experiences that we will find on our path. For example, as I finish this journal entry, we have entered Nogoya and our bus is being led around the entire town by police escort, sirens blaring to announce our arrival. As has been the case for the entire trip, the Argentine people are in the streets waving and welcoming the team with open arms.
Link to Official Argentinean FEVA Page
