Trip Completed – Mission Accomplished

Front Range returned from its first international travel trip on July 21, with a successful venture under its belt, both from the travel perspective and the competition perspective.  More than successful, it was, in a word, “amazing.”

The competition ranged from slightly beneath our level to definitely above.  It included two matches each against the German Youth National team (we split), the Czech Youth National team (we won both), the Bavarian Select team (we split), the Slovenian Junior National team (we split), a club team from Innsbruck (we won),  and one against the Croatian Junior National team (we lost).  The highlight of the competition came in taking first place in a tournament against the Bavarians, Slovenians and Austrians, complete with a trophy and a presentation by the local mayor.

The travel included time spent in Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovenian.  The team visited Dachau, the notorious concentration camp from World War II; Berlin, one of the largest cities in the world and the site of “The Wall,” which divided the East and West in Berlin and whose fall in 1989 signaled the end of the Cold War; two of Emperor Ludwig II’s fantastic castles, including the one Cinderella’s castle in Disney World is modeled after; Innsbruck in the Austrian Alps; Cortina in the Italian Alps; Venice; and Koper on the Adriatic Sea in Slovenia.  They saw cathedrals, cottages, castles and canals.  They rode on planes, trains, buses and carriages.  They learned that gasoline is $6 a gallon in Europe, that Smart cars are pretty cute, that Venice is sinking and that a good dish of gelato will cure almost any ill.

Front Range traveled with a team from the Northern Lights club in Minneapolis and became quite good friends with all ten of the “Lights” players.  They all learned how to communicate and have fun with the German, Czech, Bavarian, Austrian, Slovenian and Croatian teams they played.  They had a Bar BQ (German style) and dance party with the German and Czech teams in Berlin, dined at an authentic Austrian restaurant and had a treasure hunt in Innsbruck with the Bavarian, Slovenian and Austrian teams and had a pizza party with the Croatian team beside the Adriatic Sea. 

The players stayed in the Olympic Rowing Center in Munich, one of the sites of the infamous 1972 games where Israeli athletes were taken hostage and killed by terrorists; at the Kienbaum sports center in Berlin, a top secret athlete development center in East Germany during the years of the Cold War; and at a girls’ school in Innsbruck which had a circular dorm building.  They played at one of the sites for the Olympic games held in Innsbruck and a brand new sports facility in Slovenia.

The overwhelming sentiment among the nineteen players, the seven parents, the one sibling and the eight staff members who made the trip was that it was an opportunity of a lifetime to compete internationally against good to very good teams that they otherwise would never have a chance to play.  We’d all do it again – just not for a few weeks while we recover from jet lag!

The trip schedule:

July 9 & 10 - Traveling Days.  Sightseeing in Munich area.

July 11 – Travel to Berlin.  Practice in Kienbaum. 

July 12 – Morning practice.  Play at the Kienbaum Sportshalle.  FR vs Germany (FR in 4). 

July 13 – Sightseeing in East Berlin.  Play at the Kienbaum Sportshalle.  FR vs Czech Youth National team (FR in 3).

July 14 – Shopping in Berlin.  FR vs Czech Youth Nat’l Team (FR in 2) and vs Germany (Germany in 2)

July 15 - Travel to Innsbruck

July 16 –  First Day of Play in Innsbruck.  FR in two squads (Black and White).  Tournament play vs. NL, Bavarian Select Team, Slovenian Jr National Team, Innsbruck club team.

July 17 - Final Day of the Tournament – White squad wins the tournament
             

July 18 – Travel to Pordenone (Venice area).  Sightseeing along the way in the Tyrolean area of the Austrian and Italian Alps.

July 19 – Sightseeing in Venice

July 20 - Croatian Junior National Team in Slovenia      .  FR vs Junior Team (Croatia in 2)

July 21 -  Travel home