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USA Jr A2 Women's Volleyball Team
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Coach's Update 4 Days in Switzerland
By Eric Lazowski, USA Volleyball and Austin Juniors |
Greetings from the freeway in Italy. Currently we are traveling by bus from Solothurn, Switzerland to Pula, Croatia. I have the pleasure of leading our USA Junior National A2 team, with my wonderful assistant Meg Henican. Our team is made up of high school seniors and college freshman from schools around the USA.
Our journey began when we all first met as a team in the Zurich Airport. For me it was a bit easier since I had coached some of the girls in previous A2 camps. The girls all met each other for the first time and our journey began. Oddly enough, the first international experience we had was the kiosk salesman in Switzerland offering samples of cheese; Swiss of course.
We all boarded a train, luggage in tow, and traveled to Solothurn and were met by Timo, a Swiss coach who loves him some Red Bull! He gave us a ride to the Sports Center in Zuchwil which would become our home and training center for the next 4 days. It was similar to a community rec center in the USA with a gym, indoor/outdoor pool with waterslides of course, some soccer fields, a hockey facility which was under construction and a mini golf course made of concrete. Our cafeteria was on site as well and our Swiss hostess was absolutely wonderful. Everyone made us feel very welcome and the facilities were wonderful.
We practiced the first day we arrived and our goal as a team and a staff was to get to know each other and see what we were working with. We scrimmaged the BIP/USA Team that afternoon to get an idea of strengths and weaknesses. We have great athletes in every position and all bring different strengths to the team. We found that our passing and defense were our areas that needed the most improvement. Using the new FIVB Mikasa ball that was used in the Olympics was quite a change from the Moltens we are used to in the USA. Needless to say, the majority of our training from that moment on was focused on passing and digging. We were able to have two practices and then we get to play the Swiss National Team!! Yes, two practices and then off we go!
We definitely started slow and looked like a team that had just been put together and lost sets 1 and 2. Then the true spirit of the girls came out and we proceeded to win sets 3 and 4 to force a 5th set tiebreaker. It was a slow start for us and we ended up dropping the 5th set. All in all, not a bad performance for that early in the trip and against a very good Swiss team.
Day 2 we were able to play the Swiss National Team again in a more informal manner with free substitutions which helped us look at more combinations of players in a game situation. Again, we struggled with ball control and then being aggressive in those out-of-system situations. We lost this day in 3 straight sets. The highlight of the day for me came when Timo asked me to participate in a regional clinic for 13-14 year old Swiss players who were in the gym. He translated for me a little bit but the girls spoke pretty good English (but were just a little shy). They warmed up and we had a great clinic. Our players then came over and the Swiss girls were able to choose one of them to pepper and play some skinny-court-2¹s with. Maile and Kelli Wood made some lifelong friends from the cute little twins. I think they even exchanged emails. It was a great cultural experience for our athletes.
Our training continued and our playing kept improving. We practiced hard the last morning and took the afternoon off to visit the town of Solothurn and shop. I think we must have stopped at every chocolate shop in the village! The old buildings and architecture were absolutely gorgeous. We were able to walk through a large cathedral in the center of town that was magnificent.
This morning we left before sunrise and boarded the bus and are currently on our way to Croatia. The drive through the Swiss Alps was breathtaking and I wish we had more time to see more of Switzerland but our next adventure awaits!
Wish us luck as we compete in Pula! Go USA!
Ciao, Eric |
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