Summer Tour 1999

Match Against Brno, Czech Republic, August 26th, 1999

Top Row: Mike Mulvey (Canada), Donny Harris, Tony Pray, Guy Nembhard, Harolds "Chivas" Cyvas (Lithuania), Keenan Whitehurst, Tim Kelly Bottom Row: Atreyu, Dan Fisher, Riley Salmon, Daniel Schultz, Solomon Hwang (South Korea), Carlos Luis Lopez (Puerto Rico)

The team came back to win the match in the 5th game after winning the 3rd game 42-40 and loosing the 4th 29-27.

Other tour members not present in the match include:

James Hennemover (left for Belgium), Ben Moselle (left for Holland), Brian Kressler (left for Germany), Mike Salak (hired pre-tour in Belgium), Jason Axford (left for Austria), Jason Ring (hired pre-tour in Austria), Tom Papp, Scott Faust, Douglas Hughes, Jason Hughes, and Chris Jacobson (arrived later)

Tour schedule:

What I am going to do here in lieu of a real “journal” written by one of the players (I just don’t want to wait this time) is run through the schedule from my point of view. This will illustrate the insanity of the comings and goings and I will also inject certain “lessons” that I want future tour-goers to learn. We are going to have rules on the tour in the future and here is Rule #1: Don’t come to Europe with less than $300 in cash and don’t come without a credit or ATM card. Also, make sure that your card has a 4 digit pin # that doesn’t start with a 0.

The initial tour group was slated to include Brooklyn New York’s Mike Salak. Mike came over early (always good) to stay with his friend Kyle Robinson of Zorgvliet fame. Mike got a job in Belgium with a good team before the tour even started. Many high fives to Kyle for his help and insight and a big New York “hug” (that’s with the handclasp in front and the fist pound on the back) to Mike for having some sack. Mike will have a great year and ended the tour as a top candidate for MVP of the tour. Story to follow later.

So the tour started without Mr. Salak. I will print the final “tour roster” here and explain how we started afterwards:

Curt Vaughan setter 191 cm
Daniel Schultz 4 198 cm
James Hennemover 3 206 cm
Carlos Luis Lopez setter 191 cm
Mike Mulvey 3, 2, 4 195 cm
Solomon Hwang 4 198 cm
Tony Pray 2,4 193 cm
Riley Solomon 4 194 cm
Ben Moselle 4 195 cm
Donny Harris 2,4,3 200 cm
Keenan Whitehurst 3 200 cm
Dan Fisher setter 200 cm
Guy Nembhard 3, 2 198 cm
Brian Kressler 4, 2 193 cm
Michelle Buckner setter (female)
Mike Salak 4 193 cm
Jason Axford 4 191 cm
Haroldas Cyvas 3, 2 200 cm
Jason Ring 4, 2 193 cm
Scott Faust 3 198 cm
Chris Jacobson 3 205 cm
Tom Papp 4 / libero 193 cm
Doug Hughes 4, 3, 2 198 cm
Jason Hughes 2 198 cm

Rule #2: Learn the European positions (2 = opposite, 3 = middle, 4 = outside) and know your height in centimeters (and your jump, weight, etc).

The first 15 people were all there the day we headed up to Schuttorf for our first match. Michelle Buckner wasn’t playing on the tour but travelling with us and training with female teams along the way. She was a great sport and eventually got a good job outside of Munich with SV Lohhof. Many thanks to Axel and the girls at USC Munster for their help and also to Peter Nonnenbroich of SV Lohhof. I don’t think that many girls could put up with what Michelle saw and experienced, but if anyone wants to try, let me know. It’s a great way to get a job.

Schuttorf is an annual stop for us and they are great hosts that always have a little crowd for the game. We had a lot of trouble playing together but it gave me a chance to see everyone and Daniel, Ben and Riley were all players that the team was thinking about hiring. They had all trained with the team the day before (again, they came early) and it seemed one of them would be hired. We ended up leaving Ben Moselle and Daniel “Dfish” Fisher there to train and beg for spots while we drove south to Munich and the SV Lohhof Tournament.

We drove all day and arrived in Dachau (outside of Munich) on Friday evening. SV Dachau was a new stop for the tour and we got there a little early to get something to eat. We were ready for this team and came out on fire. Daniel Schultz was pounding balls to the ceiling and everyone was blocking and serving well. After waking the Germans up we got pummeled but again, a good day. Coach Zoppelt was interested in both Riley and Dan and promised to come watch us play in Lohhof the next day.

We were sleeping in our sleeping bags in the gym at Lohhof for the weekend so we headed over there after the game and got settled. The coach and guys at Lohhof are favorites of ours and it was a great weekend. We played SV Lohhof and Unterhaching of Germany on Saturday and beat them both. We had some personality flare-ups but nothing major.

Rule #3: don’t even think of coming over without a sleeping bag, towel, shoes socks, and underwear.

Rule #4: Do what you’re told- especially when it’s to help the team. Don’t come over expecting to be pampered. Instead, expect to do some work to help yourself and the team not only get jobs, but survive and not lose everything that we own. I’m very busy on tour and don’t want to have to keep track of water, the balls, your uniforms, and your eating schedule. We don’t have a manager and I’m not a babysitter. There is a lot of work to make this happen and I expect a lot of help from everyone.

The victories gave us fire to hit the city of Munich for a big night out. We started by eating dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. and then hit the town to basically bring it down. A good night out to say the least. Any time you can go to the Hofbrauhaus you’re in for a good time.

Rule #5: Learn something about Europe and the major cities we’re visiting before you come over. It’s embarrassing to say, “We’re going to Berlin today” and have someone say, “Where’s that? Is that in Amsterdam? Try to know something about the famous buildings and maybe even the current events or exchange rates. Try to arrive with some sort of clue.

Sunday morning saw us squeak a tournament victory out against Salzburg from Austria. At least I think we won. Riley Salmon was Tourney MVP (in my book) and had a lot of interest from Salzburg and Dachau. Daniel played terrible and lost any chance of playing in Dachau. This brings us to…

Rule #6: I am very frank and don’t sugar coat people’s playing ability or chances of playing. The game is different in Europe than in the NCAA (especially “eastie” NCAA ball) and hitting “2” balls against a Champions League Team won’t fly. We all try to help “coach” each other as we don’t often have a real coach. I make the lineups and try to tell players what I think will help them play and look better to get a job on the tour. I don’t need excuses and neither do any of the older players that often try to help the younger guys deal with what they learned or didn’t learn in college.

We also took a trip to the concentration camps of Dachau sometime during our stay. Overwhelming and highly recommended.

Note: The Great Nobu was also in the house in Lohhof. Nobu was a member of the Israel Tour ’99 and secured a setter spot for himself in Lohhof for this season. Congrats! We look forward to travelling with Nobu next summer if he doesn’t stay in Lohhof.

From Munich it was off to Vienna, Austria for our annual stop and training camp at Donaukraft Wien. Many thanks to Peter and Igor and the Donaukraft Club for their endless hospitality and friendship. We didn’t play up to par in Donaukraft, but we did manage to secure a job for Jason Ring (who flew out to join the tour but got hired in Austria before meeting up with the team) and we also had a great time. We got to watch the Austrian and Finnish National Teams battle out a pre-EC friendly match and we got to spend some quality time in the great city of Vienna. We also picked up Lithuanian Volley God Haroldas Cyvas to add some color to the rest of the tour. Fellow Americans Matt Fuerbringer and Erik Seiffert also play in Donaukraft so it was nice for some of the guys to learn firsthand something about Eurovolley.

We also met up with South African Jason Axford in Donaukraft. Jason had mysteriously been sent to the top clubs in Europe by some genius agent and was trying out with Donaukraft. Jason is about 191 cm and has no European experience and the club was looking for a 200 cm player with tons of National Team experience. Jason joined our squad for a day and was all set to join the tour after the marginally worrisome eastern stint. We sent him down to Klagenfurt, Austria for the time in between and he got himself a job down there. I don’t know if we should say he was ever really “on the tour”, but we enjoyed having him with us for a few days in Vienna and look forward to having him on board next year.

Somewhere during our stay in Vienna we lost James Hennemover. James had received an offer from a club in Belgium that he had trained with pre-tour. This upset the little fellow and he left a “Dear John” letter in his hotel room in Vienna and just disappeared. After a few days of near-panic, we learned that he had somehow returned to the USA and just didn’t have the stomach for Europe. There has got to be a lesson here somewhere but I don’t know quite what it is. In any case, James was a great guy that was playing well in the middle and just didn’t like the tour. I will print part of his letter here and hope that he won’t mind:

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Found in a hotel room outside of Vienna, Austria at 8am on August 24, 1999 –

"Guys I went home. It is obvious that the week I was here I was horribly miserable. I don’t like getting lost every day. Though this may seem fun to you guys, I … hate it. Tim, thanks for all your hard work and sorry I didn’t work out, but … it should be OK. I don’t want to leave on bad terms with anybody. You guys are awesome and I know you will all get (big) contracts. I wish I could be as mentally tough as you guys but I’m not. I will regret this decision more than anything else, but I’d regret it if I stayed. It just doesn’t feel like I’m playing for anything out here. There is no purpose or feeling… Sorry for all my bitching this week, if I stayed it would only get worse. I wish I could explain better but I can’t….I’ll never forget any of you. God bless you all."

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Before we left Vienna we sent Brian Kressler to play with Chris Kosty’s team in Saulgau, Germany. Brian never really got up to 100% of his ability, but he was improving daily and was the only decent outside blocker on the tour at the time of his departure. He ended up signing a pretty good contract (and he got a SMART car like Chris) and we wish TSV Saulgau the best of luck in winning their league this year.

There was also a point where we had lost Keenan Whitehurst for a day or two. He had left to tryout in Berlin but didn’t make the team and joined us again before our departure to the former Eastern Bloc. Dfish also rejoined us from Germany (he didn’t get that job) and Ben was off somewhere with his girlfriend. He didn’t like the tour much either I guess.
Off to Bratislava. We had a Korean, Solomon Hwang, with us and decided to “smuggle” him in to save him the $60 visa and endless hassle. We handed the border guard x-1 passports and somehow it worked. We were travelling in one van and two cars and I think the confusion of all those crazy Americans (with a Cannuck, a Lithuanian and a Korean) helped us out. We arrived in Bratislava in time to hand a beatdown to the Champions League club and then hit the town. Another great night and the team had a blast sleeping in the boxing gym above the sporthall.

Rule #7: Learn the difference between a D1 team and D2 team. Also learn what is meant by Champions League, Cup Winners League, and CEV Cup. These “leagues” are the same for all Euro-sports and is something worth understanding before you get over here. You can get a lot of info at the FIVB site (www.fivb.ch)

From Bratislava we drove two hours north to Brno, Czech Republic. This was a new stop for us and rumors were flying that they needed players. We came out on fire in front of a crowd of maybe 200. We had expected a big time match but got only a decent showing from the crowd. The match was a good one by the whole team and we eked out a 3-2 victory with the score of the 2nd set going 42-40. After the match we were treated to a nice meal and the team offered pre-contracts to Guy Nembhard and Riley. Both played well and were happy with the tentative offers. We were off to Italy soon though and no one wanted to sign just yet. We had a nice night out on the town once again. There were only 12 of us that night yet I recall at least 13 people waking up in the hotel…

Rule #8: You can do whatever you want but make sure you’re ready to bring it when you get on the court. Guys that can’t go out at night and then perform in the gym the next day shouldn’t go out at all. You are here to experience Europe, but from now on, the #1 priority on the tour is to get a job. If you have to stay in one night a week to deliver, then stay in.
We got our first day off after Brno and we split up for the day. I for one spent a wonderful day with the lovely Caroline Jahn and Mr. Daniel Schultz in Budapest, Hungary. We picked up an Israeli coach (Nestor from Macabbi Tel-Aviv where Chris Jacobson played last year) that came to spend the weekend looking at players and then enjoyed the city until we had to get to Dunaujvaros (an hour south) to check in for the weekend.

We were guests of the club Dunaferr and the Hungarian National Team and Federation and they set us up with some great meals and nice accommodations. We played the National Team on Saturday night, and then again on Sunday morning. They boast some real-big-time players (including Kantor of Italian Super Club Modena) and they pretty much hammered us. Our big guns never really got going but I don’t know if we could have taken a set even if we careered. It would have been nice to try though. After the second loss we had an afternoon match against the local club team, Dunaferr and bounced back pretty well. It was nice to get a win in Hungary. (Again, I think we won).

Before leaving Hungary we lost Solomon Hwang. Solomon had come to the tour from business school in New York to see if he had what it takes to play in Europe in the future. He didn’t want to lose touch with the sport and I think he proved himself to be quite a champ. It’s too bad he couldn’t have stuck around a little longer as we could have used him several times after we left. I forgot to mention that we also added someone in Hungary. Tom Papp of Gordon Mayforth fame was living in Budapest (he has relatives) and Daniel Schultz got him to join up and add some passing to the team.

From Hungary it was off to Zagreb, Croatia. We had been promised a real match, against a real team, and a place to sleep in the gym and arrived to find none of the above. Apparently the coach didn’t want to play us so we scrimmaged some ex-players in t-shirts and then went into the city to get our own dinner and pay for our own hotels. It turned out to be one of the better nights on the tour. We had a great (and cheap) hostel and the city is really a nice place with lots to do. I don’t know that we’ll ever go back as a formal tour visit, but it was a great stop for our first time in Croatia.

Rule #9: Be ready for anything and always be positive.

After Zagreb we had a day off and a long drive ahead of us. We split up again and here’s where my van went. We started at the Zagreb airport to send Mike Mulvey (getting rid of any Cannucks right away is a standard tour philosophy) to Finland for a tryout with Raisio Loimu outside of Turku, Finland. They had called needing a middle and Mike was doing really well. One down. We also looked for tickets for Keenan (to go to Malaga, Spain for another tryout) and Tony Pray (to go to La Coruña, Spain for a tryout), but there were no good flights from Croatia to Spain so we hit the road. It was a great day and we stopped into Lubjiana, Slovenia for a quick looksee on the way through. I was blown away by how nice the city was and what a great day we’d stumbled on to. There were 2-3 markets going and tons of people out everywhere. We cruised around the town for a bit, ate some lunch, and then set off for Venice.

We arrived in Venice in the late afternoon and took a train into the center. We were going to meet the rest of the team in Ancona that night, but we had to find Chris Jacobson, Douglas Hughes, and Scotty Faust in Venice to take them south with us. They had flown in as tour replacements and we had to accommodate them. We put Tony on a 36 hour long train ride to Spain (he got robbed on the way but got a great job when he got there) and then hit the town. Venice is a tremendous city that I won’t even try to describe. I only know that we will stop there on every tour from here on. We left late and got to our hotel about midnight. We were a solid 7 hours ahead of the last group to arrive and I can’t even begin to imagine how they had spent their day.

Somehow we were plenty ready to go on the day of our first game in Italy. We had a short training in Falconara and a nice day around town. We were met by our lovely Italian agent, Ms. Annarita Sensini, and our good friend and technical advisor, Tarcisio Pacetti, in the hotel parking lot that afternoon and headed off for Loreto. Everyone showed up that night: the crowd (300 people), the outsides, the middles, the setter, the libero, and the opposites. We handed Loreto a 3-1 loss and showed our southern friends what some of these guys had to offer. We had switched William “Don Guillermo” Harris to outside to allow he and Riley and Cyvas to hit outside and it worked well for us. Just about everyone saw PT and everyone delivered. A great meal followed and we hit the sack for day #2.

A 3 hour drive to Castiglione del Lago had us a little worried about our abilities for the day but Castiglione wasn’t really ready for us and we won quite easily in 4. It was nice to see the team really come together for the big games and I was ready for the rest of the tour to be a string of burials. Castiglione del Lago is located is a great little spot on a lake in central Italy and they treated us to separate seating for an aperitif and a wonderful Italian meal. Tarcisio isn’t afraid to refill wine glasses and the waiters weren’t afraid to keep a ton of great food coming. As usual, a wonderful night in Italy. The drive back was only 2 hours and again we hit the sack early to prepare for Falconara the next day.

Rule # 10: Bring nice clothes and leather shoes and be prepared to wear them on occasion. In Europe, players wear “nice” clothes to the game and change into their uniforms in the locker room. After the game, they shower and put the nice clothes back on for dinner, drinks, or going out. This is what we do too. It makes us look more respectable and it facilitates going out. We play until late at night, then shower in the gym, and then hurry into our nice clothes and we go out. You also wash your jersey in the shower so that it doesn’t stink when you have to wear it the next day. (They jerseys are very light weight and can dry in 2-3 minutes if hung out of a moving van at 200 km/hour).

We awoke in Falconara and went our own ways for the day. I think some guys even trained that morning. Falconara was an A1 Team in 1998-99 and the previous summer we beat them on a Sunday afternoon in front of about 1000 people. At that time they had a $100,000 Greek player on their team and we put him on the bench. I expected another great crowd as Falconara is the home of our hosts Ms. Sensini and Mr. Pacetti and a true volleyball hotbed of Italy. They didn’t disappoint, and even though the club is now A2, they beat us in 4 in a non-spectacular showing by our squad.

In our defense, team star and Tour MVP (yes, Riley gets the trophy) Riley Salmon wasn’t with us. He got called up to A2 club Livorno for a match against A1 Parma. His “team” got killed but he played well and earned a contract in Italy! We are all really proud of Riley as he was a guy that really wanted to play and delivered nearly every day. A Pierce college player (he never played NCAA ball) in Italy, who’d of guessed?

Also, Donny Harris had such a good match (or matches during the week) that Pacetti sent him to Napoli for a tryout and he too got the job. Two tour members actually got jobs in Italy. I guess this is a good time to throw out a “Hi Ho” to A1 Al (Alyson Randick). A1 is playing in A1 Palermo for the season and we all love her and wish her the best.

That night we were again treated to an excellent meal by our gracious hosts of the Falconara team and club. The wine didn’t stop coming and tons of regional dishes passed across the table for the duration of the night. Unfortunately, some idiots decided to take it too far and for the record, I was quite disappointed at the teams’ lack of interior leadership. To sum things up, a disgusting display was put on by a tour member in which a TV made it out the hotel window and one of my personal friends and colleagues was mistreated in an inexcusable manner. All of this under the “watchful” eye of the rest of the team. This was the night that Tour Rules were born and the night that will change the face of the tour forever.

Rule #11 : RESPECT OUR HOSTS. I want to stress this rule. This should be rule number one. What it means is that you can have fun and party and carry on and do whatever you want, but don’t disrespect the people that make the tour possible. Don’t disrespect the towns or teams or hotels or anything or anybody. Take care of yourself and try hard to end the prevalent stereotype of the “Ugly American”.
This also leads us to…

Rule #12: TAKE CARE OF THE TOUR. By this I mean take care of the other guys on the tour as well as yourself. Maybe this should be rule number 1. If you’re the last guy out of the van, lock it. If you’re the last guy out of the locker room, pick up that pair of shorts under the bench. If you’re not on ball duty but you see the ball bag, get it. If someone is being a drunk asshole, carry him up to his room and knock him into his sleeping bag. If someone throws a TV out the window, tell me right away so I can try and rectify the situation. We all want to have fun but if we can just inject a tiny bit of responsibility, it will be that much better for everyone.

Italy turned into a mass exodus for the team. Riley stayed in Italy to sign with Livorno. Donny stayed to tryout and eventually sign in Napoli. Curt Vaughan disappeared and Atreyu (the setter formerly known as Curtis Vaughan) arrived. Keenan left for Malaga. Guy left for Brno. Dfish left again, this time for Menen in Belgium.

The rest of us packed into the cars and started a ridiculous journey to Munster, Germany – 1600 km away. We were supposed to play in Switzerland, but car troubles and a general lack of service in Europe kept us from making it. Apologies to Baden Volleyball team (sorry Tibor) for our no-show. I was with Atreyu, CJ, Sweet Dougy Hughes and Caroline in two cars and we basically floored it all the way through Italy to Lugano, Switzerland. Lugano is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and we spent an hour or so eating in the market square and enjoying the sunset. From there it was a relentless marathon through the night to arrive in Munster by 5am. I don’t know how we did it, but we made it and the rest of the tour was at that moment cancelled. We had no “team” and I had no more fire.

Daniel Schultz (van leader) arrived with the others the next day just before noon. The van goes much slower than the cars. We all packed into my apartment for a week of sardine-quality sleeping arrangements and Caroline went to her parents’ house for the week to escape “the tour”. We cancelled all the rest of the matches with the intention of sending the remaining guys on tryouts. The tournament directors for the upcoming weekend screamed bloody murder however, and the tour was soon rescheduled. We had to recall some players (or try to) in order to have a full team for the weekend, and set off on Wednesday to “play against” Moers in Germany. We had only 6 players so it wasn’t really a match, but it was enough to interest them in Cyvas and Douglas. We wouldn’t let them stay for a longer tryout, but we promised to be back.

The next day we took our group of 6 to Almere, Holland to play the recently moved Omniworld team and their fearless leader, Dutch hero and Olympic medallist of the early 90’s, Edwin Benne. I think we won in five but we really didn’t have a great match. The guys were just too tired and some of them were starting to have bad attitudes and worry that they wouldn’t get a job. This is unacceptable.

Rule #13: Never give up hope or worry about getting a job on the tour. If you’ve got a good attitude and play hard, you will get a job. If I tell you that you are doing well and that you just need to wait it out, that’s normally the truth. I’ll tell you if you’re not good enough or if you have to do more. You just need to press on and play your best every day. After the match we ate out Dutch sandwiches and headed to Apeldoorn where we would spend the night in the lovely Café and Hotel de Paris.

Our host Nicole had a friend from South Africa (thanks Roxanne!) that was going to let us sleep on her floor in her room and we also had former tour member Carlos Luis Lopez training in Apeldoorn for a libero spot. They didn’t keep him after we came through, but he had a room in the hotel that night so there was plenty of floor-space for all. We had a nice evening out in Apeldoorn and passed out pretty late.

The next morning we were up and out of the hotel by 2pm. We had another match with our merry band of 6 at 3:30 so we wandered to the gym for our “match” against the Dutch Champions. The Apeldoorn team, Dynamo, is a yearly stop on the tour and they were good sports. They were missing a few players too so we just fooled around for a few sets and called it a day. They took us out for a nice evening meal and some beers so we were happy (if not totally exhausted). After the meal we made the drive (with Carlos bringing the total to 7) back to Munster to our beloved floor.

We were to play our first game in the weekend Nordhorn Tournament at 11:00 so we got up bright and early for the 45 minute drive. We somehow had gotten up to 8 players, and Mike Salak had clearance to join us from his Belgian team so we looked OK. We had the 2nd match in our pool and showed up late as usual. By the end of the day, our 9 man roster had gone undefeated against a 1st league team from Berlin, another 1st league German team from Fellbach, and a 2nd league German team (our friends and previous sparring partner) from Munster. I can’t say enough about Mike Salak’s appearance at the tournament and his ability to fit into the team after about 10 minutes of playing. I wish I could expect this out of everyone.

Sunday was to be a little different as Cyvas and Douglas had to leave to play with Moers (as a tryout) in a tournament in Belgium. We were in the winner’s flight (it’s a 24 team tournament with teams from Denmark, Belgium, Germany, etc.) so we knew it’d be tough with only 7 players. Cyvas had also been carrying us the day before so we had to carry on without our big gun. We lost to Zorgvliet Antwerpen first (a top Belgian team that boasts Mike Sealy and Kyle Robinson) and then to Vrevok (a Dutch top team that Sealy, Duke, Kepner, Guigliano, Winter, and myself had played for in 1997-98). This put us in the match for 5th against Dachau; a team we knew well and had played earlier in the tour. As both teams were exhausted (they were hung over and had only 8 players) we decided to scrap the tournament rules (3 games to 15 rally score) and play 2 x 25 point games. It was a mess and I have no idea who won. I think we got 6th place though. Congratulations to Gaby and Uli Eilts on another great tournament. As usual, I promise to bring a team that will win the tournament next summer!

After that fiasco we decided Monday off was a good thing. Tuesday the team trained at Moers again (Doug and Cyvas would later sign) and then we checked into the Courtyard Marriott in Bottrop, Germany for our grand finale. We were to compete in the Bottrop International with SV Wuppertal (Cup Winners of Germany), Samotlor Russia (a 96 hour bus ride had gotten them to Bottrop from Siberia), and the local team, VC Bottrop (with American Tyson Kerr and Canadian Mike Hamm). Our wonderful host Wolfgang Donat took care of the hotel and meals for the week and we were set until Friday morning. Many thanks to the Courtyard by Marriott for a great week and tons of great breakfasts for all.

Wednesday we trained in the morning and then played against Wuppertal in the “semi final”. We jumped out to a 8-2 lead on great serving by CJ, but then seized up and lost a close one. We were terrible from there on (other than Cyvas’ hitting) and lost a dismal battle in 3. In the guys’ defense, Wuppertal is a very good team.

Thursday we played the home team for “3rd place” in front of about 150 fans. There had been about 300 the first night (including Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny from the new Warner World in Oberhausen) so it was kind of a let down. Bottrop is a D2 team and we disposed of them quite handily to officially end the tour on a victorious note. Again, thanks to Wolfgang for the great meals and nice hotel! I also will bring a team to win your tournament next season.
Rule #14: From now on, all players on the tour will sign an agreement stating that they will return to the tour at their own cost (or that of the signing team) if they are needed after their departure until the actual end of the tour. We need to have GOOD teams in these tournaments to: 1. Win, 2. Show everyone off for the future, 3. Win. Teams that sign tour players will understand this new and fun addition to the tour and it’s many hassles.
Friday morning we shipped Daniel off to Zwolle to take a job that Ben Moselle had signed for and left without reason. Cyvas and Doug were sent back to Moers. Jason Hughes took off for Innsbruck, Austria for a tryout he didn’t make and then came back the next day. CJ went to Torhout to train with Salak’s team. He signed too. Atreyu went to Spain to visit Keenan (who signed in Malaga), Tom Duke (he signed in Granada), and Esteban Rodriguez (he signed in Barcelona) and stay in shape for when his offer finally comes. Tom Papp is travelling Europe doing the same, and Carlos Luis Lopez left for home without calling in before his departure. He doesn’t know this at the time of printing, but an offer came in from Luxembourg the night before he left. They can’t pay for a ticket back to Europe and the deadline for signing is in 3 days. He won’t end up with a job this year, but Carlos would have had it had he called in.
Rule #15: ALWAYS stay in touch with the group.

Well, that’s it for the tour proper. The following weekend, as a side note, follows:

Friday night CJ played with Torhout against Gran Canaria Las Palmas (another team that needed a middle) and did well. Both teams wanted him. Caroline and I attended the Maaseik Tournament that night to see if any of the 6 teams there needed a player. Many thanks to Rene and everyone at Maaseik for a lovely meal, a great evening, and a great tournament. It was “Swinging in Maaseik” that night and we were happy to meet up with Mike Sealy for the evening. Side note: Mike Diehl signed with Maaseik after a tryout during the last week of our tour. Good luck to them this season.
Saturday night CJ was to play with the Spanish club of Las Palmas against Roselare. It was opening night in Roselare’s new gym and CJ ended up playing in front of 2000 fans. It was incredible and he had a good game. The next day, he opted to sign with Torhout (just to hang out with Salak I think).
Sunday we made it up to the second of two Nordhorn Tournaments just to finish out the longest 33 days of volleyball ever. Chad Strickland’s Go Pass Lennik (Belgium) beat Wuppertal in the final 3-0. The game was played with the new “let-serve” rule and it was actually quite entertaining. I wish I could tell you more about it, but I’ve written this whole thing in one sitting and I want to go to bed now. I will ask Chad to write a short story about the rule for volleyball.about.com. As you hopefully know, ther are a proud sponsor of the tours and have a great site at: http://volleyball.about.com

Here is the final list of tour participants with their new teams:

Atreyu - travelling in Spain
Daniel Schultz - Remote IT/Zwolle, Netherlands
James Hennemover - returning to Concordia College
Carlos Luis Lopez - home to Puerto Rico
Mike Mulvey - Raisio Loimu, Finland (pending)
Solomon Hwang - business school, New York
Tony Pray - Ventorillo La Coruña, Spain
Riley Solomon - Livorno, Italy
Ben Moselle - home to USA
Donny Harris - Napoli, Italy
Keenan Whitehurst - IVESUR Malaga, Spain
Dan Fisher - Volley Menen, Belgium
Guy Nemhardt - Brno, Czech Republic
Brian Kressler - TSV Saulgau, Germany
Michelle Buckner - SV Lohhof, Germany
Mike Salak - Kaepa Torhout, Belgium
Jason Axford - Klagenfurt, Austria
Haroldas Cyvas - Moerser Sportclub, Germany
Jason Ring - Donaukraft, Austria
Scott Faust - Ottinois, Belgium
Chris Jacobson - Kaepa Torhout, Belgium
Tom Papp - travelling in Europe
Doug Hughes - Moerser Sportclub, Germany
Jason Hughes - travelling in Belgium

And here is a recap of the rules…Print this out and bring it with you.
We’ll see you all next summer!

• Rule #1: Don’t come to Europe with less than $300 in cash. Don’t come without a credit card or ATM. Make sure all cards have a 4 digit pin # that doesn’t start with a 0.
  
• Rule #2: Learn the European positions (2 = opposite, 3 = middle, 4 = outside) and know your height in centimeters (and your jump, weight, etc). It doesn’t hurt to understand degrees in centigrade and kilometers either
  
• Rule #3: Don’t even think of coming to Europe without a sleeping bag and towel.
  
• Rule #4: Do what’s asked of you. Especially when it’s to help the team. Don’t come over expecting to be pampered. Instead, expect to do some work to help yourself and the team.
  
• Rule #5: Learn something about Europe and the major cities we’re visiting.
  
• Rule #6: Be ready to accept constructive criticism on your game and want to get better. There is always something more you can learn to improve your game.
  
• Rule #7: Learn the difference between D1 teams and D2 teams. Know which countries are good and which aren’t (volleyball-wise). Learn what is meant by Champions League, Cup Winners League, and CEV Cup.
  
• Rule #8: You can do whatever you want but make sure you’re ready to bring it when you get on the court. Guys that can’t go out at night and then perform in the gym the next day shouldn’t go out at all. You are here to experience Europe, but from now on, the #1 priority on the tour is to get a job. If you have to stay in one night a week to deliver, then stay in.
  
• Rule #9: Be ready for anything and always be positive.
  
• Rule # 10: Bring nice clothes and leather shoes and be prepared to wear them on occasion. In Europe, players wear “nice” clothes to the game and change into their uniforms in the locker room. After the game, they shower and put the nice clothes back on for dinner, drinks, or going out. This is what we do too. It makes us look more respectable and it facilitates going out. We play until late, you shower in the gym, and you hurry into your nice clothes and we go out. You also wash your jersey in the shower so that it doesn’t stink when you have to wear it the next day. (They jerseys are very light-weight and can dry in 2-3 minutes if hung out of a moving van at 200 km/hour).
  
• Rule #11: RESPECT OUR HOSTS.
  
• Rule #12: TAKE CARE OF THE TOUR. Take care of the other guys on the tour as well as yourself. This rule is obviously repetitive and covers all of the other rules. This is the golden rule. I don’t know why it is #12 instead of #1 or #15. This wasn’t planned in the first place.
  
• Rule #13: Never give up hope or worry about getting a job on the tour. If you’ve got a good attitude and play hard, you will get a job.
  
• Rule #14: All players on the tour will sign an agreement stating that they will return to the tour at their own cost (or that of the signing team) if they are needed after their departure until the actual end of the tour.
• Rule #15: ALWAYS stay in touch with the group. I always have a mobile number and you should always know what it is. Parental calls to the tour mobile are in case of emergency only. Also keep in mind there is a time difference.Many, many thanks to all the teams, agents, and promoters that made the tour possible this year and to all the players that worked so hard every day. This tour was far too long and it really took a lot of effort for all these guys to handle themselves so well. I’m really proud of everyone that stuck it out and hope that everyone has a great season.
  
  
  -Tim Kelly