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| "Eastie" Coaches Tour 2001 Journal | ||||||||
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| Day 1 - "The Beginning"
Monday, March 12, Berlin, Germany |
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| Day 2 | ||||||||
Our bodies are still dragging a bit from the trip over from the States (mine maybe slightly more adjusted than the rest because I have been here for a couple of days) My roommate on the tour is Grayson DuBose and he is a wizard when it comes to drifting off to sleep in mid-sentence and then crashing my sleeping pattern with a thunderous snore like you have never heard. (Later to find out that there is no comparison to the infamous and earth shaking Rob Patrick whom I roomed with on the final night). In the morning the nine of us loaded in the van to view a second training session with the German Junior National Team. Their idea of stretching and warming up the arm by attacking against the wall took us well into the second hour of training. Once they began drilling competitively we were able to see a few great athletes that anyone of us would have snuck into a duffel and passed through customs. Tim wondered for about three seconds if we needed more than one van to travel on the Eastie Tour and then sent Cory to pick up an additional station wagon. Even with the two vehicles we were packed to the brim. It made for cozy travel and forced us to exercise our packing skills on each tour stop. While Cory and Tim were running errands and finalizing the initial travel plans through the tour, the coaches took the local transit to Checkpoint Charlie for an afternoon of sightseeing. Kim Jagd was our designated leader and in charge of getting us from bus to train etc… The double-decker bus was a fun way to get around Berlin and enabled us to view the city from the bird's eye. At Checkpoint Charlie we were able to see where the Berlin Wall once stood and we visited a museum that detailed the attempted and sometimes successful escapes from Eastern Germany to the freedom of the Western world. It was actually one of the coolest and educational times of the tour. After the museum visit we collected the group at a café just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie in the old East German side of Berlin. Rob came in last and missed the inside humor and fun we were having at our German server's expense (the German look-a-like and equivalent of June Cleaver). Subsequently, Rob asked for our server's name and someone (to be un-named - via tour policy) responded to Rob, "Her name is June, pronounced Xiun (a Chinese/German version)." As Rob is yelling for June across the café in his best touristy German dialect, the rest of the group was near the floor rolling in laughter. I am writing this mostly for the coaches who were able to witness this "you had to be there" event, but also to allow the rest of whomever may read this to let you know how much "real" fun we had as a group. I don't remember what the servers real name was, but I will always remember June and Rob's naivete in the story! In the evening we all piled back into the van and traveled across town to watch the Volleycats (a Berlin club team) train. The coach was extremely nice and a few players were very talented. The real standout was a right side/middle athlete who was pounding out of the back row and blocking everything in sight. She was well on her way to Italy to make a few lire. It's hard to believe that she laughed at Beth when approached about coming to the U.S. and playing. There was an American girl from Indiana training with the team and trying out for the club. Later I saw her dad at the Indianapolis Qualifier and he shared with me that his daughter is traveling back in July to play for the team. Good for her ! After viewing two sessions of training we headed into the heart of the city to look for a restaurant. We had a clumsy, but effective way of finding great places to eat and enjoy each other's company. I have not laughed or witnessed as much fun with a group of coaches in all of my days of traveling. Day 2 was a success and we were well on the way to a great tour experience. Joel McCartney, Assistant Coach, University of Oklahoma |
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| Day 3 | ||||||||
We ate breakfast at our hotel in Berlin before checking out for our next adventure. We left Berlin and drove to Katowice Poland (1/2 hour drive from Auschwitz Concentration Camp, which we visited on day 4). We were expecting about a 4-hour drive but it turned into about 7 hours. You never know how long it will take to drive places in Europe because of having to cross boarders so often. This boarder crossing took awhile as most do. After we crossed from Berlin to Poland we were all very shocked to have to stop and wash our hands. We later found out it was because of the "Foot and Mouth" disease that was just starting to get bad. It turns out we would do some kind of "cleansing" at every boarder we crossed. It was a good chance for a bunch of Division 1 Collegiate coaches to get to know each other. It is amazing how little we really know about our colleagues that we see so often at events. We laughed a lot and told stories that for sure must stay on Tour (that is a rule of the tour that we all agreed to...don't forget everyone). Needless to say we are all much closer now. Grayson is funny... He knows something about every movie, sitcom & song ever produced. We were a little shocked to see prostitutes along side of the highway at frequent intervals. We were all very hungry. Tim kept telling us there was a McDonalds just a couple a "klicks" away. We figured out that "klicks" were kilometers. Those were the longest couple of kilometers I've ever driven. A few hours later we ate (Big Mac Menu). We met Stan by chance @ McDonalds (some things are definitely international). He took us to the school and gymnasium. It was quite a cultural experience to walk into the school. It was very obvious that it was a very depressed area and country. The school was clean but old and rundown. The gymnasium reminded me of the ballet room used by the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikove the movie "White Nights". The people were very proud and hospitable. They were excited about having seven American University Coaches visit their town and school. And they were especially excited to have us watch their players and possibly give them an opportunity to go to America to study & play volleyball. This opportunity would never have been available to them 11 years ago when they were under Communist Rule. Roman was the Principal. He had cakes and drinks in a room for us and was adamant about us eating "first class" cakes. None of us were hungry but SOME of us ate to be polite. It was obviously a very big deal to him. We watched 3 teams. Descent players, Passing skills were average but the armswings were incredible. One player could maybe help us. Tim gave out cigarettes & Jack Daniels to the coaches and they hugged him. Cory talked w/the players about their interest in playing in U.S and got their info for his Scouting Service. The players were so excited. They obviously do not get very much attention for their volleyball and they know it is a great opportunity for them. We went to dinner with the coaches/directors and others at a little out of the way restaurant. They ordered a bunch of Polish dishes that we passed around. It was great food!!! At first all of us American coaches were on one end of the table. Rob and I decided to get up and move people around so we would have a more mixed situation where we could share more with each other. It turned out to be a great night. All of the head coaches (trainers) came to dinner. Roman the school gymnasium principle came, as did his son Martin who acted as the interpreter. It is amazing how you can communicate without speaking the same language. I sat next to Bilta, the head trainer for one of the teams and a coach on the Polish Youth National Team. He spoke NO English. What he did speak and what I speak is Volleyball. While we called over the interpreter at times, we mostly had a good time figuring things out ourselves. Whether it was drawing on napkins or showing a plyometric move over a restaurant chair, we were able to communicate. First Bilta asked me how we play defense versus the certain sets. I drew my response on a napkin. Then he would add to the question and pretty soon we were in need of another napkin to draw more courts and more ideas. Someone had paper so we were in luck. We had about 15 courts drawn by the time we were done. The last thing Bilta asked me about was how to defend the slide (and specifically the slide-2 combo). I laughed and said the best way to defend a slide is to SERVE TOUGH. He understood. Rob added the idea of serving short into zone 4 to inhibit the approach pattern of the slide attacker. I (somehow) told Bilta that the Europeans had such good armswings. Much better than Americans generally. I asked him what they did specifically to train this. He told me they jump off gymnastics springboard and throw small balls over the net. Then they do the same while hitting volleyballs. So much for game like training…One thing I did notice in every gym we went into is the amount of time the players spent hitting balls against the wall. It was a long time!!! I guess if we practiced 6 hours a day we would have time to develop our player's armswings as well…. When we got ready to leave we all exchanged business cards and email addresses. It took a long time to say good-bye to our new friends. Rob went to the counter to ask if he could buy a couple of glasses that had Polish writing on them. They would not let him buy them but rather gave him eight glasses along with a bunch of matches and other "souvenirs". We went back to our hotel "The Orien". It had radios in each room from probably 1940 and bathrooms with the shower drain in the middle of the bathroom (not shower…. bathroom). We all went to bed to get ready for our next day's adventure. We were heading to Brno Czech Republic, breakfast at 8:00 leaving at 8:30. Poland is a special place to me now. There are great people there. I am glad I got to go into Poland. It made me really like the Eastern European Countries. They are like what Western Europe Countries were like 10 years ago. Now Western Europe is a lot like America. It is good to know the whole world is not like America… how boring would that be? Beth Launiere, Head Coach, University of Utah |
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| Day 4 | ||||||||
After sleeping the night in the fabulous Hotel Orion in Sosnowiec, Poland we awoke and departed for Oswiecim (Auschwitz). It was actually hard to locate, but eerie when we drove up to the "Gate of Death". There were very few tourists, except for a notable group of 20+ orthodox Jews. They were dressed in black, carrying wreaths and walking at a somber pace. They walked to one of the existing "dorms" and then to the memorial at the end of the tracks where the showers and gas chambers to lay their wreaths. While we walked around the large camp we wondered and talked about how this atrocity could happen. What person/people in the right mind could consider and execute such a horrific plan? Where the people responsible crazy ? Sane, but simply evil ? It was a heart wrenching and thought provoking 'tourist' stop. After the hour stop at the concentration camp we drove the better part of the day to Brno, Czech Republic. Again, the boarder crossing proved to be an entertaining event as the guards gestured for us to get out of the vehicles and step in a square Tupperware with an inch of dirty liquid. We snapped a couple of pix while being "disinfected" for Foot and Mouth Disease and the guards angrily waved us away while making gestures upon our departure! We arrived at the Hotel Baronka at 4pm, dropped our bags, sampled the local Pilsner Urquell and then headed for the gym. Jiri Gottwald, the Head of Marketing at Gala and local club rep arranged an informal match for us to watch in a beautiful gym with blond-knotted wood floors. The quality of play took a big jump in Brno as we got to see 4 or 5 games of good play. The players did not have numbers on so we labeled them by apparel or attributes. We thought that "yellow shoes", "red shorts" as well as "the sisters" and the two setters were all legitimate players ! Cory spoke with the group of players to explain why the American coaches were in their country and gym and then they filled out information forms. After the match, Jiri drove us to a really nice restaurant on top of a hill over looking the city. We had a wonderful Czech dinner complete with meats, cheese, potato pancakes, wine, beer and desserts. Beth was fortunate to visit with one of her graduated Czech player's parents and tell them stories about their daughter. The night wasn't complete without a late walk around the city to sample a bit of the local flavor. Jirka (our Czech translator) was with us and showed us around a bit. We found a great store named 'Mora' for the Moravian washer. We gave Mora some grief about that ! It was a great day and night in the Czech Republic. Kim Jagd, Assistant Coach, UCLA |
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| Day 5 | ||||||||
Time to get back in the infamous green van - amazing this thing still runs as I think Tim secretly yearns to race cars in his next profession - or maybe drive in those races where you can smash into other cars... We arrive at the GALA factory mid-morning and are greeted by our tour guide, Lenka Machova, the GALA Product Manager, who I found out in the course of our conversation also trained for the tennis tour as a child. None of us had any idea how a volleyball was made - it was very interesting. The number of quality checks made throughout the process is surprising - the price of a volleyball is more than reasonable.
We had our first problem at a border. All along we thought Maura would be detained because she's Canadian, but Cory, who actually lives in Germany, was nearly left at the border of Slovakia (seems he needs to replace his passport as it was rain damaged). Jirka saved the day for Cory - he followed the guard into the border building, had some conversation, and off we went. At this border we also found that the bathrooms are different in Europe - at "rest areas" an attendant must be paid - no money - no toilet & no paper. We finally arrived in Bratislava. The sports centers in each country are amazing - we've seen so many training sessions for other sports besides volleyball (badminton, judo, team handball, soccer, but surprisingly no basketball) because the buildings are so large and multifunctional. As in the U.S., court time is valuable with one sport team waiting to come onto the floor as another leaves. After arriving at the gym and many players talking to Cory about playing in the U.S. an abrupt disruption before practice. Seemed that the Federation President thought we were here behind her back - a misunderstanding that escalated as the evening wore on. The player we were here to watch was literally screamed at before practice for her betrayal, allowed to practice (the other good players were sent home), but did so poorly. I understand the anger of the club management and also the confusion of the player. It seems the player has relatives in the U.S. and has been up front with the club since she joined that she intends to study abroad. However, the club is upset that other players might leave. I guess it would be like another college coming into my gym and deciding they want one of my upperclassmen after I developed her (which I have seen happen in the U.S. - just not as brazenly as walking into the gym). After practice, the group went to dinner with the Federation President, her friend, a coach, the player, her boyfriend, and her mother. However, upon arrival the President insisted that the coaches sit elsewhere. So, after the meal, we got a taxi and went searching for an internet cafe. Asked several people on the street for directions. We scared one family going home from the opera (we walked with them for several blocks with the daughter and mom eyeing us as if Maura was trying to seduce her husband although he was just being helpful and she was just being friendly). Upon our return to the hotel, we were informed that Tim and the Federation President went round and round about the whole idea of Europeans playing in the U.S. - seems they did a lot of yelling with no resolve. Tim warned us that some coaches might not be too receptive - might consider us to be vultures - although, other than the Slovakian club, all have been very friendly, eager to share ideas, and willing to let us observe their practices and matches. The European players seem to have much more game sense than many of the U.S. high school players because their training takes place over a year - two or three practices per week with tournaments every other week or two rather than practices jammed into every day with a tournament every weekend for only a couple of months. And, the best train with the best, 16 & 17 year olds play along-side 25 - 35 year olds on club teams so the younger ones learn very quickly or they don't play. This game sense is what makes a European player so appealing to recruit. Of course, our training schedule will be a shock to most of them along with the other cultural differences, but it can be very rewarding for both the European player and the American team. Beth and I are excited about the place we're staying - we have an appointment with a masseuse and a sauna in the morning (forget the weights and pool). After the many hours in the van this week, tomorrow won't come soon enough. Lisa Kissee, Head Coach, Middle Tennessee |
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| Day 6 | ||||||||
Another day in the van, on the way to Maribor. (Sounds like a Bing Crosby and Bob Hope road movie.) We are going to watch one of the playoff matches involving the number one team and the not so number one team in Slovenia. Before the match, we are fortunate enough to meet with the coaches of this team, the coach of the Junior National Team, and a professor of volleyball at the university. This is one of the most unique aspects of the tour. We are able to sit and exchange coaching ideas and philosophies with coaches from different countries and totally different systems. The club system is very different from anything we have in the States. They have a hard time understanding why we would want such young players and sometimes their most inexperienced players for our teams. They also have a hard time grasping why we have so many rules that govern us: i.e. how long we are allowed to practice. (I am sure many have often wondered the same thing.) It was a great time interacting with other people that feel the same about volleyball as most of us do.
Then we are able to watch a great match. The number one team had many cagey veterans and was able to win the match. The team they played had kids on it as young as 17 an as old as 28. It is an interesting combination, with the veterans helping out the younger players. Afterward, we were treated like royalty at the club sponsors restaurant. We had dancing and eating, does it really get any better?!?! These people were great. Overall the experience was not only educational but more importantly cultural. The opportunity to exchange ideas and get to know other coaches was well worth all the time I spent in a van listening to Tim drone on about how great he was as a player. HAHAHA Grayson DuBose, Assistant Coach, University of New Mexico |
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| Day 7 | ||||||||
| Got up earlier than anybody wanted to and left to watch Sandi's junior
team play. Most everyone was basically hung from the night before and some(which
will go unnamed unless I don't get copies of pictures) would retire to the
van to "rest" some more during the match. Of course Tim was as diplomatic
as usual and let them know that it was good that they would be in the van
as they would act as guards for all of our "stuff". I don't know if we have
touched yet on the "stuff" that we were carrying around but ever since the
Gala ball factory when everyone bought new huge backpacks the van and the
station wagon became very small and cramped. Souvenirs now had a place to
be packed. Sandi's team was a little smaller and less athletic than some of the other teams we'd seen and there was a girl on the other team that basically when ever she touched the ball was a negative. We were therefore all praying for a 3 game sweep. Of course Sandi's superior coaching took the match to 5 long games. It was a beautiful day outside. Most of the trip had been overcast or raining but today was a day that God smiled down on our traveling American Mongrel Tribe and threw a bright blue sky and plenty of sun our way! We drove up to Peter's weekend house in the wine country for wine and food with the National team coaches and staff. If I was a smarter guy I could probably describe the scenery and the wine country but with my limited vocabulary all I can say is ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!! The drive was through a meadow which led to the base of the hills where the wine country began. As we drove higher into the hills - the "weekend homes" started. They were about 750 square foot 2 bedroom/1bath homes that overlooked the city, maybe village is a better description, and valley. Vineyards surrounded the homes. We were invited up to Peter's home for the afternoon for wine and food. Underneath Peter's house was a wine cellar and a party room with a bar and picnic table. I retired to this area to "help" Peter cut up the leg of whatever and sample the homemade what they call schnapps. I call it tequila-tasting-fire-water! They offered 5 different types of this stuff but it all tasted exactly the same: like tequila-tasting-fire-water! Well, until they passed me the "good stuff"-there was this clear liquid(well, all of it was clear liquid) with some sort of green plant growing in it. First I did not understand why this stuff had a plant growing in it and after I tasted it(and almost burned my throat down to my lungs) I did not understand how a plant could survive in it. Anyway, everyone was enjoying the weather, food, wine and friendships that we just made in the past 24 hours. After finally prying me out of the party/wine cellar-we left for Munich. It was about a 6 hour drive but TK decided to take the scenic 9 hour drive. It would have been nice except it was already dark and we couldn't see anything. So as all good campers do the van squad started to play games. It was pretty amusing as 7 competitive coaches tried to outdo each other in some pretty inventive games. As usual it started to resemble survivor as people were voted out due to minor technicalities. We finally reached Munich and went directly to the Hofbrauhaus. What is the first thing that you think we did, yeah you're right, we ordered some refreshments and listened to the German Oomp-Pa band. The food was delicious and filling. We took a midnight stroll through downtown Munich and finally retired to our hotel. Oh yeah, the hotel. That was an adventure in itself. By this time you can imagine that we had a full day of volleyball, socializing, driving, eating, and playing games and all we wanted to do was crash! I have been on 2 trips with Team Teeeem Kelly and I will say he is a great leader who gets us to our destinations on time in many different countries without issue-until this evening. We could not find the hotel-or any hotel. So we drove around in circles for awhile and than yes could it be! A Radisson or something like that. Finally we could crash for our 8 hour flight back to the states the next morning. We went in to get rooms and check in and found out that they were full. So back into the green machine and on to another destination. Again we took a couple of wrong turns but finally found an "airport" (Dorint) hotel. Except the rates were too high and the shuttle to the airport was you calling for a taxi! We stayed anyway and finally crashed. Tim again did a fantastic job of leading us on a volleyball excursion that was first rate!!! I would not want anything that happened on this trip to change. Great people, great volleyball, great food, great fun!!!!!! Rob Patrick, Head Coach, University of Tennessee |
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