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This season in Europe we are plagued by new tax and foreigner laws in the burgeoning European Community. Europe is now becoming more of one single country (which each "former country" becoming more of a "state") and the guidelines of this country are not kind for American volleyball players - especially the players that were formerly so successful on the Men's Summer Tours. Teams that used to be able to pay players $1000-1500/month with
"black" or untaxed money are now forced to have visas and other legal paperwork for players in order to inscribe them into the leagues. This means that a team would have to spend over $2000-3000 to get players this same $1000-1500 in take-home money. Add to this the weakening economy in Europe and the strong value of the dollar and you can see why this year's summer tour was not as successful in finding jobs for players as the past. There is the additional issue of the difficulty for teams of even getting permission for residence for players even if they do have the money for these new higher salaries. This was never an issue in the past.
Illustration:
Old way: John makes $1000/month in Germany during the 1999-2000 season. Team pays him "under the table" and the German Mark is about 1.8/$ so they are spending 1800 DEM/month for him. He can live with another player so there is no paperwork and everyone is happy.
New way: John calls his German team in 2001-2002. The German Mark is now 2.3/$ and they have to pay 100% taxes on him in order to make him legal to play in the German League. This means that for him to get his $1000/month they have to pay 4600 DEM. Instead, they offer him the same 1800 DEM - only taxed now (so John get 50% of $782/month or $391/month) and offer him to live with a family as an "Au-Pair" (babysitter) in order to get a special license to have him in the country. This really happened this year and the guy turned it down as you can imagine.
This does NOT mean that there are not jobs for guys like John anymore, it just means that more than ever, players need to WANT TO LIVE IN EUROPE more than they want to be a "professional volleyball player." Players also need to be of a higher level to get the good jobs and players need to show up on tour 100% ready to play their absolute best - and be ready for the chance that there is no job - or a lot of waiting to get what there is.
All this said, I want to say that this year's group of guys was the most disciplined and organized bunch we've ever had. They made efforts to meet and train with each other in the USA before coming out, and they all showed up in pretty good shape and with great attitudes - both personally and as a group. They worked together well, partied together, took care of each other, and I think had a great time together. It's a shame that there aren't/weren't jobs for all of them, but I'm hoping that all of them had a more than worthwhile experience and that his example carries into future years for as long as the tour exists.
This year's journal is written entirely by Patrick Aparicio. Pat is a U.C. Berkeley Man ('98) that has been working in the private sector for the last 3 years and wanted to spend some time in Europe and not let the opportunity for playing in Europe pass him by. He came out with a great attitude and has just received an offer to play in Sweden. He'll wait a few days to make his decision (and see what else is out there) but by the time this is up on the web I'm sure he'll be with a team somewhere.
-Tim Kelly
Men's Camp/Tour Summer 2001 Journal
by Patrick Aparicio
8/3/01 - Arrival - After a combined 18 hours of airplane and train rides, and 9 hours of time change, I finally arrived in Munster, Germany. I headed straight for a booth with a big "I" on it. I assume "Information." I guess 'information' doesn't mean they speak English, but I managed to weasel a town map out of the guy anyway. With the address of the hostel in hand, I decided to hoof it across town. luckily, 'across town' only meant about a 25 minute walk. and it wasn't a bad way to start getting in shape, carrying 4 bags. Munster is a great looking town, with a large amount of its population being students. 60,000 they tell me. From the looks of it, Munster has to be one of the best towns Germany has to offer!
I walked into the hostel and found the San Diego crew (Jeremy Darner of UCSB
fame; Casey Brewer, Brian Corso, and Jed Stotsenberg, all former SDSU Aztecs) harassing the friendly and rather cute hostel clerk. They had all arrived a couple days earlier to Düsseldorf and seemed to have made themselves at home. The tour doesn't start for another 2 days, so the time was ours to get over jetlag and get acquainted with our new home for the next 2 weeks. I've stayed in hostels throughout Europe before, and this has got to be one of the nicest. There are four of us to a room. We each have a lockable closet and there's a bathroom per room. Lots better than the 12 bunk beds and communal bathrooms that you'll find in most hostels. They also had a simple breakfast every morning, laundry, and coin fed internet access. The laundry and internet could get expensive at times, but I soon found that there are cheaper places nearby. convenient any way you look at it. My time clock was obviously a bit screwy, because I found myself with a surprising amount of energy. The guys had found sand courts not far from the hostel, so I joined Casey, Dan Connors (Bruins' Setter) and Gary "Ask anyone in Manhattan who I am" Neiditch, for a few games of beach. starting to feel at home already!
8/5/01 - Led by our trusty tour guide, Dominik, we've now had a couple days to check out what Munster has to offer; nightlife, the local ladies who just can't seem to leave us alone, and Weizen beer (Dominik's current beer of choice). It was finally time to get in the gym. We were all anxious to touch some balls and get the kinks out before it really counted. Tim had brought in Paulo Cunha to run practice for the next couple days. Paulo is the women's coach at Castelo de Maia, Porto. the annual Portuguese Champions. Right off the bat, it was obvious why Paulo's teams do so well. He has a wonderful demeanor, knows what he's talking about, and quickly had 12 of us who'd never played together before, starting to look like a team. Paulo apparently has a few requests from men's coaches in Portugal to look for opposites and middles, so most of us were pretty amped to impress the guy. Practice went well. we were all pretty curious to see where we all stood, so
everyone went pretty hard on the court. We were joined by Carisa Kierchauf.
She was originally on the women's tour, which ended up not happening. I guess
Carisa decided to come out anyway and see what tryouts Tim could drum up for
her. Pretty gutsy call, but I'm sure with that type of determination she shouldn't have a problem landing a job.
8/6/01 - Most of us are still getting over jetlag and spent the time after morning practice either resting or doing email. It was then time to gear up for our first time in action together. We scrimmaged the local USC Munster Men's team (German 2nd Bundesliga). Game 1 was going well until the Munster setter sprained his ankle going for a ball near the net post. Dan Connors stepped in to set for Munster and they took the first set 27-25. "Masa" Sakamoto, our Japanese setter, arrived today and led us to a victory in game 2, 25-21. Munster rallied behind their star outside, and our tour guide, Dominik and took game 3. It was a decent start for Team BringItUSA, and some of the team had impressed the 2 coaches who were there. Diego Ronconi had driven up from Freiburg, a team in Southern Germany. He liked our 2 Canadians, Mark Ellingson and Jon Walsh, and eventually signed the two
Cannucks. Hubert van den Hoven, a coach from a team in Holland, also showed
interest in about 4 of our guys.
8/7/01 - Today was our first road trip. We piled the entire team in the van and drove off to the Bottrop train station to pick up U of Hawaii's, Brenton Davis. We then killed some time checking out Germany's biggest mall and it was off to the gym to play. Bottrop has a strong Division 1 team in Germany, but they still couldn't find a way to stop Brenton, who despite just stepping off the plane bombed every ball. After game one, we let Brenton sleep and the rest of were allowed to take our swings. After beating us in 4, we hung with the Bottrop guys (many of them had played in the States) grubbing on someGerman pizza and beer.
8/8/01 - Last night was Jed's birthday, so we spent the night closing down bars throughout Munster. We figured we'd have the 3 hour drive to Biedenkopf
to get over it. You're welcome, Jed. After Neiditch drove us up and down a couple bike paths in some quaint and unsuspecting German town (does anyone drive in NY? Who let this guy behind the wheel?), we finally found Biedenkopf. Biedenkopf is a strong Division 2 team who are looking for a middle and opposite. We played a couple games and then had a mixed-squad game. Apparently, talking smack translates in all languages. After the match, they treated us to a great Italian meal and pulled Corso and Darner aside to tell them the wonders of Biedenkopf and why they should stay. Both guys thought it would be best to finish out the tour and see what was to come.
8/9/01 - Morning practice was followed by some much needed laundry and then a
rematch with USC Munster. Everyone wanted another shot at them and having now
spent quite a bit of time with Dominik, it would definitely be a fun match. They were still down a setter, so Gary took the duties. Revenge was had as we took them down in 4: 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17. Luckily, there were no hard feelings, as they treated us to a common German tradition. beers in the locker room. Not a bad way to unwind after a match.
8/10/01 - We finally had a morning off. good thing too, as most of us needed it. With practice and matches everyday, you've got to be in shape when you get out here, and you won't find ice in any gym in Europe. They apparently come from a school of thought where you don't ice those aching knees and shoulders. I still haven't figured out what they're made of out here. but to each there own I say. A few took the time to cruise Munster, shop for some essentials, email, and observe the local scenery. Around 4pm, we piled back into the van, a second home of sorts, and were off to Schuttorf for our fifth match of the week. We'd have to take them on without Darner and Brenton, who were sent off to Switzerland for a tryout. Adam Black, a CSUN middle and our native from the islands, and Bryan Murray, a Minnesota native and tour guru, led the charge as we took down Schuttorf in 5: 25-23, 20-25, 21-25, 26-24, 15-13.
8/12/01 - We had the weekend off, so a group of us headed off to Amsterdam for a couple days. The 'Dam is one of those places you're never quite ready for despite what you've heard. somewhere between an enormously great time and scary as all hell. Just for the record, park benches and the van CAN serve as sleeping arrangements for a night in the 'Dam. Needless to say, we all made it back safe and sound with everyone intact.
8/14/01 - Tim, with help from coaches Peter Jan van Leeuwink and Guido Vermuelen, arranged at the last minute a match versus Holland's National 'B' Team. So we got up early and made the 3 hour trek to Amsterdam to try our luck with these guys. they were quite frankly the tallest collection of human beings I'd ever played against: easily 6'8" across the board with a couple closer to 7 feet. Mike Salak (played in Switzerland last year) joined us today and gave us some more depth at the outside position. He also played pretty well for having just got off a plane from the States. We put a good fight but couldn't take a game off the giants from the North. We lost 17-25, 27-29, 23-25, 22-25, 20-25, 23-25. that's right 6 games. I think these guys wanted to play all day long. After the match Tim had a great Italian lunch set up for us at Hotel de Paris in Apeldorn. a really nice stop on the way back to Munster. With full bellies we made our way back to the hostel. It was a warm night in Munster so we all headed off to the beer garden for our usual weizen welcome for Salak and Stephanie Schindel, a new arrival and former UConn player who also plans to hit every tryout possible and see what comes of it. It was soon time to head back and prepare for an early departure tomorrow for Unterhaching, a team located just outside of Munich.
8/15/01 - Munich is supposed to be about 6 hours away.. 'supposed to be' is the key phrase there. Most of us went in the van while Dominik and 3 guys took the Audi A4. With Dominik driving the Audi, testing the limits of the autobahn, and being capable of doing such impressive tasks like read German and maps, they made it without a problem. The rest of us sputtered along with 12 people and twice as many bags packed into the van during a German heat-wave... loads of fun. As we should have guessed, they decided to close a major freeway on a Wednesday afternoon, which put us in parking lot traffic for 2 hours. Gary and Brenton got a solid pepper going on over some cars. guaranteeing that we'd be ready to go if we ever made it to Munich. We're hoping the pictures show up in Volleyball Magazine sometime soon. As we arrived 1 and a half hours after the time the match was supposed to start (somehow managing to NOT rip each other's heads off), Unterhaching and the guys who had arrived, decided to practice instead. The coach was looking for a couple middles, so guys threw on their sneakers, warmed up, and hopped into a grueling practice. I didn't know one could jump that many times after
sitting in a boiling van for 10 hours, but it IS possible. I promise.
8/16/01 - Today was another hot one, and luckily a swimming facility is located right next to the gym. After morning training, we threw on some boardshorts and cruised over. Along with the fun of wading in a pool and jumping off some diving boards, swimming rec. centers in Europe are apparently 'clothing optional.'.nuff said. The match tonight was sort of a 'win/win' situation for Team BringIt. Unterhaching was going to use our guys in the middle, so really there were no winners or losers, just the way we like it. Unterhaching is a Division 1 team and wanted to juice up there squad with Darner and Brenton bouncing in the middle. Both guys decided to stick with the team for a couple weeks to train and see how it goes. Congrats, guys! (note from the editor: as of the print date here <August 27>
these guys are still on extended tryout in Unterhaching.)
After the match we were all anxious to see what the famous city of Munich had to offer. This is a town where they have beer halls older than the United States and it flows like water. On our quest for a good time, we ran into some ladies who promised to show us the 'happenin' spots. Don't know the name of it, but we were led to an area of about 2 square blocks of just clubs, bars, and fast food. I know, I know, sounds like a piece of heaven. but really it's just German hospitality. We lost one of our outsides somewhere in the evening, but we figured with him being a European vet, he would probably find a way back to the gym before we left for Salzburg.the rest of us headed back to the gym, threw down on a mat and crashed.
8/17/01 - Today we headed for Austria. The Salzburg team put us up in a nice hotel very close to the gym. It was great having our own rooms, even if it was just for one night. It was then off to play our last match for the tour. Salzburg is a top team in Austria, and we sadly didn't play our best ball, dropping three straight games. Luckily, Salzburg is a gem of a city.our spirits were lifted as we drove around, saw some of the sights, got a late dinner, and hung out in the city for an evening.
8/18/01 - Today, some guys are heading back to Munster with Dominik and the
van to officially end the tour, some are off to tryouts, some are going to travel through Europe until a tryout comes up. Either way, it was the last official day of the tour. We thought bratwursts and liter beers in Munich's "Central Park" would be a great way to close out the trip.. I've never seen larger beer steins or so much leiderhosen in my life! Prost!!! I think everyone on the tour would agree that it was a great experience. There was no shortage of volleyball or fun. Fourteen guys let loose on Europe with a van is always a good time. One thing that struck me was the level of play out here. There is definitely a fair share of exceptionally athletic
players, but more often than not, the players simply had a different style than most Americans. It didn't always look pretty, but they got the job done. Most are players who would do well on the average MPSF team. There are a lot of differences between Europe and the States and there's no better way to learn that than to come out here.
My advice to anyone planning on coming out here to play would be this: Be ready to play lots of good ball, be ready for the ups and downs of doing it in a new environment, and be ready for a fun adventure.
Short list of essentials:
Toiletries
Lots of socks and practice tees
Sleeping bag
Whatever clothes you want to go out "Euro-style" in.
Editor's Closing -
Team Roster as of August 28, 2001
*player returned to USA at end of tour
^player travelling in Europe waiting for an offer
Adam Black*
Jon Walsh - signed with Freiburg, German D2
Jeremey Darner - on extended tryout with Unterhaching, German D1
Jed Stotsenberg - signed with VC Bottrop, German D1
Brian Corso^
Patrick Aparicio - waiting on an offer in Sweden vs. ?
Bryan Murray*
Mark Ellingson - signed with Freiburg, German D2
Dan Connors - on tryout in Castellon, Spain D2
Casey Brewer^
Gary Neiditch*
Brenton Davis - on extended tryout with Unterhaching, German D1
Masa Sakamoto^
Mike Salak - waiting on an offer in Germany vs. Portugal vs. ?
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