07 July 2007

Early start this morning as we had breakfast club at 6.30 am and once again all kids are on time and ready to roll.  After another great breakfast, off to training session. By the way, for some of the kids who are not accustomed to eating a good breakfast, they are now! 

Great training session, very hot but the kids were in great form today. All of the coaches were pumped. After training, we jumped into the pool and although it was quick and cold, it was great and refreshing.

We leave for Verona for sightseeing and shopping and we had a ball. We visited and toured the ancient Roman Arena that is still used as an amphitheatre and that was special.  After walking through town the kids shopped and ate lunch.  Had a few kids use the ATM and most of the girls bought purses off street vendors and they did a great job haggling, led by Ashley Cooksey as she is tough negotiator. 

The kids were really tired and worn out from the last 2 days so we canceled the afternoon session and headed back to the hotel.  Swim and naps were on the agenda.  Dinner was once again spectacular and the kids cannot even taste some of the extra courses but I do of course and they are fantastic. It is great being back in Italy, great food and great people. 

After dinner we had a big meeting to sort out some things, one being pushups. In no particular order, Adrian, Cody, Andrew, Katelyn, Tripp, and of course my other players continuing their sit ups including Gonzo and Tripp. Tino had a second chance and got all of the names right so we reduced his 19,000 sit ups to 3,000.  Some of the offenses include leaving watches on the bus, losing a hotel key, etc.  Even though we are having a few screw ups, the tour is flying and all are great.  

We gave out Player Of the Day (POD) jerseys today and this is a way we recognize a player from each team for their play or efforts each day. We also chose captains for each team and we are ready to play.

Team Captains
Boys A - Dalton and Emmet
Boys C - Eddie and Clay 
Girls A - Tiffany and Tic Tac- Rachael O'Brien
Girls C - Cheyenne and Ellen

 

POD - (See Photo's Below)
Boys A - July 6th - Ceasar   July 7th - Gonzo
Boys C - July 6th - James    July 7th - Freedom, new nickname for Liberty
Girls A - July 6th - Tic Tac    July 7th - Kendall
Girls C - July 6th - Sam Huston   July 7th - Diggs

Off to Austria tomorrow and a 7 hour bus ride through the Italian and Austrian Alps. We are anxious to play.

Kids cell phones were turned on tonight but many had no signal so all say hello.  We will try to call once again in Austria on Monday, phones are off until Monday.

Speak to you then from Austria
-Ed