13 July 2008

Arrived in Sweden all safe and sound and the kids are all in beds and loving their new hotel rooms with private showers, baths, and room. Our hotel is like an executive hotel with kitchens, etc, so they are in heaven. 

Had a serious chat last night about our behavior and reminding them of our discipline and guidelines and asked them to starting cleaning up the rooms and packing so we can be ready in the morning. By the time we woke up, the rooms were cleaned, vacuumed, bags packed, and kids ready to leave one hour before our time. Guess we should have more of these talks. When we asked the kids why all was done so quickly, reply was simple, FEAR. gotta love it. 

Our ferry ride was great, sunny and we had a great lunch on the ferry. It lasted 3 hours and we took pictures and videos and some of the kids played the slots and actually won, go figure. We had some assistance with our luggage so no long walks with our bags, boy did we luck out. 

Arrived in Gothenburg around 3 pm, transfered to our hotel which is right next to Central station, then we got our teams registered. A quick walk, Ed Pace, just ask the kids, to the Heden center and the kids are fascinated by this cup.  A great European city that is bustling and hundreds of people walking around.  We trained at the Heden fields for 45 minutes and then we headed home for dinner.  Our first dinner at out hotel was fantastic so we are off to a great start. After dinner, we took a train to the BK Hacken stadium to watch the final Swedish League game which was for first place and it was a great atmosphere and a 1-1 game, another great experience for us.

Now the kids are in bed and we as coaches are washing their stinking filthy smelly uniforms. Are we dedicated or what. 

Games start tomorrow so wish us luck as all the kids are really excited to play again, some sore legs but excited nonetheless. Off to bed finally after a long day and speak to you more tomorrow.

Ed