First Game vs. the Hässleholm Hurricanes

The week I'd been looking forward to most since I arrived was finally here.  This was our last week to prepare for our first game, where we would be facing the Hässleholm Hurricanes.  For those of you who don't know, last August I was an assistant coach under George Contreras helping the Hurricanes in the last month of the season.  I made a lot of friends in Hässleholm during my two months in Sweden last summer, so facing them the first game of the season was exciting, and an opportunity to jumpstart the season with a friendly rivalry.

We had two excellent practices on Tuesday and Thursday.  We had some of the best turnouts we've had since I arrived and were able to go 11 on 11 in our team period, with subs rotating in.  It was incredibly productive and ABSOLUTELY what we need to have as our practice atmosphere if we want to have success this year as a club.

At the end of the Thursday practice the Predators' board members had laid out the uniforms  for the Saturday game.  Players hustled over to claim their desired number.  Despite the fact that I was the first to claim #11, it was somehow usurped by Benjamin Hörnquist.  I wish football were like baseball, where the coaching staff gets to dress out... just in case.

The weather continues to be beautiful, and we took advantage of it Friday.  Being Good Friday, most shops and businesses were closed.  I met Alex Nilsson (WR/DB), Emil Blomgren (WR), Marcus Johnsson (WR), Sacce Hörnquist (LB), and Ben Hörnquist (WR) at Tivoliparken, a park near the train station on the west of the centrum, to throw a football around and enjoy the sun.

We also took another trip to the Naturum to check it out and fika.

My Friday night was much less relaxing, as I had some pregame jitters.  I always feel like there is more to be done to prepare and my mind was racing when I tried to go to sleep.  I woke up early and headed to the clubhouse early.  Once I arrived there, though, my nervousness turned into anxious excitement.  We had a team breakfast and a walkthrough at the clubhouse before heading over the Kristianstad IP where the game would be played.

Representing the Predators above are Johan Svensson (OL), Sacce Hörnquist (LB), Ben Hörnquist (WR), and Sorin Pandrea (DB).  These four guys have shown leadership and dedication and were rewarded as captains for the Predators first ever Senior game in Division I.

The Predators D, pictured above, was all over the field all day.  We had a number of tackles for a loss, lots of gang tackles, and managed an interception despite the Hurricanes few pass attempts.  The defense played great all day.

Hampus Linde (QB) had a big day, as well.  He was able to connect with Ben (#11 above) for multiple touchdown passes and ran for a TD as well (below).  Yes, that picture clearly shows his knee down before the endzone, but it was called a TD nonetheless.  It also shows a clear horse collar tackle, which was also not called.  It all balances out in the end, right?

Our special teams were, for the most part, very solid.  Our kick coverage was good, our punts (Magnus Hansson, above) were good, and we had a chance to block a couple of punts.  Alex Nilsson and Hampus Linde did a good job with PAT and Alex also hit a field goal.  With the limited practice time we have, I was very satisfied with how well our special teams played overall, and it definitely helped us get an upper hand in the field position battle.

I remained perhaps a little too intense throughout the game.  I may or may not have incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for voicing my displeasure with the officials blowing their whistles while a fumble was still live on the ground, then awarding it to the other team.

Sacce gets a sack late in the game.

Niklas Petersson caps off the scoring with a short touchdown run in the 4th.

Celebration!  The Kristianstad Predators jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter thanks to three TD passes from Hampus Linde to Ben Hörnquist.  The score was 34-0 at the half due to a pair of TD passes by Hampus, one to Marcus Johnsson and another to Ben.  Hampus and Niklas Petersson each had TD runs in the second half and Alex Nilsson succeeded on his only field goal try of the day.

Final score: Kristianstad Predators 50, Hässleholm Hurricanes 0.

The picture above includes Karsten Strömberg (Board Member and Senior Team Leader, top left), Anders Klang (President, standing next to Karsten), Dan Petersson (DL Coach, kneeling far left), Lukas Klang (injured OL/OL Coach, kneeling next to Dan), Tyson Guillen (Board Member, U17 Head Coach, and Senior Assistant Coach, kneeling far right), and Lars Dahl (U17 Defensive Coordinator and Senior Assistant Coach, kneeling next to Tyson).  Everybody in this picture did a fantastic job on gameday and in the preseason.  They all put in lots of work to make the game succesful, whether it was administrative, organizational, physical, or mental, it took everybody in that picture to make the first game a success.

Next week we play Ekeby, who had a bye in their first week.  Hässleholm will have a week off before taking on Limhamn the following week.  The only other game that was played this opening weekend in Division I Södra was Ystad defeating Limhamn 6-0 in a defensive struggle.  It will be interesting to see how the young Predators react this next week after such a strong opener.

Dinner at Tyson's, Hästveda Weekend, and Dinner at Johan and Mariana's

The events of last weekend (April 15-17) and the week leading into it:

The week started off nicely with an invitation on Sunday (the day after the Limhamn scrimmage) by Tyson to join him and his son for dinner at their place.  This afforded me the opportunity on a beautiful day to explore some of the eastern portion of the city, which I had yet to travel to or through.

Perhaps its a bit morbid, but I really liked this old cemetery, situated pretty near the center of town.  There is always such a sense of reverence and serenity at cemeteries.  I like serenity.

Most of the walk was through residential areas, but I could see the hospital complex in the distance.

After about a 20 minute walk, I came to Tyson's street where this interesting old house stood on the corner.  Tyson had taken advantage of the excellent weather to grill some pork which we enjoyed with some roasted potatoes and a side of football talk.  His son, Chris, is the quarterback for the Predators' U17 team.

Monday was another beautiful day in Skåne and the first day that I noticed birds playing and chirping outside my window.  As you can see in the picture below, buds started to pop out of the previously barren flowers, bushes, and shrubs.  Spring looks to be here!

We had a film session Monday night in which we looked at the Limhamn scrimmage.  While not the most exciting thing in the world, film sessions are always valuable to allow players to see what they actually do in the game in an irrefutable way.

Tuesday and Thursday went on as always, including some good old fashioned Oklahoma Drill for the Junior teams:

I had to fill in at various linebacker positions for the U15 and U17 teams and made the mistake of asking Lars Dahl (U17 DC) to hold my camera.  It was returned with these two masterpieces:

My Larsson (U17 DB).  Yup, she's a girl.  She's also one of the biggest hitters on the U17 team.

Lukas Klang (Senior OL).  Lukas is rehabbing from knee surgery and has graciously and generously given his time and become the Predators OL coach, U15, U17, and Senior.  He makes my job much easier every day.

Finally, Friday, the time for the next big Predators event arrived.  This weekend we were to have the whole club for a football camp at the Hästveda Children's Village.  This is a sort of summer camp like complex with cabins that the club rented out for the weekend.  There were cabins for the U13, U15, U17, Senior, and Cheerleading teams, and a grassy, but somewhat uneven, field for practices.

The Senior cabin, inside and out.

The field, with the U15 Cabin behind it.

Each team had time scheduled on the field and players got some work in.  However, the best part of the camp was the time that teams got to spend together, including hanging out and playing cards.

As at any good camp, there was also a fire pit to hang out around at night, although some shady characters preferred to lurk in the shadows....

Friday night was basically checking in then I had another film session and team meeting with the Seniors.  Saturday, we'd get down to business.  Starting, of course, with a good team breakfast.

After which we had a morning walk as a team to make sure everybody was sufficiently awake for the day's activities.  We walked a loop around the Hästveda camp grounds.

After the walk, I left my guys to get on the field.  I was on the field from 9am to 12:45pm to staff practices by U13, U15/U17, and finally the Senior team.

Magnus Hansson (U13 Coach and Senior P/DB) and Tim Hermansson (U13 Coach and Senior OL) coach up some junior defensive lineman on a rip technique.

U13 in a team period, with Emil Blomgren (U15 coach and Senior WR) looking on.

Some more Oklahoma for U15/U17!

Lunch followed the morning session (Modou Colley, Predators' speed coach and Senior WR, Alex Nilsson, Senior WR/DB, and Sorin Pandrea, Senior DB, talking special teams above).  Again, great to see and hear players talking football even in the off times.  As a coach, it is great to have guys passionate about the game on the roster.  I have been very lucky with a core group of guys who have good knowledge and experience who are also willing to help their teammates with assignment and technique.  In addition, that core group also sets a good example by giving good effort.

I got to work a lot with the Junior teams this weekend.  I'm not sure how useful I was, as it was difficult to gauge how well the younger kids understood what I was saying in English.  I did get some reps at MLB, though.  My stance is looking pretty lazy.

Looking tough with some U13 defensive players.

The afternoon practice sessions ran from 2pm until 5:45pm, with dinner again following.

The Senior team was very excited for Saturday night and the "Spook Round" which had become a tradition at the camp.  The older players (now the Senior team) takes the younger kids through the woods while telling scary stories that are bolstered by some strategically placed props and characters hiding along the route.

Being in the Senior cabin, I got to see some of the preparations, which included costumes and scripts.

While posting this picture, I just noticed this "horse" is wearing a Dallas Cowboys t-shirt....

Kim Torstensson (Senior WR) and Sacce Hörnquist (Senior LB) donned special forces style warpaint for the maximum effect.

I'm not sure who this character is, but rumor has it he led the kids through the woods...

Semir Sitarevic (Senior TE) brought a guitar to the campfire and played and sang a number of songs (in Swedish and English), much to the delight of the cheerleaders across from him.

Sunday morning I may not have looked like this, exactly:

...but after spending so much time on the field Saturday and a late night around the campfire, I sure felt like it.

Another team breakfast to fuel up for our Sunday morning practice.  Karsten and his wife Christel were awesome in preparing and setting out quite a morning spread for the team.  After breakfast, it was back out on the field for almost four more hours of football.

Overall, the camp was great and I think all of the players had a really good time.  As I said, there was certainly football incorporated, but it was mostly about team building and having a good time.

After returning to Kristianstad, I recovered and rested for a couple of hours before hopping on a train to Hässleholm where I had been invited to Johan Persson and Mariana Nilsson's apartment for tacos and fika with Lucas Grip and Sarah Johnsson.

This nice '57 Chevy was waiting where Johan would pick me up at the train station.  As always, I had a great time with Johan, Mariana, Lucas and Sarah catching up and talking a little about our upcoming matchup to start the 2011 Division I season.  There was only some joking about holding me hostage for the remainder of the week.

Limhamn Scrimmage

Continuing my consistent pace of being a full week behind in this blog, let's talk about two weekends ago, April 9th, and the week leading up to it:

During the week I continue to help out with the Junior (U13/U15) practices that are before our (and U17s) practice on Tuesdays and thursdays.  It's a good opportunity to work with the younger kids who have a wide range of experience, but are often very green.

Sorin's son, Neo, has recently joined the U13.  At age 7, he's playing against some kids who are almost twice his age!

As you can see, on the U15 team, there are even some kids who are twice his size!  It's nice to see them help him out.  It's ok, Neo, those chin strap snaps can be pretty hard to fasten, even for adults.

The big event this week was our scrimmage with the Limhamn Griffins in Malmö.  As I mentioned before, we were supposed to have another scrimmage which fell through.  Therefore, this would be our first and only opportunity to play against another team before our first game against the Hässleholm Hurricanes, only 2 weeks away.

The scrimmage was in two sessions, to be held at an indoor practice facility that is home to Malmö FF, the Allsvenskan soccer club in Malmö.  The hangar like building has a field turf field, rock wall, and other all purpose equipment hanging from the ceilings and on the sides that can be lowered to make this a very versatile facility.

We had 31 guys dressed today.  It was GREAT to see so many Predators in one place!  Today we donned some old U19 jerseys that got a somewhat critical reaction from the players, but they sort of grew on me as the day progressed.

Our first session was a combination of group work.  We had a 7 on 7 and pass pro period followed by an inside run and 1 on 1 period.  Both were productive and we performed well against the bigger Limhamn team.

After the first session we headed into Malmö to get lunch as a team at a Thai restaurant.  As a coach it was nice to see and hear some of the guys talking football at lunch, especially trying to teach and help out the guys who have been unable to come to some practices.

We returned to the field where a Junior scrimmage was going on.  Limhamn's U17 team was scrimmaging the Staffanstorp Saviours (in orange and black).  Pretty good football from the kids.

Our scrimmage setup was basically no special teams, but still using chains and playing regular football.  Coaches were also allowed on the field, which was great for us to be able to do some coaching between plays, if necessary.  Despite this, we had a great tempo to the sessions and were able to run a lot of plays and get the guys a lot of work.

I must confess that I was very nervous about this scrimmage.  The night before, I had a hard time getting to sleep and, when I awoke, I felt like I had never been more than half asleep during the night.  I was very anxious to see how we would stack up against another team.  Limhamn plays in the Division I Södra, the same division that the Predators are in.  Furthermore, last year Limhamn finished third in the division, behind the Kristianstad C4 Lions (1st) and the Ystad Rockets (2nd).  The C4 Lions no longer have a team, so one would project that Limhamn will again be near the top of the standings this year.  I was expecting a tough contest and hoped to have a good guage of where we stood as a team after this scrimmage.

Me with Hampus Linde (left) and Sorin Pandrea (right).

Huddled with the offense.

Tyson (kneeling on the right) was a HUGE help this weekend.  He was busy also meeting with teams who were in attendance for his business, but still found time to do a lot of very valuable coaching.

Hard running by Anders Larsson.

Some Predators throwing blocks!

...and taking hits.

It's nice to have enough guys to have a sideline mob!

Alex Paiement up against one of the most unorthodox offensive tackle stances I have ever seen.

Post-game Griffins.

Post-game Predators, with Benjamin Hörnquist saying a few words of respect.

Things got a little heated in the inside run period and we actually broke for lunch a little early.  Despite this, the team scrimmage session was very productive with no extra curricular activity.  I don't know many Swedish swear words, but I don't think I heard any during post game handshakes.

Leading the Griffins above is their head coach, Johan Vajnlie.  He contacted us about having this scrimmage and I am very grateful he did.  It was incredibly beneficial for us to get some work in against the Griffins.  For most of our guys, it was our first taste of Senior competition and intensity.  Limhamn is a quality team and we were able to hold our own against them and gain some momentum heading to our opening match.  I am very appreciative of Johan and the Griffins for hosting us.

Karsten surprised me with a gift while we were in Malmö.  Apparently, he had heard about a small rant I went on about the cost of Mountain Dew in Sweden (10 SEK/can, or about $1.60!) and gave me a couple of cans from the stash he acquired on a recent trip to Germany.  After such a good performance by the Predators at the scrimmage, when I got home I felt that was as good a time as any to enjoy a can.

It tasted like victory.