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.
It's about time for a Game 1 update.
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