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.
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