Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Trip publicity
Here is a link to the story that was published in the Skokie Review for the week of July 27.
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/mortongrove/sports/highschools/1689246,morton-grove-nngsoc-073009-s1.article
Enjoy the press.
Until next time...
Hogie
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/mortongrove/sports/highschools/1689246,morton-grove-nngsoc-073009-s1.article
Enjoy the press.
Until next time...
Hogie
Monday, July 27, 2009
The final whistle
Our time in Europe has ended. The girls played hard, laughed a lot, cried a little, and had an experience I hope they will never forget. We all arrived home after 21 straight hours of travel. This included a 5-hour bus ride and 2 plane flights. I can honestly say the girls hustled their hearts out during the entire trip.
They are great ambassadors of the program and conducted themselves with respect, dignity, and an sense of wonder. We come home knowing that we competed on an international stage, faced challenging conditions, and walk away with our heads held high.
I am truly proud to be their coach.
Until next time...
Hogie
Friday, July 24, 2009
David vs. Goliath
In the biblical story, David defeats Goliath. Unfortunately, yesterday Goliath won. Showing an effort that rivals anything I've seen in our program, the playing of soccer in the 2009 European Tour has come to an end. A 1-0 loss in the first round of yesterday's playoff game means we are hanging up our boots and getting ready to come home.
With only 8 players on the field, your Vikings fought valiantly, but came up short. We held a Swedish team scoreless for the first 20-minutes of the match, despite being down 3 players and having no substitutes. Alas, the dam broke and we let in a goal. I truly could not have been more proud of the girls and the way the composed themselves and handled the challenges on this trip.
Today was a sleep-in day and we spent the afternoon in a town called Hirtsthal and had a picnic on the beach after a short 30 minute train ride. We all went exploring and Meryl, Delilah, and I explored a WWII bunker built by the Germans in preparation for an Allied invasion that never came; it went to Normandy instead. It was truly special for me to explore a piece of history, especially since I teach the subject. According to the literature, Rommel personally inspected the bunkers in December 1943. It's fascinating for me to engage my mind and literally walk on and through history.
I am taking out the girls to dinner tonight at Pizzeria Bambino. Tomorrow we pack and get on our 6 hour bus ride to Hamburg at 11:00 p.m. I can promise you'll have some tired daughters on Sunday afternoon.
Until next time...
Hogie
With only 8 players on the field, your Vikings fought valiantly, but came up short. We held a Swedish team scoreless for the first 20-minutes of the match, despite being down 3 players and having no substitutes. Alas, the dam broke and we let in a goal. I truly could not have been more proud of the girls and the way the composed themselves and handled the challenges on this trip.
Today was a sleep-in day and we spent the afternoon in a town called Hirtsthal and had a picnic on the beach after a short 30 minute train ride. We all went exploring and Meryl, Delilah, and I explored a WWII bunker built by the Germans in preparation for an Allied invasion that never came; it went to Normandy instead. It was truly special for me to explore a piece of history, especially since I teach the subject. According to the literature, Rommel personally inspected the bunkers in December 1943. It's fascinating for me to engage my mind and literally walk on and through history.
I am taking out the girls to dinner tonight at Pizzeria Bambino. Tomorrow we pack and get on our 6 hour bus ride to Hamburg at 11:00 p.m. I can promise you'll have some tired daughters on Sunday afternoon.
Until next time...
Hogie
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Still struggling on the pitch
The Viking struggles continue, as we dropped 2 close games 1-3 and 1-2, respectively. The girls are still not used to the physical play that is allowed here in Europe, but despite this, we have played well. In yesterday's second game, a phantom PK led to us being down 2-1 and then late in the game we ended up with only 10 players on the field due to injuries. Obviously, not the ideal situation, but the girls worked hard.
Unfortunately, my hospital visit streak is still alive; three trips and three hospital visits. We took Elena to the hospital for x-rays on her ankle after she was blasted with a ball on it, which caused her to roll it pretty bad. The good thing was that the x-rays were negative and did not show any signs of a fracture. She's now on crutches and European crutches takes some getting used to. They are the kind that Tiny Tim uses in "A Christmas Carol" so I've taken to calling her Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, and all other characters from the famous story.
Elsewhere on the injury front Maggie's knee and Lily's head kept them on the shelf for this morning's game. Despite only having 10 players on the field we played well, but came up short this morning. We still have one more game in group play this afternoon and then on to the playoffs.
It's tough to get a pulse on the girls. They are obviously frustrated with the results on the field, but they quickly are able to get past that soon after the game. Maybe is a gender thing, or then again, it could just be me.
Until next time...
Hogie
Unfortunately, my hospital visit streak is still alive; three trips and three hospital visits. We took Elena to the hospital for x-rays on her ankle after she was blasted with a ball on it, which caused her to roll it pretty bad. The good thing was that the x-rays were negative and did not show any signs of a fracture. She's now on crutches and European crutches takes some getting used to. They are the kind that Tiny Tim uses in "A Christmas Carol" so I've taken to calling her Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, and all other characters from the famous story.
Elsewhere on the injury front Maggie's knee and Lily's head kept them on the shelf for this morning's game. Despite only having 10 players on the field we played well, but came up short this morning. We still have one more game in group play this afternoon and then on to the playoffs.
It's tough to get a pulse on the girls. They are obviously frustrated with the results on the field, but they quickly are able to get past that soon after the game. Maybe is a gender thing, or then again, it could just be me.
Until next time...
Hogie
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