When Luke sold me on coming up to Sopot he told me it was part of the Tri-cities and was not like the rest of Poland. Sopot has some nice beaches and so many tourists come up for the summer to hang out on the beach and show off. The tri-city area consists of Sopot (where our team is from), Gdansk, and Gdynia. You can easily get anywhere u want in all three cities by bus, tram or train. Β To see the full story or any of the other things we are doing at safety-blitz go to www.safety-blitz.net and check out everything American football
My First practice with the team was Tuesday in the “bubble”. Its a small turf field that has an inflatable roof. The teams uses it year round so during the winter when its cold and dark we can get in there and get some work done. When I arrived I met all the guys, talked with the President where he gave me a hat, shirt, and we talked a little before practice. The team has over 50 players on the roster which is huge for a Div2 team in Europe. Many top level teams don’t have 50 players on their roster. We had 38 at practice then and again I was shocked how many guys were there. I know many lower level teams that might get 10-15 at practice but again you can tell when they play because they are terrible. I was pretty impressed with the guys because for a team that has only been in gear and practicing for a little over a year they were pretty good. Allot of the credit goes to Luke Zetazate who has played and coached in Europe for as long (if not longer) as I have and has been with these guys from day one. You can always tell the teams who have had American coaches and players because they progress so much faster than teams with only European coaches or player coaches since their job is to coach and make the team better. These guys have a good here. They have a president that works hard and has the best interest of the team at heart, a HC/QB from Canada (Luke) who works harder than most coaches I have seen come to Europe and being the QB the WRs and Defense all progresses faster than any start up team since in games the WRs actually get balls thrown to them and in practice the D gets to do skelly with a real QB so they learn to read and react quicker than if you had a brand new guy playing QB. We also have Hudl which is the greatest program for football ever. There are also a couple other Americans living here who coach, and it just makes life so much easier. Mike is the other one. Hes been here in Poland for many years and has coached other teams besides the Sabercats. I get to focus on one side of the ball. That was my plan in Kragujevac, with the Wild Boars but that did not work out the way I hoped, even though I had a great time in Serbia. I’m very happy to be able to put all my attention on the defense because when I took over as Head Coach in Serbia the defense got a little bit neglected. Im not going to lie.
You can check out the teams website here http://sabercats.pl/
On Thursday we had my first practice outside and like most teams I have coached in Europe its not that great place, but the guys make due. The defense was surprised how fast I expected them to move through out practice. I am a big believer on tempo when it comes to it and having everything set up before practice starts so we can just go from drill to drill and a fast pace. I had allot of the guys dead tired in the first 30 minutes. Everything was non stop, I was even tired from all the yelling and running around getting the guys used to what I want to see. On Saturadays practice one of our players came after being out and drinking all night. He and a couple other guys were dogging it in Pursuit drills so I lined them all up for gassers. A gasser for me is running sideline to sideline there and back, there and back. That makes one. After the 2nd one, the player who was dogging it and was out drinking started puking like crazy. Needless to say I made sure I abused him the rest of practice to send him a message that you have to be accountable for your self and the team. If there is practice or a game then you should not be out drinking and partying. Im pretty sure that wont happen again. It reminds me of when I was in Hamar, Norway and we had a scrimmage vs the 1814’s and my center was deathly hungover and the other team noticed it. I told them to blitz A gap all scrimmage because I dont feel sorry for guys who do stuff like them to themselves. You only feel like shit during and after, but you also hurt your team. Since these guys are still so new at American football we are teaching them how to do things the right way, like how to watch game film, using hudl, and getting them to buy into the “TEAM” aspect of football that is not like in any other sport. It will be along process but thats how great teams are build.
Yesterday was one of the few days I had to do anything I wanted so Bartek (my flatmate) and I went to Sopot to walk around before we went to his parents for dinner. There were so many people walking around, the beach was packed and I finally got to see all of the area. He showed me the hotel where Adolf Hitler had his own personal suite during the occupation of Nazi Germany. After walking around for a bit we stopped for a beer. Most everything is completely over priced in Sopot but one, and its where we have our team parties and you can get polish food and beer. Beer for a half liter (pint) is only 5zl ($1.50 USD) and the only place that is remotely affordable by polish standards. Walking around I even saw a KFC so when im in the mood for some fried chicken I know right where to go.
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When we arrived at Bartek’s parents house, I met his mom, dad, and grandma, who is the sweetest grandma around. Β His mom speaks very good English because she lived in England for a while many years ago but his dad and grandma dont. Β They have a dog named Tequila that Athena could play with and this dog loves water. Β Bartek would shoot the hose into its mouth and the dog would just try to eat it over and over. Β Even when it sounded like it was choking still wanted more. Β We sat down for dinner and his mom and grandma brought out all this amazing food. Β Chicken, some kind of diced carrots, cabbage, potatoes, salad, ect. Β I ate so much food and still I was not full. Β Barteks grandma kept saying how much she loves me because I keep eating all her food. Β I asked if she wanted a new grandson and she said sure but only if I learn Polish. Β So new task is to learn Polish asap!!!!!
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