3-PUNKT CAMP Day 6

Last day of camp!

We were scheduled to start our skill challenges early today but we decided to postpone for an hour or so. The USA men's basketball team is playing Spain in the Gold Medal round at 9:30am so we are going to watch the game on the one (and only) TV that we have.

This has really worked out great. Each coach spoke one day during camp to the entire group about a topic. My talk on Wednesday was on team work. I went into what a makes a great team, sacrifice, goals, team-player concept, etc.  I also spent time comparing and contrasting this year's USA basketball team with the 2004 Olympics team that we sent to Greece. I had a few video clips prepared that we could watch and the kids enjoyed seeing them. It was good to see that what was emphasized for the 2008 team led them to success (team work).

I also spoke on how God wanted them on His team. We run into so many different ideas here about who and what people think God is. I shared with them some of God's real attributes and I hope I was able to encourage them to seek Him. A few of our campers are Christians but only a handful.

As we watched the game, the USA team didn't let me down. It was a great game and the kids enjoyed seeing some of the players that we had talked about on Wednesday.

After lunch, skills challenges and award ceremonies we are headed home. It was a great camp and I know the kids enjoyed themselves. For the first time in a long while, I did not have to worry about taking care of all of the details. I could concentrate on coaching and let someone else take care of all of the other things that go into holding a successful camp of this size. It was definitely nice for a change of pace.

Now, it is good bye to the kids, exchanging emails address and heading home.

An hour by bus to Riga, get to the train station, then two hours by train to Cesis. I'll be home by 8:30pm and maybe Laura will have some good homemade Latvian food for me!

 

Watching the USA - Spain basketball game on Sunday morning...

3-PUNKT CAMP -- I'm Going Pro, Baaabbbbyyyyy!

What a great day!

The Riga Barons men's basketball team is the best pro team in Latvia and compete very well throughout the Baltics (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania). We knew they were going to send some coaches and players out to the camp on Saturday.

The original plan was for them to come to the camp and demonstrate using their players and coaches. I happened to be working with the oldest and most skilled campers when they arrived. We were running our drills and the pros and coach just stood and watched. After a few minutes one of the camp organizers came over and said that the pros were NOT going to run their drills. I'm shaking my head and said that just doesn't make sense. He said no, YOU are going to take the pro players and our campers and run YOUR drills with them.

It didn't take much convincing to get me to coach pro players! One of they guys was the MVP of the league and is a really good player. The others were good guys as well.

We brought our entire groups of campers to the gym from the other locations and had them watch the skills and drills. Our campers that were running the drills with the pros were, of course, impressed that they were on the same court with the pros. The intensity level picked up to say the least!

We ended the practice segment by scrimmaging using a combination of pros and campers.

Afterwards we were able to play some shooting and dribbling games for smaller kids and then the players addressed the group. I don't know what they said but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to the Barons for taking time to do this. We appreciated it so much.

I've had the opportunity to coach good high school players. I've even had a few Div. 1 NCAA players that I've been lucky enough to coach. Today was the first time I've had the opportunity to coach pro players on the floor. As I've always said -- "Great players will make an average coach look pretty good!!"

Barons player

Speaking to the campers...

 

Three of the Barons receiving their camp shirts....

 

Latvian professional league trophy...

 

Campers, pros, trophies....

We're practicing celebrating winning the championship!!!

3-PUNKT CAMP - Day 2 & 3

Everything is going fine in Valle. We are beginning to settle into a routine and the campers are picking things up well.

Wake-up is at 7:30 and then we all meet on the soccer field for a game of 'American Bulldog'. It's a good way to get the kids moving and the blood flowing. Basically, the 'dogs' try to catch the 'non-dogs'. If you are caught, you become a 'bulldog'. For an old guy like me, I did plenty of watching. I don't want to have to go to the slimnica for knee surgery!

Next is breakfast in the school cafeteria. Breakfast is different in Latvia but usually good. A 30-minute time for a devotional, encouragement, etc. follows breakfast.

For the rest of the day the players are working on a rotating basis in 5 different areas: 2 trainings, 1 discussion, 1 free sport and 1 physical development. Each session is 1.5 hours so the campers are worked hard.

The older campers stay in a dorm like setting (2 stall bathroom for the entire group -- no showers here, must use the ones in the gym). The beds are former steel army cots but the mattresses are ok if you stack about three together. I've got a couple of soccer coaches as roommates. Limited English, limited Latvian...lots of short sentences and head nods. They don't snore and I'm hoping I don't snore TOO loud!

The younger campers are staying classrooms in the school buildings attached to the gym. The other American here has a young group of 14 campers all in one room. They sleep on the floor. Lots of giggling, farting noises and toothpaste pranks. I think we will work them quite a bit harder tomorrow so maybe they will settle down and sleep tonight. They are really good kids though. We don't have to worry too much about them. In fact, the organizers have brought 16-ounce boxing gloves to settle disagreements!

A few pictures of some activities:

(Liene - plays on girls under 18 Latvian national team)

 

(Daily devotional time)

 

 

Some our younger campers battling it out...

 

(Valle Vidusskola)

3-PUNKT CAMP - Day 1

We have made it to Valle (about an hour from Riga) for the first 3-Punkt basketball camp.  This is a very small, rural community with just a couple of small stores and the rest is the ever-present apartment complexes that are so prevalent in Latvia.

It seems like we will have about 45-50 players from age 10-23. There is also a soccer camp being conducted at the same location and we are sharing training and dressing facilities.

First up for the entire group will be team-building exercises. Each group is given a task and they have to work as a team to successfully complete the activities. It looks like we have some good kids and the leaders have done a good job of organizing.

After supper, my job will be to organize the entire group of basketball players into  try-out sessions so the coaches can evaluate them and put them into the proper skill level groups. I'm off to chow down on potatoes and meat gravy...ata!

 

 

COACHING AT THE PUNK(T) CAMP

I never really thought I would be involved with a 'punk' camp but yes, I am. Actually in Latvian, 'punkt' means point. Next week we start on the last camp of the summer called "3-Punkt Nometne" or "3-Point Camp". I'm really glad to be working with this group because it will allow networking for some athlete/coaching projects that we want to get started in the future.

The camp is hosted by St. Matthews Church but there is also involvement with the Barons, one of the top-division men's pro teams. They will send some of their players out to speak to our campers. As usual, I'm the old guy on the staff but we have 3 or 4 younger coaches that have played or currently play in the Latvian or other European leagues. We have an out-of-the way school that is set-up for this type of camp activity with gyms and outdoor courts.

There's nothing like spending a week working with kids on basketball skills. Basketball: morning, noon and night. I'm looking forward to it; I know it will be a good week in preparing young people physically and most importantly, spiritually.

If we have an internet connection there, I will try to send some updates next week.

 

THE END OF FREE TOILETS

 

In the US, one hardly ever thinks about having to pay to use public toilet facilities. Of course, that is not so in most parts of the world. In Latvia, there are many public water closets (WC) that are pay...usually either 15 or 20 santimes (about 30-40 US cents).

It was with much consternation that when I went to my favorite WC today in Riga that I found it was now a pay toilet. You've got to be kidding me! Not only was this previously a free WC but it was also clean and fully stocked with all of the essentials that a person needs when doing their business.

This WC happens to be in Stockmann's, a large Swedish upscale store that is centrally located between the bus and train stations. There is a also a great grocery store as well as our favorite movie theater. One of our favorite things to do on our day off is to take the train to Riga, sightsee and then take in a movie. Of course, that also includes a quick trip to the fourth floor of Stockmann's for the use of their restrooms. It was free, it was clean, it didn't smell too bad...well, I guess we now have two of three left.

What makes Stockmann's WC better than the bus or train station? A couple of reasons stand out. First, at least in the men's room at the stations, is that the janitorial staff is all women. It doesn't matter if every urinal is occupied and there is a waiting line, the ladies just go about their mopping and cleaning. For me, that just doesn't seem right....I assume after you work around men using the urinals for a few months you just go about your job, but is is still strange for me. The first time I walked in, went to the urinal and then looked up and there stood a lady, I was just kind of like "Whhaaaatt, uh am I in the right room?".

The second part of the whole deal that is strange is that when you pay the lady to go in, there is a roll of toilet paper sitting there on the counter. If you are going to need to use the paper, you unroll the appropriate amount and take it with you. It is sometimes funny to see a 'rookie pay bathroom customer' ahead of you and they are obviously needing to get to the toilet quickly. They throw their money down and head off to the stall and close the door. About a minute later, the door busts open and they go running back to the pay counter to get some toilet paper as there will be none otherwise.

Now the question is whether I continue my loyalty at Stockmann's even though I think they are gouging me...or do I go to the stations and have to avoid the clean-up ladies while I do my business?

Life is never boring in a foreign land....

MACEDONIAN TV - My new best friend

The Olympics...biggest sporting event every four years and here I am with no TV! I can pick up a few free channels on my internet connected computer but I was about to resign myself to read about the Olympic highlights instead of watching them.

Through another blog I found this site: Macedonian TV

It's free, fairly good video stream and I just turn off the sound. So far this morning (Saturday), I've watched some women weightlifters, shooting (do we need to debate if rifle-shooters are athletes?), women's volleyball and men's cycling. I even saw an interview with a Latvian cyclist (but of course, it was dubbed in another language).

So, I'm set for the next few days as long as the internet stays connected and Laura doesn't run me off to check her email.

And the best part? No commercials!!!

COLD SNAP!

This is for all of my Texas friends:

Let's see now, record number of 100 degree days... Austin--105 ... Dallas--101 ...and it's just getting warmed up for August. Yes, I feel your pain!

Tonight at 8:00pm, as I was walking through town the local bank thermometer was pegged at +13! Can you believe 55 degrees on the 5th day of August? Tonight's low is expected to be 47 with a high on Wednesday of 67. It has been a mild summer so far but this is even strange for Latvia.

Stay cool!

WOW...We're buying a car!

Through the incredible thoughtfulness of our friends back in Athens, Texas we are about to buy a car (or van). It is amazing the way that our friends (and even people we don't know very well) have supported us. Loti, liel paldies to all of you!!

We have been here a year and two months without our own car so we know we can survive depending on our own feet. But, it will be so much better if we can help supply rides for others instead of us having to rely on someone else to transport us. Very few of our church members drive to church. With the availability of our car, we can now help transport those that need a lift.

We usually go to one of the three nearby small grocery stores almost every other day. If Laura is cooking for the youth or ladies' Bible meetings, it might be an everyday trip. We can only buy what we can carry, so having a car that we can go to the larger grocery store and buy a week's worth of food will be a time-saver. Also, going to the grocery store every day just offers a temptation to pig-out on the Latvian junk food. With a car, maybe we won't succumb to the tasty (but non-nutritious) food items. Of course, we might just buy MORE since we now can carry it home in one trip!

Next comes the car-buying process. We can't go by ourselves or we will run into the 'rich American' problem very quickly. A couple of the church men have offered to go with us and we have been looking online for a good buy.

Buying used cars anywhere is always a complicated process because everything is negotiable and nothing is guaranteed. For us, it is even more of a challenge this time as we have to try to translate the language, calculate the price not only in lats but also US dollars and convert kilometers to miles. The prices of cars in Latvia are quite high and a large number have been brought in from other countries of the European Union. I'm confident we will find the right vehicle, we just can't get in a hurry or we could be stuck with a lemon.

Here is a typical ad from an online car selling service. This is similar to what we are looking for:

 

Marka : Chrysler Grand Voyager  Izlaiduma gads: 1998 septembris  Motors: 2.4 benzīns  Ātrumkārba: Mehāniska 5 ātrumi

Nobraukums, km: 133 588 Krāsa: Zila  Virsbūves tips: Mikroautobuss  Tehniskā apskate: 07.2009

Aprīkojums: Stūres pastiprinātājs, El. logu pacēlāji, Kondicionieris, Salona gaisa filtrs, Kruīza kontrole

Jumta reliņi, Vieglmetāla diski  Gaismas: Miglas lukturi, Papild. bremžu signāls, Regulējams lampu augstums

Spoguļi: El. regulējami, Apsildāmi, El. nolokāmi  Salons: Roku balsti, Tonēti aizmugurējie logi

Stūre: Regulējama, Daudzfunkcionāla

Drošība: ABS, Centrālā atslēga, Imobilaizers, Air-bag Hi-Fi: FM/AM

Cena: 
4 323 Ls [$9588 US dollars if my calculations are correct]