Spending 2 months in the States working with volleyball I was looking forward to a calm yet exciting start on the Danish season, with a new team and in a new club. However, once you're in town and at practise with a lot of girls who're all there to get better, you quickly realize that taking it slow wont get you anywhere.
This article is a small view into the last week or so, which has been full of new experiences with both womens AND mens volleyball.
On tour with Bring it...
I arrived in Odense Sunday and started practise on Monday and everything was going according to plan - until Wednesday arround 22.00. I recieved a call from Martin Olafsen who is the headcoach of Örkelljunga mens team in Sweden. Martin was in Holland with the "Bring it" exposure tour for men, and they where in bad need for a coach to help running practises and matches for 30 hopefull players all looking for try outs with a team in Europe.
It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to go. I felt it would be a great chance to further develope as a coach, but also the fact that Martin called me for because they needed extra hands.
I drove all night and arrived in Holland Thursday at 12.00 or so and the 30 guys just finished their morning practise. Martin and the Bring it agent Jonathan Walsh chose 12 players of the 30 to play a match the same evening and 1 hour later they took off heading for Belgium. That left me back with close to 20 players which I had to run a practise for in the evening, so I had a few hours to get settled at the hostel and had smaller chats with some of the guys.
over the next 4 days we ran practise every morning and evening, and every day 12 guys where given the chance at a match to show that they where the ones to be given a try out next time one came up. I got to coach 1 match while I was there, and it was against the U21 Dutch team. That whole experience was just fantastic. Being in charge of a hungry group of guys, playing against some of the biggest talents in Holland was just a great opportunity, and I want to thank both Marting and Jonathan for inviting me there.
All in all it was a group of super motivated guys who all wanted a great experience and dreamed of getting signed with a team in Europe.
Coaching these guys where not a difficult task since they where all looking for ANY advise I could give to get them that step closer to a try out. And eventhough there is a difference between coaching women and men, the level of engagement from the players made me want to give out tips left and right, and to stay after practise to run one or two more drills.
Being with the tour and seeing the amount of players who are looking for a job, really puts in perspektive how many many many players are out there looking for a team to play for, and it makes you think if we in Denmark actually get out enough to see what is out there..!
I know that Jens Bang has been in Slovenia this summer to watch the womens exposure tour, and Jens found 2 players he felt would make his team better. But comparing to other years, being at the tour really gave Jens a chance to see what different type of players there where, and that fact makes me sure that the 2 new players in Brøndby are exactly what they need.
After my trip to Holland I have decided that I want to do that extra work every season to go see the tour or start having players for try out before signing them. It gives you a way better idea of what you can get and what you are missing out on by not doing it.
Hamburg in Odense - a lesson to be learned...
During my trip in Holland I have to admit I felt I was missing out on my own teams pre-season, so I was very excited to get back and get started for real.
This Friday came our first real test, and it was against none less that number 4 in Germany, VT Aurubis Hamburg. We played 10 games(sæt) against them and we averaged 13 points in each game. Hamburg playes volleyball about 15 centimeters higher above the net than what we see in Denmark, so we got what we asked for.. ;0)
They simply hit harder and higher, serve tougher and play faster than we do, so it came as no surprise to us that we were struggling with the Hamburg team.
On top of that we played without Juliane, Julie, Saori and Jeanette due to injuries/beachvolley, so when we are going to Hamburg next weekend for a rematch, we expect to bring a full team and thereby more a taste of what our level really is.
Playing games against teams at that level gives the players a great chance to see how good they can get with more practise and physical improvement, and I personally think it is the best possible preparation for the up-coming season because we get to play so many games at a higher tempo, and it demands so much more of us all compared to the matches we play in the Danish league.
Looking at our own side of the net, passing against Hamburg's serves was very hard, but we did better as each game was played, and it was also obvious that we need better timing between Dorthe and our middle players. I am proud of the way my players handled the games, they kept a high spirit all the time and where actually looking like a team, communicating all the time, helping eachother out and smiling a lot... All while they where trying their hardest to compete with Hamburg.
We are very excited to go there the coming Friday, and I look forward to see our further progress in our level of game.
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