OK….. continuing with our two day jaunt thru Italy and Switzerland to sow the seeds of American Football and try to find out how we can help their two leagues get better. By the way the taxi drive thru Milan and to Varesci was not for the faint of heart.
You think New Jersey has bad drivers…well these guys over here seemed to get some letters screwed up – I think they mistook OFFensive driving for DEFensive driving . These people are completely insane.
The word courtesy has no room in the lexicon of driving terms here. The traffic circles seem like a race to see who can cut off more drivers and narrowly miss more pedestrians. Getting from one side of the street to the other is a cross between an art form and a death wish.
I also learned where the phrase “Italian Salute” came from. You see it being exchanged all the time. Must be a lot of service men and women in Italy!
Driving on the highways. Three lanes of cars – well remember those rocket cars on the Bonneville Salt Flats? – imagine cars…. three across going as fast as they can.
Flashing headlights is a courteous way of telling the guy in front of you he is going too damn slow and to get the hell out of the way. It usually works this way….flash the lights, blow the horn…..put your front bumper four and a half inches from the other guy’s rear bumper……Car A moves over….Car B roars past…Both drivers (obviously in the military) exchange Italian Salutes!
We made it up to Varesci and the Three Amigos morphed into the Fantastic Four as my friend Giorgio Volpi joined us from Lugano, Switzerland. It was the first time that Curtis and Terry met the “Ambassador” of Football.
With our unit in place we were ready to show our project to the Italian directors of the U19 football team. We were hoping to generate a little momentum and pick up some information and ideas for our discussion tomorrow with the Swiss National team.
We were met by Paolo who was the coach of the local U19 team – the Varesci Gorrillas (I shit you not)! He was going to set us up with a Skype meeting with four other coaches / directors including the president of the Italian Football League who was in Rome. Colorful names like Lusciano, Febbrizzio, gotta be a Mario in there. Come on, we are in Italy after all.
I have become a bit of a Skype master myself. Having used it to communicate with my Swiss and German friends. Doing it from Italy, piece of cake….Mr International Skyper can handle it. Much too my chagrin I have become more fluent in various forms of media. Truly I miss the rotary phone and pen and paper as well.
We spent a good hour and a half with the Italian group. Both sides were gathering information. Our goal was to try and find out if we could supply some support to their league thru the use of the “Sound Mind Sound Body” model Curtis had developed more than 15 years ago – possibly some coaching clinics and symposiums as well.
*****Check it out on the internet – Sound Mind Sound Body*****
We were also trying to gauge the interest in European football players in coming to the states.
Obviously European athletes have had an impact on every sport in the US. To this point American Football coaches have not felt the need to go across the pond to find players. The uniqueness of American football has slowed development in Europe. But, I believe it is just a matter of time.
Lack of American coaches and really the inability of the European leagues that play American football to practice with regularity has held development back. But there are thousands and thousands of teams across Europe into Asia – Japan and Australia (But not the NGL in the land down under thanks to Marcin Soluch and his hoodwinking of thousands of people).
Football continues to get better and better. There have been several foreign players who have played in the US and there are some playing right now at the college level. It is just a matter of time till we see athletes from all over Europe playing in the states.
One of our goals as a group is going to try and find the the European athletes who want to come to the US. We are trying to become a bridge for them to get here. With my contacts with the Swiss and Giorgio’s widespread contacts on the Continent we were looking to gain some traction with the Swiss and Italians.
It is hard to gauge the level of interest to this point. Several Swiss players have approached me personally but until now we had done nothing about it. This is our first venture into this uncharted territory…there are some who have given this idea shot, but gave up – a few work on, but there doesn’t seem to be much organization.
So we have decided to try and develop some organized programming to help improve the players and coaches in the ways that they want. We don’t want to step in to anyone’s pumpkin patch…so we want to get involved with the leagues and teams and supply what they need if they want us to become involved.
Between Terry and Curtis there is an avenue to get this moving forward. It is probably several years away from paying large dividends. But what a fantastic experience to be involved with.
Giorgio will get us home to Milan….we will all eat a late dinner. Drink some beer and wine. Evaluate what we found out. Compare notes and then hit the sack.
Tomorrow (Saturday) is going to come fast and hard. Quick stop in Lugano, Switzerland to view a venue for a future coaching clinic – training session for players and coaches. Then on to Lucerne to gather with the Swiss group of coaches and administrators.
I am looking to see my coaching friends – hearing what they have to say. Perhaps a dozen beers or so!