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We have a day off before we face the Dutch National Team (The Lions). So we have some time to explore Amsterdam as a team. Chris Krattiger (the GM) grabbed me and said that he would show me around since he had been there a few times.

The first thing Chris does is skate into a small shop … he emerges a few minutes later with two cans of Heineken. Well when in Amsterdam … yup do as the Amsterdamites.

We wandered down a main street along one of the more than 150 canals and I’m getting the sense that everyone around me is smoking a joint. The scent (and haze) is dense on certain corners.

Amazing – but then we cruise past the “Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum” (complete with a green Volkswagen Bug complete with Marijuana (or Marihuana) leaves stenciled on the door on each side!

Then you begin to see the bicycles … literally thousands of them. They actually have streets reserved for bikes only! And sitting atop these bicycles are these very big people.

We dodge the bikes … avoid a contact high with the marijuana users and slip across several streets. Chris is grinning and announces that we are going to hit the “Red Light” district.

Sure why not … after all it is early afternoon and should be safe enough. So, apparently we cut across a corner of the famed area. Just as advertised there they are …girls scantily clad in negligees waving at us from floor to ceiling windows.

We spend a minute of two admiring the Dutch architecture and then continue across an alley way and there stands a beautiful church with a dingy bar directly across from it (apparently the church was built in the 1300’s!)

We sit down at some beaten down table on metal chairs and get a beer. Directly behind me is some dude smoking a joint that Bob Marley might even admire.

I say to Chris … now I get it. You get high or drunk or both … then you head into the red light district and commit some bad acts, cross over the road then go to church and ask for forgiveness. For penance you head across the street and drink your punishment while saying the Rosary and “The Act of Contrition”!

Hah … what a life!

OK … enough about having a “High” old time …lets play the Dutch!

When the game finally came around the nervousness started to show up. I mean no one was throwing up or losing their minds (that I could see anyway!) The Germans had some really big guys and they were always a European Championship contender.

I had heard that they had a 6’10” left tackle and some big bruisers on the defensive line. Well, they didn’t exaggerate either.

It’s always interesting to stand by the gate when your opponent enters the field. It kind of gives you a feel – not only of their size … but their demeanor as well. I can attest that the 6’10” dude was legit and the two defensive linemen were both at least 6’6″. This was going to be troublesome without a doubt.

I’m not sure that any of the Swiss National Teams had ever won in these international games… I mean ever! Whether it was the Senior or Junior teams … they had always had difficulty with these types of games.

Now we had a couple of good looking players (One of our tackles would play in the US at New Mexico Military Academy (Junior College) and then move on to play at the University of Buffalo. We had some pretty good receivers as well as a really quick runner.

Defensively we had a good group of linebackers and a decent front four. But honestly, those guys wearing the black uniforms looked to be really solid.

Well, one could only hope … but as everyone knows “Hope is not a good strategy!”

In our case – “Hope” left the stadium before the game started.

You could tell right from the beginning that they were going to have their way with the Swiss team. Defensively they completely shut down our offense – and offensively it seemed like every play they tried (and they had a lot of them) gained ten or more yards.

The Germans ran thru us, over us and around us. They built pretty much an insurmountable lead into the second quarter.

But, somehow our quarterback Richie rallied the troops and managed to put together a drive that put us inside the five yard line in the final seconds of the half.

I love Richie – he is one hard nosed guy from Winterthur. To this day I still tease him that he is a linebacker playing quarterback. The guy is tough!

Here we are on the verge of scoring a TD that would mean so much to our players from our tiny country. The Germans hammer us around and we end up with a fourth down and a yard or so to score with just a few seconds.

Now, to set the stage – in the last several Germany vs. Switzerland international games our valiant teams have been held without a point. What to do???

We call our last time out and the coaches gather and time for a major decision. It is a decision to go for the touchdown. I lobby for a field goal try – I mean we haven’t scored a point on these guys in forever!

But, hell I’m their guest and although I just wanted the team to get a score. We had a good placekicker and it should amount to an easily made field goal – there is no way I’m going to put in more than I should.

The Germans stuffed us and we leave the field at halftime without a point.

Have to say the second half was more of the same. But the German coach was good about it and took his foot off the gas. Nonetheless they beat the hell out of us … I’m just glad some of our smaller defensive backs made it out of the game alive.

In the following game Spain would play the host team from the Netherlands. The winner would have the dubious distinction of losing to the powerful German squad. We would get the loser of that game and play for the bronze medal.

The Spaniards prevailed over the home team and that set the stage for us playing against the “Dutch Lions!”

After a few days of practice we prepared to go to Amsterdam. But along the way we were going to stop in Basel to workout with the Basel Gladiators. A sort of warmup for playing against the Germans.

The Gladiators had some pretty big guys (They were a “Senior” team in Switzerland) compared to our Juniors. Honestly, my biggest fear was keeping our guys healthy through the practice. But, the Gladiator players did a good job of allowing us to get a lot out of the practice.

Well, now for the beginnings of a true (mis)adventure begins. We finish with practice and the “new” bus we were to take to Amsterdam was not there. I’m still not clear on why we could not just take the busses we took from Zuchwil to Basel.

But, one way or another we were going to have to wait for our scheduled busses to arrive. Problem was – yes – get this – they were coming from Italy. No one was quite sure where they were either.

So, Christian Krattiger (GM) had a dinner set up in a local restaurant and the players and staff went to eat. Well, all of our luggage and playing gear was sitting there in the dirt parking lot. I stayed behind to guard it…by now it was getting dark.

Oh, to add to the situation it started to drizzle…something that fortunately ended pretty quickly. But now we were stranded in a dirt parking lot in the middle of nowhere basically. We waited for at least three more hours and the double decker bus showed up!

Well only another eight hours to go to Amsterdam. Tired and still a little wet we jammed onto the bus. With our timetable messed up we were hoping to make it to the Amsterdam suburbs and our hotel by six or seven the next morning.

Well, needless to say it was a long cramped night … I think I managed a few hours sleep. But, certainly not a lot.

The saga is not over yet…when we arrive at the hotel – the rooms aren’t ready. Come on – give me a break. So we decide to load back up into the bus and drive to a local park and have a short practice to get the kinks out.

By now I am wondering if this Swiss experiment was a good idea. But, too late now I am here.

Well, the trip to Zuchwil was interesting as four of us jumped (or jammed) into a car. Troy Baker (offensive line coach from Bienna Jets), Stephan Puliver (tight end coach who just played a game for the Thun Tigers), Michel Spitznagel (the National head coach) and myself all got in for the hour long trip.

It wasn’t a compact car … but it wasn’t big either and three of us aren’t small people either. Then there is the luggage! We would be gone for about a week – so you need stuff!

I had only met Michel previously … but, I had sat with Troy at the Thun game. We got along fine and to this day I see Stephan and Michel regularly while in Switzerland and Troy and I occasionally will correspond.

Stephan was the long time Thun Tiger head coach who I worked with for several years …Michel was the head coach of the Bienna Jets as well as being the National team head coach.

I’ve been really lucky with the number of people I have met while coaching football overseas. I am fortunate to have friends all over the country. It’s been fun!

The training camp itself is very impressive …a few soccer fields – we were not allowed on two of them, a large rec pool outdoors, indoor pool, ice hockey arena, tennis, weight room, meeting rooms, dining hall and dormitories.

Great set up. I stayed in one dorm with the players. Well, someone had to keep an eye on them. It’s funny – none of the other coaches really worried about that. I guess being from the US there is no way we would let a bunch of 18-19 year old guys on their own!

But really the Swiss coaches weren’t concerned about any problems that might arise?? Interesting.

One thing I couldn’t figure out – there were no showers in the dorms. But there was a shower / locker room right next to the field? Not sure who designed this or if it was just a Swiss thing.

But, really a nice center for training.

Apparently there were several athletic sites similar to this throughout the country. I have been to two others in the country – at Ticino for a Sound Mind Sound Body Camp that we organized ourselves and Willisau for a joint Junior and Senior National team camp.

There are also another elite camp that is located in Bienna/Biel. One thing for certain there are certainly training centers available to the athletes.

The first night we coaches got together to map out our practices and general idea about the camp. It was way different than I was used to – everything planned to the last detail.

Well, not so much with this camp. It was pretty free wheeling – not so organized. But, we got through it and I learned a lot … some of the ideas I was thinking I kept to myself. Glad I did, because I learned pretty quickly that coaching in Europe (Switzerland) was going to be done differently.

But, I have learned over the last several years that there is a method to the “European madness!”

Well we were supposed to start practice at 9:00 AM and as the the time rolled around about half of the team was there ready to go. Others were half dressed and putting on different pieces of equipment and shoes etc. Several others were strolling across the field from the dorm without a care in the world.

No one said a word! Not a single comment.

Well, shit – the SAFV paid my ticket and housing (well that’s another (mis)adventure in itself.) We had to get moving with practice.

I told the young coach in charge of he stretch and warmup – to get the guys who were dressed moving. He asked what about the other guys? I did say exactly what was on my mind … “Screw” them let’s get started. (There is a stronger word the “screw” that I actually did use.)

The other coaches were wondering what to do about the other guys who weren’t dressed. I reiterated what I had told our stretch coach. If they can’t be on time – they get left behind!

I did yell at the left over players (It was at least half the team). Told them to get their collective “asses in gear!” Afterall they were disrespecting their teammates by wasting their time.

Well, we got to practicing and although the organization was similar to the US – the pace was really slow and the athleticism wasn’t like the US. But, that was to be expected in my eyes.

However, there was little coaching being done – not that the coaches weren’t capable – it just seemed like that was how it was done in Europe (or maybe here in Switzerland). Very few corrections and there were certainly a lot of things going wrong.

One thing painfully bothersome to Me was the lack of overall effort and hustle displayed by the players. I did stop the practice and implored the defense to give more effort and pursue the ball!

I’m not sure they understood the concept of pursuit and chasing the ball till the whistle blew. I just started yelling “Run …run … run as the ball carrier would run through the line.

Really I’m pretty much talking about the defense. But, the offense had their own set of problems. A QB would throw a completion and the receiver would quickly stop and throw the ball back to the line of scrimmage instead of “finishing” the play by running another ten yards or so.

Things you take for granted … but sometimes just didn’t happen!

Well we made it through our training and prepared to travel to Amsterdam for competition. But, we would stop in Basel along the way and workout against the Basel Gladiators.

Right around now … (mis)adventure was starting to peak over the top of the practice fence.

So far here is what you know … I find contact with a European experience – it happens to be in Switzerland with their Junior National Team. We will have a short training camp and then go to Amsterdam and have two games – the first of which will be against the German team – and they are really good!

Now… as you know I missed my original flight and I am flying to Milan a day late (and a dollar short??). No worries Giorgio’s wife picks me up and we head north to Lugano, Switzerland from Italy.

I will be staying in Lugano with Giorgio and his family for a few days before moving on to Luzern, Zurich, Sursee, Fribourg and then on to the training camp in Zuchwil.

One thing that kind of caught me off guard was the fact that as you climb up into the Alps outside of Italy and towards Lugano you can find palm trees (Chinese windmill palms – by the way) along the lake.

Well … Lugano actually has a mild Mediterranean like climate. Interesting to see the palms with the mountains in the background!

The National Team has me visiting several Swiss club practices across the country. I will attend and work with each group on several nights the first week. I guess this is part of the deal the National Team made with the national league – known as the SAFV (Swiss American Football Verband).

First up will be with the Lugano Lakers, then on to the Luzern Lions, Zurich Renegades and finally the Fribourg Cardinals (whose colors are a surprise … blue and white!) Following that I will do a clinic for coaches somewhere near Sursee.

As I do these things I meet some interesting people, make some friends and also see how football operates overseas. It truly is a learning experience for me. I am truly impressed by the organization of the practice by the coaches and the players’ effort.

First … these guys buy their own equipment, pay for a license to play, find their own way to practice (for some it may be more than an hour drive, train or bus experience.) Then, they practice at night because they all work or go to school.

****Just a note here – there are no school sports in Switzerland (and most of Europe as well). Therefore everything is done at the club level – soccer, ice hockey, basketball, rugby etc.

Oh yeah then at 9:30 after practice is over then find their way home.

Generally, teams practice only twice a week because it is just to hard to get together more often due to family, school or work commitments. (Imagine some of these guys are married with families!)

Well, we work our way through these things then I watch two games, one in Winterthur where the Warriors host the Basel Gladiators. Then a day later in Thun were the Tigers take on the Zurich renegades. Ironically Thun is now my home several months of the year.

After we watch the Tigers beat the Renegades we pick up Stephan Puliver (who just played in the game) and head to Zuchvil for our football camp at their training center.

So a quick recap here: After trying to find a connection for coaching American football in Europe I finally find one through a friend of a friend. This leads me to an interesting Skype (yup … this is before “Zoom” showed up.) with some coaches and the General Manager of the Swiss Junior National Team and an invitation to join them for some regional games in the European Championships.

Well this is where I have my first (mis)adventure in European football! Well, there are plenty more to come including once “falling” off the train in Bern!

So, for the next few months Giorgio, Christian and I spend time messaging, emailing and occasionally having a Skype call as we prepare for my engagement with the National Team.

It really becomes exciting for me as the time draws near for me to go to Switzerland. The team arranges for a flight to Milan from Detroit. Why Milan?? – wait, isn’t that Italy?

I’m confused but then I look at a map and see that Switzerland borders Italy on the southern edge.

Now, I did not realize this. Never being a great student of geology or geography ow whatever it is??

It turns out that Giorgio lives in Lugano which is on the southern part of Switzerland and the closest airport is in Milan. He will pick me up and I will stay with his family for a few days before I move around the country.

So, anyway I get to the airport on the day I leave and will fly from Detroit to Newark and than on to Milan.

But, misadventure rears its ugly head. I was sitting in the gate area talking with an English man and his wife who were on to London by connecting in Newark.

Well, somehow we miss a gate change! More people come into the gate area and sit down … we don’t think anything of it. As there boarding time approaches we see gate attendants bustling around so we just expect there was some sort of delay.

Finally, we are getting a little nervous as another ten minutes passes. We walk up to the lead at the desk and ask when we were boarding to go to Newark. Well, he has a questioning look on his face and types away on his computer.

He tells us that gate was changed a while ago…and that “ship had sailed” or more specifically, the jet had flown.

We had never heard an announcement – never watched people leaving as a group like you do with a gate change. They must have switched gates long before we got to the original spot.

Well, we were directed to a very helpful Delta manager who informed us that we were basically out of luck because the next likely flight wouldn’t be until the following day at the same time.

She reassigned us with our guaranteed seats … took care of everything and she actually felt bad – even if it was truly our fault.

She gave us some drink vouchers (better than meal passes for sure) and we went to have a few drinks. Then back home to try it over again the next day.

Poor Giorgio accepted the WhatsApp message I sent him and he informed me he would have to work on my new arrival date – but his wife would pick me up along with their friend Rick Bennedetto.

Not a big deal he said … just we start a day later.

A quick recap of the first post about getting started with European football:

I had been looking for a way to get to Europe to coach football and a door finally opened starting my (mis)adventures in overseas! Through friend of a friend (isn’t that how it works!) I was connected with Giorgio Volpi of the Switzerland’s Junior National Football Team.

Now, back to reality!

Well, Giorgio arranges a Skype meeting to include four of us. (Remember Skype? I think it has gone the way now the dinosaurs thanks to Zoom).

Obviously for me this is going to be challenging right??? I can’t figure out how to get my email half of the time – how in the wide, wide world of sports will I figure out this thing called Skype??

But, I manage to figure out how to use Skype. Miracles do happen.

Four of us get together for a meet and greet type gathering. It turns out to be Giorgio, along with the General Manager of the Junior National team – Christian Krattiger, The National team Head Coach – Michel Spitznagel and the Junior coach for the Thun Tigers – Stephan Puliver. (Incidentally to this day – 9 years later – we all remain good friends.)

Again, at this point I’m still amazed that I can operate Skype!

So we commence the Skype and they tell me that they would love to have me come to Europe and help coach with the Junior National team of Switzerland. It would be for a three week or so operation that would include a training camp in place called Zuchwil.

After the training camp we would head to Amsterdam in The Netherlands to play games. Competition against Germany, Spain and the Dutch teams. Apparently we had drawn the German team for the opening round.

The Germans have one of the premier teams in all of Europe – so, we would have our work cut out for us. But, seriously until I see the video of our opponents and actually see our team – what do I know??

But, the Skype itself was really interesting. I quickly explained that I did not speak any Swiss. This elicited a laugh from all. Giorgio explained that there was no “Swiss” language.

In Switzerland there are four languages spoken – Three main ones. French, German and Italian are spoken throughout the country (mostly depending on where you lived). An old dialect – Romansch is spoken in a few remote areas I guess.

My apprehension over a language barrier was quickly ended. All three of the guys on the Skype meeting spoke perfect English.

…It’s embarrassing that while these guys weren’t just bilingual they were multilingual. Here I am able to speak just English.

We worked through some details … transportation, housing and what they would expect of me while I was in Switzerland. Basically it was going to be a great collaboration the way it was presented.

Oh yeah, they did ask me if I wanted to have a car. But, I told them “Hell no, I don’t want to drive on the wrong side of the road!”

More laughter … Other than the old English protectorates (Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, India and several others) driving in Switzerland is like it is here in the states. Same side of the road – basically the same rules of the road.

Still, I assured them that I didn’t need a car as long as I could get to wherever I needed to be with their help. They assured me that transportation would be provided.

Well – now I’m on board and we will get going in July – a few months away.

Next up – the trip itself and the true “Swiss Experience” takes place!