Coaching for Pizza: First Day of U19 Europe Warriors Practice

Monday, December 4, 2017

First Day of U19 Europe Warriors Practice

Sunday, December 3, 2017:

Today was our first day to meet with the 46 man U19 Europe Warriors team.

Our day would start with an introductory organizational meeting where we all introduced ourselves, set down the "Don't Steal Any Sunglasses" rules of conduct and went over the playbook.

We also had time to do a little sightseeing in greater downtown Texcoco and have a tour of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo where we will practice and play our game this week.

Our last item on the agenda was a walk-through practice in the late afternoon.

Seismic and Fire concerns at

the Venezia Hotel

The Warriors arriving for breakfast

from our team bus

Breakfast was here today,

on Monday we will be moving into

this better located hotel

That is our Head Coach Bart Iaccarino on the phone clearing up some logistics problems for our practice later today.

Getting in line for our buffet breakfast

Our first team meeting

At this point the Warriors were somewhat quiet due to a combination of jet lag and shyness.

The meeting went well.

Afterwards we had some time to explore our downtown Texcoco surroundings.

Offensive Linemen Benjamin Obereigner

and Manuel Schabel out on the town

Netzahualcoyotl was an

Aztec Poet Emperor

Which way do I go?

The Plaza

Typical bright colored buildings

Hey, a church!

One of three in Texaco's Cathedral complex.

Exactly

Old door to be sure

An early Christmas decoration?

Ornate

Entrance to the Cathedral

Nice but small Cathedral

Gorgeous altar in the third and final

church of the Cathedral complex

Hebrew in a Catholic Church?

There must be a good story here but I don't know what it is.

Yellow is a happy color

It was still early for a Sunday

morning and the streets were a bit empty

I ducked into a a busy marketplace to see what the local were buying . . .

Fish

Meat

Tortilla factory

Sunday Brunch

Chicharrónes

Spices

No idea

Rubber chickens?

More meat

Scene from the Plaza

Say that Emperor's name

fast five times

On to the University . . .

The main entrance to

this Agricultural University

Interesting architecture

The University's nickname

is the Toros Salvajes or Wild Bulls

Missing Alumni

Serene campus quad

The Warriors arriving on campus

Cool University Crest

The Administration Building

Varese Skorpions fans in Mexico?

Hanging out

Picturesque building

A campus guide give us the

lowdown on the University

"Donde esta la biblioteca?"

A statue greeting us as we entered

the Administration building

And another

Mexican Revolution scene

FIRE!

The Warriors taking it all in

Diego Rivera Murals . . .

. . . are . . .

. . . always interesting

Nice woodworking

Diego Rivera again

An on campus eatery

Why not?

An efficient staff behind the counter

A beef Huarache for lunch

topped off with a cafe de olla

About $2.00 USD, life is GOOD!

More colorful campus buildings

"Service is my work,

my job is to get better"

Entrance to a small gym

There are gym rats in Mexico too

Go Toros Salvages GO!

Practice fields this way

One of the remaining three towers

of the original five whose walls

formed a pentagram around

the old campus

Warriors eating lunch in the

Student Cafeteria

Cool Plaque

Happy Campers

Our Team Bus

Stadium Stands

Game Field

Three of our seven Offensive Linemen

L. to R.: Jakob Bielecki (Poland), Manuel Schabel (Austria) and Joel Fuentes (Spain)

The rest of the OL gang

L. to R.: Benjamin Obereigner (Austria), Skylar Peter Verhoef (Netherlands), Levi Brock (United Kingdom) and Lenny Kistler (Switzerland)

So far these seven young men have been fun to coach!

Practice #1 Warm-up

It was a good evening practice that allowed our players to greet each other after a fashion in an American football way.

This really loosened up the kids, starting the team bonding.

Let the pecking order begin to play itself out . . .

Dinner in the Student Cafeteria

Serving the food Industrial Style

The cheese quesadillas were fine

The banana worked too but the frosted flakes with a splash or two of spicy red salsa was a bit much for my delicate taste buds.

The metal tray was a bonus.

U19 Europe Warriors may be
gods on this campus

I would have to say that the average student at UA Chapingo is about 5 feet - 5 inches tall. As is the work staff too as you can see from this photo.

They look at our players size and are in complete and utter awe.

We've been told by reliable sources on campus that there is a good chance that one of our players will be selected as Supreme Being and be given his weight in gold at the end of the week.