A full day in Valkenswaard

The second day in Valkenswaard was just like the previous 8. Sunny, hot and busy. Patty, Wendy and I walked to the open air market that is held in the city center every Thursday. We purchased alot of fresh fruit and goodies for the girls. They inhaled the strawberries, pineapples, kiwi and plums. We also got apple turnovers and cinnamon danishes for breakfast tomorrow. It will be a nice change for breakfast. The girls have been eating well, but the food is not what they are used to.

Our two trainings with Behr were good. They girls moved through the drills that he has working with them on. They continue to be healthy. Amazingly there are no real issues. A sore knee here and a little sunburn there. The second session ended with a shooting drill that the girls really enjoyed. After the 2nd training session, we were treated to a presentation by Ton Seuntjes. He is a KNVB director and also the coach of the U14 regional team that we were about to play. His presentation helped the girls understand the Dutch soccer structure and the growth of the girls programs. After the lecture, we got dressed and walked to the field for our match against his team.

The game started very strong for the girls. Behr was in attendance. He wanted to see the girls in action. They moved the ball well  and dominated the first 20 minute period. 0-0  at the first break. The second period began as the first had ended. As time passed the toll of four hours of practice began to expose the girls weaknesses but it was 1-0 at the end of the second break. The third was our undoing. The girls worked hard but could not dominate as they had in the beginning. At the end of the game it was 3-0. Not bad for a match against the top U14 girls in Holland. The girls were dissapointed and realized that they need to put in a solid effort for the entire game. After we had drinks with the other team, we said goodbye and headed to the hostel for dinner and bed.

A few girls went swimming in the pool next door and a few girls relaxed at the hostel (checking out the boys field hockey teams from Germany, Ireland). The U.S. U17 womens national field hockey team is also staying here. It seems like a hot bed for field hockey in this area. Behr pulled me aside earlier and said " you know, real men don't play field hockey".

They are all tucked into bed and getting rested for our last training with Behr. Zaf has challenged each of them to wring as much as they can out of these trainings. I think many of the girls have. We have a final match in Amsterdam on Friday against Almere. Its home the next day. It seems like it was just a few days ago that we started this adventure. I will stop now, as my beer needs to be refreshed. I will download som pics in a sec. Hope you are all enjoying the blog.