Beginning of shorter posts--maybe......

This week has been relaxing now that we have basically one camp a day for the most part with practice in the evening. All of this week, we are running a camp or lesson with the Engelska Skolan with kids who are roughly in the 5th grade. Their instructor is a very nice guy from Canada who fits his role as a teacher perfect--punctual and positive as ever. The kids are great and make running camps a breeze. They always seem to start fairly shy and then by the end of camp want to be our friends on Facebook or MSN messenger--lol we politely deny. The other day, one girl wanted to hit again so bad, but they had to catch a bus and she demandingly said to her teacher, "Miiiissster Hall, We have one hour, why can we not hit." I nearly lost it because she was this quiet, tiny girl who came out of nowhere during the end of camp. Her English with a thick Swedish accent made it all the better. It is relieving to hear that the kids want to continue once camp is over. Since the future of Gefle baseball relies on the youth to become involved, it is important that we get kids to try it at least once. Most of the kids will feed off another like a chain reaction. For instance, one girl asked for an autograph, then all of a sudden, twenty kids wanted various things signed. It doesn't help that we are sometimes in the paper. The local Gavle paper came to one of the camps last week and did an interview and took some pictures--I didn't know they took any pictures, and a lot of kids recognized us from the paper and thought we were some big celebrities of some sort--Kids in America are the same way and it has been flattering and funny in the same context--I can understand why many enjoy working with kids. Some times they have their moments, but seeing a kid have fun at my own expense and enjoying themselves is a personal motivator as well. Some of the kids literally walk around the entire camp with a smile on the their face. It is also funny to hear them ask if either of us could "shoot" a few (meaning "hit") because of the excessive hockey vocabulary they accumulate here when growing up. Most kids seem interested, and will try to play for a year, but when they find out that it is not that popular and the youth leagues aren't established very well, it makes it hard to keep them involved. I believe that one day it will become much larger because if Gavle continues to persuade teachers to allow them to play, it will attract more and more kids into the sport. It would be awesome to start an academy in Gavle as they did in Leksand--it definitely helps develop a sense of what baseball is and where it came from so they learn about it more like they do hockey--Something that could develop more leagues or teams for individual schools. Peter, a teammate on the Elite team said that there was one school interested in developing a team for our Gavle youth team to play. It is only one school, but it is a start and will give our players more opportunities to play and take it more seriously.

We recently finished two big games against Karilskoga. They were a tough opponent that Gefle had never actually beaten. It was a great relief and excitement after finishing the first game with a win, especially against one of the best pitchers in the league. We started Peter, a National team player and he threw more than 160 pitches to complete a very impressive game. Anytime he got behind, our defense stayed strong, and he didn't walk himself into trouble. We got the hits when we needed them, and a two run home run by the other Jansson, Tomas, allowed a lead to prove enough. It was an exciting game and I was on my toes until the end in centerfield. It couldn't have ended better when Johan made a jumping catch to save a blooper hit to the outfield that could have won the game for them. We're getting better every weekend--two great pick-off plays, possibly saving two runs, were executed perfectly, and our defense played smooth.

The second game started off well, but they became awake offensively for one good inning and a we couldn't get many base runners throughout the game and so we fell a bit short. After these first few weeks of play, I now feel easily confident in our team and with who is best at specific positions. We have a great opportunity to win win both next weekend and if we play to our best ability, we surely can make that come true.

Upon the end of the second game, many wanted to go out and enjoy the Saturday night, but Erek and I had to shower and catch the train to Sundsvall for the youth tournament 2 hours away. It is incredibly convenient to have a train system like the cities in Sweden possess. I wish I could take a train from Columbus to Cincinnati or Cleveland for a certain fluctuating price! We didn't have to pay for our ticket, but we walked on took our seat and no one ever even checked! I guess they announce in Swedish that any newcomers are to check in with an attendant upon entry, but did not understand so we proceeded to sit. No one made a point of it and assumed we had already paid--A pretty trusting form of transportation! Anyway, I will continue to write more about the the ride and the tournament the kids played in named, The Mosquito Cup, in a later blog. That trip was a good couple paragraphs in itself. This week is our last big week of camps all day, every day until Mid June. It will be nice to have the days to venture out and see more for the next couple of weeks. I gotta get some sleep--the youth team is almost like having 15 younger brothers with ADHD most of the time, so I am pretty worn down. Don't get me wrong, they are a great group of kids--ton of fun and good to be around--wouldn't trade them for any other players in Sweden, but after hearing,

"Hey Dane! Look at this! look at that! Did you know? Who is your favorite this or that? What are we doing next? Why aren't you eating? Give me some!"

several times every other minute, my brain had kind of politely stopped responding. I credit any kind of pre-school--early elementary school teacher--parent because entertaining "entertaining" kids is jusssst a bit tiring. I'll get better--I feel bad because I kind of begin nodding my head after some time for every answer.

Things are still all good in Sweden--weather is still crazy--sun-rain-sun-rain, but the summer is extremely green and a perfect climate--not too cold and never a real humid hot (I hate that about Ohio summers). 'til next time!--- Hejda!