Sunday May 30,2010 Off

The picture is of Grand Anse Bay taken from a high point in St. George's.

Today was an off day. It was a beautiful day and a day I felt I could get caught up with things a bit. My day started with a swim in the sea. I typically go in the morning and am home by lunch time. Today I swam the farthest yet....I swam out to the 3rd buoy! It was a pretty amazing feeling and it is pretty intense (for me) to be out that far. My fears arise when I get past where the water is clear. Being a Jaws fan...it's hard to keep sharks out of my mind!!! Also, there is a bit of anxiety as I think "what if something goes wrong and I get a cramp, or suddenly realize I can't make it back in," there is no way anyone can help in time. It's about 250 yards out with small waves. That probably doesn't sound far, but when I first arrived here, I looked out there and thought "NO WAY!!"

When I returned home, I began preparing Mutton soup. I must say it was horrible! I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I used too much salt for one thing. And mutton is a very oily meet...maybe I should have boiled it in a separate pot and then transferred it to my broth....in any event, I was not happy with it!

After lunch, I cleaned and did laundry and began working on my Volleyball Report. I finished recapping my Itinerary for the IOC report, which was a significant accomplishment and something I wanted to get done. I'm a 'checklist' person and always feel good when I get things done according to schedule. Lists also makes me feel in control and less stressed as it gives me a plan for the day.

After finishing the report, I got to relax in the evening.

Monday begins my last week in Grenada. We will have national team trainings all week and possibly some secondary school visits. I may also have some visit-ending goodbye visits so I must prepare for full days every day.

I miss Joan and Lexi, Liza and Cole and am anxious to return home. It has been an adventurous, exciting, challenging, lonely 6 weeks without them and new adventures await.

Today I must get a portion of my report done, and also make a trip to the store for some minor groceries. Today we have men's national team practice and I'm not sure what else....Nanan is holding me in suspense!!

I met a very unique individual the other day with my favorite name ever.....Mango Dog!

Repect and Love.

Sat May 29, 2010 Junior National practice and Beach

On the right is a picture of the most beautiful tree in Grenada. The Flambouyant tree. This tree produces the national flower. It is in full bloom now and is seasonal, which surprises me because I assumed things bloomed year-round here because of the weather.

On Saturday, we had junior national boys and girls practice. The teams are selected now for the most part and both teams are impressive. Each have good athleticism and the girls have good size. The boys are very athletic and i would consider the team of average size at best. However, they make up for that with very good ball-handling skills and powerful, controlled hitting. Practice was from 9am to 12pm. Of course it began raining at 9am and we were forced to find shelter until about 9:30. We swept the court when it stopped and began practice at around 10am. Today, we focused on position specialization, switching, play calling, and team play. It is difficult because we had both the boys and girls team together and only one net. But practice went well and the boys are really starting to understand the switching concept.

They have a big practice match against the Men's National team on wednesday that we hope will be televised live. I think it should be a great match, however, I expect the Men's team to win. They are a bit more advanced and have been practicing longer. But there is a lot of talent on this junior team and actually four of the young men will make the senior national team (three may start!!).

After practice, Nanan and I took a drive to St. David to eat. The day before he bought a string of live crabs (6 on a string) and took them to a friends house to cook. She made Calilou soup with crab, breadfruit, yams, and dumplings. It was incredible!!! The crab tastes almost like lobster and the soup was delicious.

After that, he brought me home and of course I prepared to go to the beach. It was about 4:15pm when I arrived at the beach and it was crowded. I like my morning trips better because of the privacy. But, it was cool and very beautiful. The sea seems even more calm in the evening and I watched the sun set. The water seemed much cooler as well. I walked home and spent the evening relaxing.

Sunday, I plan to go for a morning swim in the sea, return to my house and clean a bit (sand and these little worms/bugs everywhere), and then I will cook. I've been marinating lamb and plan to either make a mutton soup or mutton and rice. I'm actually looking forward to preparing it.

Then I need to work on my Volleyball report. Time is passing quickly and my report must be be of the highest quality.

Revelations:

I actually feel healthier than I have in years. My weight is down and I feel very comfortable. Actually I feel 15 years younger. I've decided to write about the "Grenadian Diet" Not that's it's actually a "diet" per se...but more of a lifestyle. But it works and is partly how everyone here maintains their youthful look. Here is what I have learned:

• They eat two big meals a day and one light snack/meal. They eat a big breakfast and big lunch. For dinner (their light meal), they have porridge, cereal, fruits, or something light.
• They eat fruit all day and even use it as a source of water. The fruit is always fresh and right from the tree.
• No junk food...since I have been here, I've had only a few pieces of chocolate and that is it! No junk food period! I really haven't missed it at all. (except ice cream....I love ice cream!)
• Soup, Soup, Soup! I have eaten more soup since I've been here than in my entire life. The soup always has vegetables and meat (pork, chicken, fish).
  
• No red meats (I will not be able to sustain this because I LOVE red meat!)
• Fish - I eat fish at least five times a week for one meal (yesterday I had a fish sandwich for breakfast)
  
• Cook - There are not many fast food restaurants so most people cook for themselves every day. I find this very healthy, enjoyable, and it helps you eat right.
• I don't have a lot of food in the house - mainly because I don't have frig space and food doesn't stay fresh long in the heat if left out, so I simply don't have much food around to snack on. I found this tough at first, but now don't even think about it.
• Get a tan - a tan hides many flaws and tightens the skin or something. It makes a big difference
• Show some skin - going to the beach and wearing a swimming suit makes you aware of how you look. Once you start looking good, you want more!
• water - I only drink water and juice...only 1 soda in 6 weeks. (and maybe a carib or two :) I'm not a big soda drinker anyway, so this was easy, but it makes a big difference. That includes NO diet soda!
• Be outside and active - I find being active and working outside keeps you busy and I am not as hungry. The more I lay around and relax, the more I lay around and eat.
• Heat - It is very hot here and that influences my appetite I think...sometimes it's just too hot to eat much
• Go Liming - Not really....I threw this in there for fun :)
  
• Eat pig tail and snouts - Ha Ha!!....because I really don't like either, it kept me from eating a lot on many occasions. So put some in your soup, and grab a smaller bowl!
• Don't eat late - I'm not sure if this theory is accurate, but because I typically don't get home until after 8:30pm every evening, I have not been eating dinners. I'm guessing this has helped quite a bit. Or, it is helping simply because I am really only eating two big meals.
• Go for walks daily - my walk to the beach is approximately 3 miles round trip....not much but a lot of hills. I actually enjoy this peaceful time now.
  
• Some of this may sound like you could only do it if you lived here, but I have learned "lifestyle" is the most important part to being healthy. Anyone can adopt a healthy life style. It is a choice. I need to simply stop making excuses about "why it is hard" and "how it cannot work" and begin to look positively at things and Make things happen. Life is short, it's time to stop wasting my days, and time to start enjoying.
  

That is it for today. Grab some fruit, make some soup, go for a walk, and have a wonderful Grenadian day!

Respect and Love.

Friday May 28, 2010 GVA meeting and on the Lime

Today, we had the morning off and I had another opportunity to walk to the beach. The beach was beautiful and the water calm. It is the clearest water I have ever seen. So clear, that when standing in water up to my neck, I can look down and see the tan line from my sandals on my feet.

Nanan came over at 2pm to meet and discuss the Adidas order. We narrowed down the roster, determined sizes and styles, and today placed the order!! Now we wait and hope there are no issues and that delivery arrives on time.

At 4:30p, we arrived at the Ministry for a Grenadian Volleyball Association (GVA) meeting. No one else was there yet so we watched West Indies vs. South Africa cricket. West Indies lost and in many opinions, did not compete well. Most Grenadians seem frustrated with their West Indies cricket team and feel they are underperforming. I've concluded people are more likely to follow and talk about you if you are very good, or very bad. And if you're very bad, they won't be talking or following for long.

The meeting finally got started at about 5:20 when everyone arrived. There was a good turnout and the discussion focused on what the Association needed to do to help volleyball survive and thrive on the Island. The meeting concluded at 7:30pm.

Afterwards, Nanan and I went liming. We ended up at his brother's grill, eating barbeque and drinking a carib or two. We also walked up to a nearby 'dance' bar. His brother located his grill, and it is simply a grill on wheels with five gallon buckets of chicken to cook, at the bottom of the hill to get late night 'disco' traffic. The dance hall was smaller than I thought and they do not turn the lights on inside. There is only a light over the bar...the dance floor is dark. To me it was not a very enticing environment, but it allows privacy on the dance floor I'm told. Okay then.

I'm writing a bit slower this morning so please forgive. We have junior national team training from 9-12pm today...I pray for shade and a breeze!

Afterwards, we are eating crab soup and hopefully swimming at the beach or I will watch Nanan play cricket.

Respect and Love.

Thursday May 27, 2010 Meeting, Beach, Women's national team

The picture is of Suzanne (Nanan's girlfriend), Nanan, and Adam holding a breadfruit from a tree growing in Adam's yard. In Grenada, when you're hungry, you go into your yard and pick something to eat. :)

Today we had a meeting at 9am with Mrs. Victor-Bruno to discuss my visit and to review my report and recommendation for volleyball in Grenada. What report???? I thought I was to submit this during my last week before departure. She is leaving on Ministry business for a week and will not return before I leave. Nanan informed me at about 3pm Wednesday that Mrs. Bruno wanted a rough draft of my "report and recommendations" for this meeting. What?????? Bless you Nanan.

No problem. Unfortunately we had practice from 3pm-8pm that day so that would not leave much time to prepare. Nanan let me work on the report during the early practice session and that helped a lot. I have two notebooks full of notes, now it is time to begin organizing. I have decided to write a strategic plan for volleyball in Grenada. I will separate into four parts:

• Secondary Schools
• National Teams
• Club Volleyball
• Grenada Volleyball Association
  

I will analyze each part, cite my findings, and then try and construct a workable plan for the continued development of volleyball. My challenge will be to keep it realistic. It must include actions that are reasonable and with long term benefit. This report will be submitted to the Ministry of Sports, the Grenadian Olympic Committee, and the International Olympic committee. Mrs. Bruno is already talking of a return trip next year to follow up...I must do a good job to make sure this happens. Nanan and I have been working very hard and I feel tremendous progress is being made. Both national teams are doing well and I am very proud of them and how far we have come in a short time. I wish I could be with them at their tournament. My focus for the development of volleyball in Grenada will be on the Club structure.

So the meeting went very well. Mrs. Bruno is an exceptional lady and a Get-it-Done type personality. I like and respect that. In the afternoon, Nanan gave me some time at the beach....thank you Father! (that is his phrase) It was great. I went for my normal swim and find I am becoming much stronger and my stamina has increased greatly. The rain brings out rain flies though and they are irritating! Pssstrgnt. Dang...still don't have the stroop.

I had conversation with Adidas and efforts are slowly progressing. In the evening, we had practice with the women's national team and are selecting the team. It is really an exciting night.

Practice started with our 3 person switching ball control drill. We gave them a goal of 20 consecutive rallys. We made it on our first try!!!! I am amazed, impressed, and proud of these wonderful ladies! We then mixed up teams and for the most part, scrimmaged the entire evening. It was good volleyball and crowds continue to grow and watch. My team lost twice to Nanan, but I feel he cheated on the score and I had to ask for a neutral scorekeeper!!! :) We are two-of-a-kind! We won the third set to redeem ourselves.

The roster is set and we have a very good team. Nanan said he feels the team is much more prepared and is already competing at a higher level than last year. Our strengths are becoming ball control and defense. We have very good outside hitters (Maggini and Metric), good middles (Jenny and Rechelle...who is becoming a stud!), a good young right side in Latisha or Alty or Tara, and good setting with Betty Ann and Nieve. We are not a powerful hitting team, but we are smart and have good 'gamers.' And as a coach, I would take a team like that into battle any day.

Observations:

• My teeth seem whiter and I finally figured out why....my lips are sunburnt and make them look whiter!

• The salty sea water makes me more buoyant. That is why I float better. And here I thought I was becoming a better swimmer!!!!

• I drank water from the 'pipe' at the Carenage Wednesday and spent from 3am-4am in the bathroom that night!!!!

• I must eat a pig tail and snout before i leave...did I really say that!?!?!?

• I've named my rooster friend Colonel Sanders!

• I'm marinating Mutton in the fridge to cook later today. I can't wait to bring my new cooking skills home!!!

• The rum is strong here!!!!

• I prefer Carib to gatorade.....And a note to my landlord....some of those empty Carib bottles lined on the shelf were there before i got here!!!!!!

It's Friday....tonight we Lime!!!

Respect and Love.

Wednesday May 26, 2010 Meeting and Men's National team

Sorry for the delay posting. My internet was down yesterday. Six weeks ago, this would have bothered me greatly and I would have been upset, rattled, and making calls and knocking on doors to get it fixed. After being in Grenada this long, I am much more relaxed, realize some things you can control and some you can't, and let it be. I'm not saying I've changed while here...but I hope. Also my kitchen light has been out for 4 days and my propane just went out in my stove...no cooking today. Pssssngt. I just tried to stroop. Ever tried to spell a sound????

The lifestyle suits me. It is calm, simple (not like simple-minded, but rather... not many complications), there is not as much focus on money or tangible goods, and I really enjoy the closeness/friendships of the people. It is a much different culture than what I am used to and the relationships between men and women are different, but variety is a spice. Living in Grenada as a man is like hanging out with your buddies all day long. Some of the men I've met are married, but many are not. Both are equally accepted.

It is the rainy season in Grenada. When I first arrived, the dry season was just ending and the Island was experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent memory. It was very brown and water was scarce. The dry season is definitely over! It has rained every day this week and nearly every day the week before. When it rains, it does not rain for long, maybe 15 minutes to an hour for a long shower. Sometimes it rains hard, and other times light. It seems to rain every night while I'm sleeping. Wednesday, we had a long hard rain from about 8am-11am. It was actually nice because it forced me to stay in that morning and there was a nice breeze. By 5pm, the hard court was dry. We had men's national team practice tonight and it went well. We continued our work on switching (position specialization), our audible system of play calling, and team defense. We also focused on individual defensive position footwork. We slowly incorporated this into team defensive play and then ran modified scrimmages toward the end of practice. The men continue to improve and are becoming very good. How good???? We don't know. We need a scrimmage. Next week we plan to have the Senior National team play the Junior national team. I am very excited for this. The Junior national team has nearly as much talent, but not the experience or the team play yet. It will be a great match and we are hopeful the local television station will come and televise it. This could make for great exposure.

Respect and Love.

Tuesday May 25, 2010 Women's national team

The pictures are a flashback to Monday of the food booth the volleyball team ran at the beach. The bottom picture is of the guys selling food and drink. The guy in red is Andy Best. He's a great guy, a middle/right side hitter on the team, and always brings me a mango at practice. I really appreciate that. He's also a tax collector by day. The top picture is a behind the scenes look at how they prepare the food. They're making soup and hamming it up for the camera. Keith is the rasta man on the left, Peter (outside hitter/ds) is on the left stirring the soup, Junior (setter/middle/outside) is breaking sticks to put in the fire, and Patrick is 'supervising' from behind the wall. It was chicken soup and was delicious!

I spent Tuesday at home working on the adidas equipment, relaxing my sore muscles from playing the day before, and getting ready for women's national team practice in the evening. The adidas order is progressing well and I am pleased so far. My goal is to have everything ordered before I leave. It appears unlikely anything will arrive before I leave but that is okay. I will detail the order once we get it finalized.

Practice tonight was difficult. It rained most of the day and began raining hard again at 4:30 and rained until about 5:30pm. Our practice was scheduled from 5pm-7:30pm. We stayed at the court under shelters during the rain but did not want to cancel practice because so many of the athletes traveled far to come. Some had to pay bus fare to come. So we waited. Finally it stopped. We got out brooms and swept the court of all standing water. It was still very slippery so we did 'slow' transition footwork reps to create muscle memory. We then walked through base defense and team defense positions. Finally at about 6:50pm we got out the balls and served a minute to get loose and then scrimmaged, working on serve receive plays and switching and team defense. The starting six are getting VERY GOOD!!! Ball handling is much improved and our setting is also greatly improved (BettyAnn is doing a remarkable job and becoming a leader on the team...she is very positive and relates well with everyone). Rechelle and Jenny are terrific middles and Rechelle may be the best athlete and volleyball player on the team. Metric and Maggini are our outside hitters and both have excellent ball control and are our 'loud talkers.' Latisha is young, but developing quickly as a right side hitter. We do not have a libero at this time.... and really don't need one. We need a scrimmage game to see exactly where we are and what weaknesses we have.

It rained hard last night again...so hard it woke me up. That is very unusual as I am a sound sleeper and that is the first time I have seen it rain this hard here. The dry season is definitely over and everything is turning green again. What was once a brown, dry landscape looking to the west from my porch, is now becoming green and beautiful.

I made soup yesterday and it was delicious!!! I cooked chicken soup (with the bone).

I'm getting used to the heat. I'm able to keep the air conditioner off longer and am down to only two showers a day!

Still no "stroop"....

Happy Birthday Joan!

Respect and Love.

Monday May 24th, 2010 Volleyball fundraiser at Bathway Beach

The picture to the left is of three women's national team members: Metric, Latisha, and Rechelle vs. 3 men's national team members: Nigel, John, and Arnold at Bathway Beach. The picture to the right is of the self-proclaimed Beach Champions!!! Kimme (Kimon) is on the left and Shaq is on the right.

Today is a national holiday in Grenada. Everyone is off work and most stores are closed. It
reminds me of our Labor Day holiday in the U.S. To celebrate, the Men's and Women's National volleyball teams set up a food and drink booth at Bathway Beach today to try and raise money for uniforms, travel, etc. It was a beautiful day and there was not a large crowd, but a good crowd at the beach. There were several other groups that had set up booths and were selling food and drink. Our booth sold beer (Carib, Heiniken, Guinness, Stag...not our stag), juice, soda, and water. For food, we sold barbecued chicken, fish, rice and also made a huge pot of soup.

We also set up a volleyball net. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. At first, everyone was just kind of bumping the ball back and forth. It was a very sunny, hot day, and the sand was deep and blistering hot! We started out with doubles, but after one game to 25, I was exhausted. Because we had so many people that wanted to play, we decided to go with 3 man teams and only play to 10. It was great fun and pretty intense. I have not played volleyball in many many years, however, today, was different. Today I felt like Karch Kiraly! My team was Shaq (Dominic Pierre 29) and Kimmee (Kimon, 20). And after loosing our first match to an overrated team of Greg, Burke and Underdog (stroop), we went on to win 35 consecutive matches!!! (maybe 7 straight...but it felt like 35). We finally had to walk off the court or else I was going to have a heart attack.

It was really a great day. My feet are still sore though!. The sand was so hot, people were running from the court to the sea in between points to cool off their feet. We poured water on the sand but that cooled it off for only a little while. Players also would walk over to a vine-like plant that grows along the beach and rub their feet on that to cool them off. But, despite the heat, the games never stopped. Adam has a tremendous sand game as does Arnold. They were the two best hitters. Donovan Burke, Greg, and even Underdog have good games. :) Richard Britton plays great for a track-guy, Alex doesn't like hitting the sand, Nigel is a terrific sand player as is John, Solomon has the best one-liners, and of course my partners were the best. For the women, of course Metric played and was great as usual, Rechelle is an incredible athlete and moves like she's on a hard court, Jenny brings some Dominica spice to the game, and Latisha (17) is going to be a great one if we could get her to focus more time on volleyball.

Guys working the booth and not getting to play were Andy, Peter, and Patrick, to name a few.

Observations:

I believe I've found the fountain of Youth! I cannot tell anyone's age here. People in their 30s look like they are 20. Is it the diet, lifestyle, or maybe the Caribs....well, I'll know if it's the Caribs by the time I leave.

I don't have bad morning breath here!! Back home, I scare myself with my breath in the morning. Here, my teeth seem whiter and my breath is good, even in the morning. Hmmm.

I must learn to Stroop!!! That is a noise everyone makes here with their mouth. It is kind of a saliva-sucking sound that is appropriate for many occasions. I have found it to mean, "What an idiot," "that's rediculous," "unbelievable," "what an a@#," etc... I'll have to keep practicing.

In Grenada, people don't swim, they "bathe."

Last night I found out many people in Grenada cannot swim. I believe it is the Dad's job to teach their kids to swim.

Bathway is probably the most beautiful scenic beach I have been to in Grenada. The rocky barrier, the rougher surf, the way the ends of the beach curve around and form a sort of cup shape, the high rocky cliffs, and the small islands visible from the beach all make it majestic.

Saturday May 22, 2010 Liming

The pictures are from this weekend. The one on the left is of Nanan and I at the Grand Etan Rain Forest. The lake in the foreground is the Grand Etan lake and is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the country. It is also a primary source of water for all on the Island. The rain forest is beautiful and one of my favorite places in the country.

The picture on the right is of Nanan's cricket team. His team is batting and won this game 210-85!!! It was not a close game. Nanan is not pictured. He bats 8th on his team and I think they only made it through 5 batsmen. He did bowl (pitch) and hit three wickets (which is very good). Cricket is a nice game and I finally understand it. It's not that complicated really, but it was hard for me to convert from baseball to these rules. Basically the rules are this..... each batsmen bats until he makes an out or the ball hits the wicket (the 3 pronged object behind them). When you hit the ball, it is like baseball in that you run to the next wicket (base). You get a point for every base you touch. If you hit a ground ball that makes it to the fence (boundary), you get 4 points. If you hit it over the fence (boundary) you get 6 runs. They typically play 20 overs. You get 6 good pitches per over. So in effect, you get 120 good pitches to see how many runs you can score. Probably the only thing I don't like about it is that not everyone gets to bat. Like in Nanan's game, the other team couldn't get the batsmen out and they kept batting...and Nanan didn't get a chance. Now, when he was younger, I hear he batted 3rd or 4th and always got to bat. Ah....to get older. Some age like wine, some like a banana.... :) Nanan ages like wine.

The cricket match was in Las Sagesse, and there is a beautiful beach there also. Nanan and I went for a swim before the match. There was a nice surf here and it is a much smaller beach, somewhat enclosed like a lagoon. There were rock outcroppings on both sides and high cliffs. The water was not as clear as Grand Anse beach and the surf was very sandy because of the pounding waves and shallow water. I have concluded Grand Anse is my favorite beach on the Island.

In the morning, we had Junior boys and girls national team training. There were 15 boys and only 6 girls. This continues to be an issue for the girls. The ones that do show up, however, seem to have tremendous potential and there is a strong nucleus for the future. It was interesting to me that many of the athletes (both boys and girls) do not know each other. We spent time today learning about each other, introducing ourselves, and working on 'team.'

Sunday will be a day of rest. I need to get groceries will likely spend some of the day on the beach reading. This completes my fourth week here and time has gone by quickly. There are only two weeks left. I am having an incredible time, but miss my family. It's funny, the things I complain about the most living in the Midwest are the things I miss (except the humidity)....oak and maple trees, mowing the grass, watering the flowers, running the kids around to practices, grilling pork steaks and burgers while sitting on the patio, and watching movies on a big screen. But I do love it here. It is a wonderful, beautiful, place with a simple relaxed life style and friendly, respectful people.

Respect and Love.

Friday May 21, 2010

Today, I had a meeting with Permanent Secretary Mrs. Victor-Bruno, Press Secretary and President of the Grenadian Volleyball Association Mr. Richard Simon, Nanan, and myself. The meeting was to discuss financial administration of the donation and government protocol. Mrs. Bruno was pleased to hear of the donation and pledged full support. She expressed satisfaction with the work Nanan and I are doing and feels the trip has been beneficial. She is already talking of a return trip!

After the meeting, Nanan had a Head Coaches meeting and I went and visited the shopping district looking for souvenirs. It was very hot, and the market is a four block area full of one room 'shops.' The thing I liked best was all the fresh vegetables and fruits. There is a lot of homemade goods, both food and merchandise. It was a fun day.

Nanan picked me up after his meeting, and we went to Bathway Beach, where one of his girlfriends lives, and swam in the surf and had mutton broth (soup). It was delicious and the beach was beautiful and very different from Grand Anse. It was rocky with a much rougher surf. The rocks were black and formed a reef-like barrier about 50 yards out. I was able to swim in between the barrier and the beach.

After that, because it was Friday night, of course Nanan and I went Liming.

Saturday, we have junior national team training from 9am-12pm (both boys and girls) and then he has a cricket match at 2pm that I plan to attend. He used to be a tremendous cricket player, and is actually one of the best ever to come from Grenada. Let's see if he still has game!

Today, sometime, I must send an email to the donors and continue to work on getting the equipment. Things need to happen quickly now.

No pictures today. My camera batteries die quickly. I'll hopefully have some new pictures for tomorrow or Monday.

Respect and Love.

Thursday May 20, 2010

The picture is of a Mango tree I pass every day on my walk to the beach. I've learned Grenadians never buy mango, it is too plentiful. They pick it fresh from the tree and never eat fruit off the ground. The best mango are hard. If they become soft, they are over-ripe.

Today, I had more phone conversations with the Donors. I'm running into a bit of a snag with the equipment because several of the uniform items are not available now. I'll try and resolve this today.

In the evening, we had Women's national team training. I've been asked by a couple of people now (coaches and some high ranking officials) if the women are ready and able to compete. I think there is a thought if they are not ready, to save the money and not send them to the OECS competition. I believe they are ready and will fare much better than last year. This is a building process and the focus must be on development. Development of the Women's program, development of systems of play, and development of athletes. I was talking with a coach watching practice last night. We were scrimmaging...the potential starters vs the second team. The starters probably have an average age of 28 and are all experienced athletes, many with nagging injuries. The second team is very young (ave age of about 17), athletic, tall, and inexperienced. To make the game fair, we gave the second team a 13-0 lead playing to 25. They took a 19-8 lead before the first team started to narrow the gap. The first team ended up winning 27-25 on a really remarkable comeback. The interesting thing though was watching the current team (first team) and the future. It made me think this is a process. The young players need role models, players to teach them work ethic and attitude, players to teach them accountability and responsibility, and they need time to develop. The older players seem a wonderful group to first of all, compete at a high level and represent Grenada well in the international competition, and second of all, to set a high standard.

And another thing I've learned, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the mountain. I've frequently caught myself looking ahead thinking how great things are going to be, instead of appreciating what I have and enjoying the moment. Too often, we have incredible moments, and miss them because we are looking ahead for something that might not even come.

Today (friday) is a big day. We have an early morning meeting with Permanent Secretary Bruno and Press Secretary Simons to discuss the gift and formalize arrangements and the Ministry's involvement.

Respect and Love

May 19, 2010 Meetings and Men's National Team

Big Day! Today I met with Mr. Dei Sylvester from Grenada about the protocol, financial administration, and ultimate collection of goods pertaining to the donation to Grenadian Volleyball. I had telephone meetings with a sales rep from Adidas and have detailed all equipment needs. This was followed by another telephone meeting with the donor himself, to discuss particulars. Things are progressing very well, but it is difficult because I am unfamiliar with the customs here and now we must get the government involved, to try and avoid delays at customs and to avoid excessive import taxes. I have a meeting Friday morning with Permanent Secretary Victor-Bruno to discuss proper administration and disbursement of this gift and to determine the government's involvement. This is an important week to get all the administration done as suddenly my trip seems to coming to a close. I still have 2 1/2 weeks here, however, there is much yet to do and I need to get all equipment associated with this donation, ordered from the suppliers, before I leave.

Last night we had Men's National Team training. We worked on team transition and team defense and also 3 person serve receive and sideout offense. We played Bingo Bango Bongo for 40 minutes and the team was very competitive, impressive in their play, and seemed to really enjoy it.

That is all for today. Thursday will be another busy day with morning meetings, and then secondary training in the afternoon, followed by evening Women's national team training.

Respect and love.

Tuesday May 18, 2010 Meeting about equip and Women's National team

Shorter post today. The picture is of the beach, from my favorite spot, looking left. My typical day begins around 6:15am and includes morning coffee looking towards the sea from my porch. I try and sleep later, but the sun rises early here and the rooster crows loudly. I begin my day checking email, then write on my blog. I then eat breakfast and try and walk to the beach for a swim and to prepare my practice outlines for the day.

Wednesday will be a little different. This morning I have a meeting with Mr. Dei Sylvester at 9:15am to discuss how we will purchase equipment from the donation, try to get the items shipped duty-free, and get all items to clear customs. We must also decide how we will handle the invoice of items and ultimate payment to vendors. There is a lot to decide.

Nanan and I met yesterday after lunch to discuss the particular items we wanted to purchase. We have detailed all items and I feel somewhat organized as to what we want.

Tuesday evening, we had Women's national team training. This was probably our worst day of practice. It started off flat and and everyone seemed a bit distracted, or not focused. Our ball control drills that we start practice with were off and there wasn't the hustle we've come to expect. The frustrating thing was that we had a pretty large group of people that gathered around to watch. Pastor Soukup also came out to practice as did Dei Sylvester. We called a team meeting to change attitudes and try and turn this into a good, productive practice. The team responded well and attitudes got better as practice went along. We worked on transition footwork and began learning how to audible in transition. It went slow!!! Our ball control is average at best and setting still needs considerable work. Our best setter is Betty Ann and she is 39 years old with a bad knee. She is a great competitor and is picking up the offense quickly. Our second best setter is Nieve (sp) from Dominica and she is not yet a Grenadian citizen so we don't even know if she is eligible to play. We have a strong core group of about 8 athletes that are good. After that, there is a considerable drop off, not necessarily with talent, but with experience. We are actually very young and I see this team becoming very good in a couple of years. We must plant a seed this year.

Today (Wednesday), I have that meeting at 9:15am, I then must organize practice outlines for tonight, then we have Junior National Boys and Girls training at 3:00-5:00pm. I then have a 5:15pm meeting with Mr. Richard Simons, President of the Grenadian Volleyball Association, and all the board. We need to discuss our strategy for improving the club system in Grenada and the secondary school system, and I also need to discuss a couple of players that need Visas so they can play. Then at 5:30pm, we have Men's National team practice. I will be late for that, but will attend after my meeting. I really enjoy the Men's team and am truly impressed by this talented group.

Respect and Love.

Monday May 17, 2010

The picture to my left is of the Grand Anse beach, again from my favorite spot. I am creature of habit and typically go to the same spot every trip to the beach. The beaches are incredible in Grenada and considered some of the best in the world. The water is cool and clear and you can see the bottom 20' down.

Monday was the start of my 4th week here. It is going by quickly...except I miss my kids dearly. Today, the ministry lightened our load a bit. They gave us the morning off and we only had national team practice in the evening. We will have the same schedule on Tuesday with our crazy hectic schedule resuming on Wednesday through Saturday. These lighter days are right on time.

Monday night, we had Men's National Team practice. We focused on serve receive reps and transition hitting. We are concentrating on footwork and teaching the middles how to transition quickly and run 1s. The men are very quick learners and very willing. We have tremendous outside hitters and potentially very good middles. We began teaching a play calling system and are using an audible system in transition and our free ball offense. We will have the setters tell each hitter what they are running in serve receive. This seems to be the best way to use the many talents we have and become dynamic and explosive. Setting is getting better and I'm confident we will get this before I leave. We ended the practice with a 6 vs 6 transition drill and it was very impressive!!!

On another note, I have some very big news....yesterday I received an email from a gentleman that has agreed to donate a significant amount to Grenada Volleyball! This is tremendous and I am very excited for Nanan, the athletes, and volleyball in Grenada. We will now be able to run an annual first-class secondary school volleyball tournament and outfit the national teams in a manner fitting their commitment, talent, and portray the image we want. This is tremendous!

The purpose of my visit is complex. While here, I continually re-evaluate my goals and what the Olympic committee desires. I consider these to be the goals of my visit:

• Train with the National teams (men and women) and have them ready to compete and win at the OECS games this summer; Mission being accomplished! I am very happy with our progress and see tremendous improvement.
  
• Work with the Secondary School teams to create excitement for the sport and increase interest; We continue to travel around the Island visiting all secondary schools and working with those students that show interest. We have also visited soccer, netball, and basketball games looking for athletes and asking them to join us. This is a tough challenge but we are working at it.
• Work in conjunction with Nanan and the Ministry of Sports to Fund Raise for the secondary school and the national teams; Mission being accomplished!!! This is vital for the continued growth of volleyball. We have received a pledge of support and now must quickly secure equipment for both national teams and begin organizing the procurement of equipment for the secondary schools. Time is of the essence for the national teams as their tournament starts soon.
• Develop a strategic plan outlining an administrative structure and organizational plan for volleyball at the secondary school level, the club level, and the national team levels; I continue to gather information and assess the volleyball structure in Grenada. There are a lot of good things happening and Nanan has done a tremendous job so far. We must continue his efforts to ensure volleyball's emergence as a primary sport in Grenada. More work is needed by me in this area.
  
• Promote the sport at every opportunity and increase exposure; I have been on television 5 times and the radio once so far. While I walk around Grenada, strangers say "Good Day Coach" to me and that feels good. I feel we are meeting this goal but must continue our efforts. I am very pleased at the growing number of people that stop by the Carenage and are now watching the national teams practice.

Now that the second half of my trip has begun, I feel a sense of urgency to start accomplishing our goals. Securing the donation has been a tremendous accomplishment and I thank Mr. Fischer, Grace Lutheran Church, Pastor Soukup, and Mr. Sylvester for their assistance. Their generosity and support will touch many lives.

Culture Section

On a separate note, I find my diet has changed considerably while here. Grenadians eat a big breakfast and lunch, and only a light snack for dinner. I typically ate no breakfast (coffee and possibly toast), a light lunch, and a big dinner. I find I am eating on the same schedule as Grenadians, not because I want to, but because that is what my schedule allows. In the evenings, I find I am not hungry. Possibly because of the heat, possibly because I am typically tired and do not want to cook. In any event, I feel healthy. While here, I have lost 13 pounds. Possibly because of the lighter diet, more fruits and vegetables, not much meat, a lot of walking, and daily swims in the sea. I wonder how long it will take to gain it back when I return to the states????? I hope I am able to maintain some of this new lifestyle.

That is all for now.

Respect and Love.

Saturday/Sunday May 15-16, 2010

Saturday, we had Junior National team training in the morning from 9am-12pm and then the rest of the afternoon off. This was good timing as both Nanan and I needed some time to rest.

We had the boys and girls together and used this practice as the last opportunity to view players and select the team. Nanan will select a roster of 12 players plus 2 liberos (14 total). Of this total, he will select 6 "specialists" for volleyball with the remaining being multi-sport athletes. After today, he has his team. The boys are not exceptionally tall (maybe two athletes 6'2 with the rest between 5'10 and 6'1"). He has two good setters, two very good outside hitters, a very good libero, and should actually be very good.

The girls team is much further behind. They have good athletes and actually have good size (two athletes 6'1 or taller and three others 5'10, however, they are very young and inexperienced and will likely struggle.

After practice today, I went to the beach for a swim. St. George's University is having finals this week and it seems most of the campus comes to the beach to celebrate when finals are over.

While swimming, I ventured out to the second furthest bouoy....about 100 yards out. This was a big accomplishment for me.

It rained here every day last week and weekend...the dry season is over and we are now in the rainy season.

I had computer problems this weekend and was unable to post. It's funny how dependent one becomes on technology.

Life is simple here with simple pleasures. Sitting on the porch in the morning drinking coffee looking at the sea. Sitting on the porch in the evening looking at the starry sky. It gets dark here about 6:30pm.

It is best to buy food for only 1 or two days at a time. It does not stay fresh long even in the frig.

Ants in the house are always an issue. Any food left out, spilt, etc. will be covered with ants within the hour.

I now seem to have plenty of water for showers and laundry. I am enjoying not using a dryer but rather hanging up my clothes.

My trip has now lasted for 3 weeks. I am halfway through. I feel more like a resident than a tourist and am pretty settled into a routine. Sightseeing is at the bottom of my priority list. My days are filled with work, eating, rest, preparing, beach.

My hands seemed to turn a bit yellow this weekend. I'm not sure but i think my diet my have something to do with it. I purchased some multi-vitamins just in case. The food is much different than home. I am a meat-eater and love beef, pork, chicken, fish, etc. In America, we put a slab of meat on the grill and use vegetables as garnish. Here, vegetables are the primary food with meat as the garnish....i.e.....one pig tail in the soup....are you kidding me!!!! I think I need to focus on getting more iron in my diet.

That's all for today. The rooster is crowing and telling me to continue to get going this morning.

Respect and Love.

Friday May 14, 2010 Coaching Clinic

This is a picture of the coaches in attendance the last day of the coaching clinic. Their names include Richard and Jenelsi Britton, Javon Emery, Dimeon Leastle, Michael Paul, Alby Andrew, Maginnie Campbell, Michael Francis, Patricia Neal, Nic Benjamin, Lisa Slinger, Rene Belfon, Adam Lafeuillee, Marty Philip, Kathyann Williams Gabriel, Sylma Phylls, Aly Welcher, Debbie Britton, Leon Hall, Erica Fortune, Al Furguson, Rachel John, Crystal Arbhibald, and of course Nanan.

The last day of the clinic it rained all morning. We held an indoor session (theory) and of course the coaches much prefer to play then sit and be lectured to. Today we answered questions, covered offensive systems and reviewed switching and overlaps.

We then asked the group for their feedback. Overall they reported it was very good. All were happy with the course and felt they learned a lot. Many were in this course three years ago and said it was a nice refresher and they enjoyed reviewing skills and also liked learning about switching and overlaps. In my opinion, that was the new topics covered this year. It was somewhat difficult to design a curriculum because we had many 'experienced' coaches along with several new coaches who know nothing about the sport. To keep both groups 'entertained' was a challenge.

Should I be fortunate enough to be asked back to continue my work here, I suggest we cover Offensive systems, different serve receive formations (3, 4, 2 person), transition hitting and footwork, how to train a setter, numbering system along the net, audibles, stat taking, review scorekeeping, continue with rules education, and have a session on different drills. They are pretty good with basic skills but there could be a one hour review. It may also be suggested the group be divided into 'experienced' coaches and new coaches with different material taught to each.

The session ended at 2pm today and we had nothing in the evening! I came home and immediately went to the beach. It was cloudy with a threat of rain, but I didn't care. The sea felt great and I took a nice swim. While on the beach, I met a young man that is on the Junior national boys team (ages 12-19). His name is Clinton.

What an interesting story. He is one of 15 children (one of 7 from the same mother). All 7 lived together until his father died in 2005. Upon his death, all the older children had already either moved away, or subsequently did. Their mother packed up and simply left, never to be heard from again. He was 12 and he had an older brother that was 13, along with two other brothers 18 and 19 at home. The two older brothers joined the Grenadian army and placed the youngest two in an orphanage so they would be cared for. The oldest two then moved to England, leaving the youngest two alone in Grenada. After three years in the orphange, the two brothers decided to move out on their own and get an apartment. They moved into a studio 'apartment' in a big house, where they still reside. The boys are 17 and 18 now, both attend school regulary, and both plan to go to college. Clinton hopes to go to university in England after college. They live a simple life. No tv, no radio, and not many friends as they have very little money to do things and both go to school 30 minutes away.

Clinton is very polite, intelligent, and never once asked for anything. He is independent and well adjusted and I think will one day be a strong, confident young man. It was pretty inspriring. Often, I find myself focusing more on what I don't have instead of what I do have. He did not hold grudges and seemed only focused on what he needed to do today to have a good day and to get closer to his goal.

I look forward to seeing him today at National team training.

I'm marinating beef to cook soup later today. I've learned without marinating the meat, it tastes...um...not as good as our beef.

Respect and Love.

May 13, 2010 Coaching clinic and Women's national team

The picture is of the Grenadian Ministry building. This is equivalent to our White House in Washington. It is located in St. George's province. It is a nice building and houses all Ministries (Sports, Education, Agriculture, etc.) and also the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

Today is Friday and that means our last day of the coaching clinic. I am both sad and elated. Sad...because I have become good friends with several coaches and have learned respect and admiration for all. Elated...because this has been a very difficult week.

At first when Nanan told me the schedule (basically 8:30am-8:30pm) I was not affected because we all have those type of work weeks on occasion. The difference here was that it was nearly 100% outside in the heat. And it is a different kind of heat...it's the kind where you must cover your head with a hat, bandana, towel, something, to protect your head. Everyone brings two or three shirts and changes throughout the day (something I learned quickly and have adapted to). It has also been challenging because I have not had much time to prepare for the next day's 'lesson.' Like anything though, we find we can rise to any challenge and survive, if we keep focused on what we want to accomplish and not the obstacles in our way.

Thursday in the clinic we covered scorekeeping and rules. We scrimmaged with two teams and had one team score. Friday (today) we will ask some to ref and score while others play. We will go over serve receive formations, continue with switching and team defensive systems, cover offensive systems, and review (answer questions). I also plan to ask the group about what is needed and how we should develop a 'club' volleyball system. This seems to be the #1 priority for making volleyball survive.

A television crew came to our clinic and interviewed Nanan and myself and filmed the coaches playing. This marks the 5th television interview since my arrival. We are getting good press.

I had fish and rice for lunch, and then fish soup for dinner. Grenadians cook with the bones. Which means when you eat fish, you can expect bones in nearly every bite. I've learned to chew cautiously and simply pull the bones, fins, scales, eyeballs (jk) from my mouth and place on a napkin beside me.

In the evening, we had women's national team practice. We made 20 consecutive touches in the 3 person switching drill. Our hitting is much improved, and I see improvement in our setting. We covered team defense and ran transition drills (although we have not yet had time to cover transition hitting footwork). We then ran a live scrimmage with switching (specialization). Before, everyone played six different positions. If you were LF, you played outside hitter, MF, you played MH, etc. We are now trying to specialize. It is confusing because we are throwing so much at the athletes in such a short time. However, they are grasping the concepts well and I am very pleased with our progress. I am very confident this team will be much improved and will compete well in their upcoming Caribbean Island challenge.

Today we only have clinic until 3pm and nothing in the evening. Nanan will likely want to Lime...whew!!! No beach this week, no swimming, no relaxing...I'm ready to relax!!! Tomorrow (saturday) we have Junior National team training from 9am-12pm...and then a break! "Thank you Father!"

Three weeks have nearly past...and quickly. I feel we are making good progress.

Respect and Love.

May 12, 2010 Coaching Clinic day 3 and Men's National team

The picture is of the sea at Grand Anse beach, from my favorite spot. This has been a very busy week and long days. Nanan picks me up at 8 every morning; we run the coaching clinic from 9-3pm every day; have a slight break where we typically have a staff meeting, run an errand, and update email, then have national team training from 5:30-8pm. Last night I was too tired to cook when I got home. Not that I had any food to cook anyway :) The clinics continue to go well. Yesterday we discussed the volleyball situation in Grenada and what needs to happen to improve it. There were many ideas and an open discussion.

It seems a big obstacle is time. Several sport seasons overlap with each other and there is only a small pool of athletes on the Island to participate. Everyone competes with each other for the best athletes. Similar to the US actually, although we have a larger pool. In addition, typically one or maybe two coaches coach ALL the sports! They receive NO compensation for any coaching duties. They are worn thin from the time commitment and simply find it hard to add another sport to their duties.

A third obstacle seems to be a conflict between education and sports. There is an emphasis on education presently (and rightly so), even at the expense of extra-curricular activities (not rightly so). The Ministry seems aware of the conflict, as well as the Grenadian Olympic Committee, and is looking into it. As with anything involving government, this will not be resolved in the immediate future. The problem seems to be the education side does not see the long term benefit of participation in sports, and actually wants to lengthen the school day, add curriculum, and make participation in sports something that is done on the student's own time.

Kids are kids...and often will make 'interesting' choices with presented with different paths. Few are willing to take a difficult path when an easier path leads to more immediate satisfaction. I feel we should not blame our youth for behaving in what I consider to be, a 'typical' manner. We cannot expect all our kids to behave exceptionally. That's why they are 'exceptions.' I do believe, however, we can lead our children, help them make good choices by giving them options and direction. I've learned kids, like everyone, want direction, to be held responsible, they want discipline, and will rise to lofty expectations.

Being a sports person, I understand the benefits of participation in athletics. It is my goal to express these benefits to all concerned, to develop a strategy to create another opportunity for athletic participation for children in Grenada, and to follow-up!

Okay, enough of my soap-box speech. It was beautiful yesterday....overcast all day! It was tolerable in the sun and we ran drills outside with the coaches for nearly 4 hours. Mrs. Bruno-Victor and Mr. Francis (from the Ministry) visited and watched for a bit. During scrimmages, the women coaches said they no longer wanted to be on the same team as the men. They said as soon as we started keeping score, the men played only to win and would not let them touch the ball!!! So we scrimmaged...men vs. women. We had 8 men and 11 women today. The women won 25-16!!!! What????!!!!!! I have a feeling there will be a rematch today :)

I have not been to the beach all week. I miss swimming already. I have water!!! I feel blessed. Before every practice we pray. I hope when it's my turn I speak to God appropriately.

Men's national team practice went well. We worked on team defense and positioning. We will likely run a perimeter defense and are focusing on double blocking as of now. We are also implementing the 3 person serve receive formation. The men picked up Base Defense, spike defense and the serve receive formations incredibly quick!!! I was very impressed last night and am encouraged.

That is all for today. I need to shop for food tonight. Still missing a cheeseburger!!!

Respect and Love.

Tues May 11, 2010 Coaching clinic, Women's National team

The picture is of a view from the hard court at the Carenage of Fort St. George. It is at the top of the picture, and is a historic post, overlooking the entire area of St. George. It a place of infamy as this was the location coup forces brought a kidnapped Maurice Bishop, former beloved prime minister in the '80s, and publicly beheaded him. The current prime minister is Dr. Thomas Tillman. I am thankful he supports athletics and allowed my visit.


Today we had another coaching clinic session for all secondary school and ministry coaches. We had 21 coaches attend and I felt it was another good session. We discussed practice organization, motivational techniques, and how to outline a practice. Mid-morning we went outside and went over setting, serving, blocking and hitting. I had salt-fish for lunch (one of my favorites) and in the afternoon, we went over various volleyball games and drills.

There is only ONE thing a Grenadian is afraid of (I have been told)....RAIN! Today of course, at about 2pm, it started to rain, lightly. About 50 primary (grade) school students had just entered the court area, and when they felt the first few raindrops, ran to cover! They happened to run to our side of the court where there was a slight covered porch area. My coaches paused for a second, looked at each, and continued to play!!!! The primary school students watched in amazement as these adults not only continued playing in the rain, but were laughing, celebrating points, and playing some pretty good volleyball. Soon, the children began clapping and cheering....it was a pretty incredible moment and I was very proud.

At 5:00pm, I had a meeting with the Grenadian Olympic Committee. Members present included Mr. Rayston La Hel, Ms. Veda Bruno Victor, Mr. Ray Roberts, and Mrs. Lucy Steele. They went over the purpose of my visit and thanked me for coming. I, in turn, thanked them for the opportunity, thanked my university for allowing me this opportunity, and listened in earnest as they explained their vision for volleyball in Grenada. They want this sport to emerge as a primary sport and acknowledged volleyball's the world-wide appeal and internatioanl opportunities. They asked that I report to them my findings on the state of volleyball on the Island. We talked for about 1 hour and it was a very good meeting.

In the evening, we had the Women's National Team training. We covered general skills the first portion of practice and spent the last hour going over Base Defense, Spike Defense, and Free-ball defense. It was a good session. We had about 22 athletes at practice. Nanan and I agree this is too many too effectively train and get ready for competition in June. We will either make cuts this week, or tell players they are welcome to attend and drill, however, many will be pulled from scrimmage situations so we can prepare the actual team. We lack hitting firepower, do not block real well, and serving is a question mark, but we have the potential to be a good defensive team. This will have to do. Our goal....improve serving and serve receive and win with defense.

It is important to note that friday we had a meeting with Pastor Soukup, Grace Lutheran Church. He seems like a wonderful man and is very interested in helping volleyball in Grenada. We are working with him, as a representative of Mr. Fisher, to secure equipment for both national teams. I'm hopeful it happens soon.

Water today....yes!!!!! It was only a slow trickle in the shower, but it felt great! Observation...Mangos are natures dental floss....man do they stick in your teeth!!! I have a new friend...a lizard runs by every morning as I type my blog. Today he stopped 2 feet away and just stared at me for about 2 minutes. I wonder how they are in soup?????? I'm sure I've eaten some without knowing it :)

Respect and love.

May 10, 2010 Coaching Clinic and Men's National team

The pictures are of the Carenage. At first I thought this was the name of the hard courts we practiced on, but it's actually the name of the city. It is a bustling place and near downtown St. George's. This is the big 'market' where you get fresh fish, fruits, vegetables and pretty much anything you want. The cruise ships dock near here so three are tourist areas nearby and a lot of little shops with homemade goods. Downtown St. George's is really a neat place. The other picture is of two national team members highlighted today.

No water in my guest house. This marks the 3rd time and 2nd day in a row! I'm getting good at showering from a bucket. There is a city wide water-shortage due to the drought. Hopefully they will have it resolved tonight.

Today was day one of the coaching clinic. We had a theory session from 9-12; lunch, then an outdoor 'practical' session from 1-3. We had 20 coaches from the ministry, secondary schools, and the colleges attend. I recognize many faces from 3 years ago. No one ages in Grenada!!!! Must be the mango. Anyway, the session went well. Today we covered "why Coach?" Developed our own "philosophies of coaching," and got acquainted.

We had lunch delivered from the ministry and I had fish and rice and juice. In the afternoon, we went out side (actually about 11am we went outside too) to review passing technique and do passing drills. Grenadians love to play and were much happier outside once we were playing the game. It was INCREDIBLY HOT!!!!! My God....the heat is indescribable. Plus we are on a cement hard court, so it feels 'times two!' the amazing thing to me though, is you get used to and find a way to make it work. The difference from our heat is the humidity. There is none here. The sun will cook your brain and everyone finds way to beat the heat. But there is a breeze. I forgot my hat today and wrapped a bandanna around my head. Two others had bandannas and a couple more had towels wrapped around their heads. A female coach told me, "Now you look like a Grenadian!" That made me feel good. I think that means, 'don't worry what you look like Mon.'

The spotlight is on two Men's National Team members, and probably the leaders. The guy on the left is Adam Lafeuillee. He is 24 and the team Captain. He is 6'3" and an Outside Hitter/Opposite. He is the team's best player and an absolute hammer! He is a primary passer, plays 6 rotations, and has an incredible vertical. He is also the Assistant to Nanan and works as a Volleyball Coach for the Ministry of Sports. He lives with his sister in St. David and has a modest, nice house. He does not own a car and is a pretty good cook (although Nanan makes fun of his dumplings). He is tech savvy and has hooked me up many modern conveniences while in Grenada. He wants to play volleyball in the USA and I hope to help him.

The other gentleman is Greg Gilbert. Greg is 6'2" and 19 years old and attends college in Grenada. College is not like our College, it is more a continuation of high school. He is a Setter/Middle/Opposite and is absolutely a wonderful young man. He is religious, comes from a very nice family (one brother) and is very courteous. Greg is a tremendous athlete with a super-human vertical. He crushes the 1s (although he is goofy footed). He is the best middle on the team and also the best setter. We are beginning team play in practice and are considering running a 5-1 with him. He also wants to play in the US and I plan to help him as well.

Nanan and I finished our day with a carib and watched a bit of Cricket at Tanteen. It was a long day, but a good one.

Respect and Love.

May 9, 1010

Off Day. The pictures are of my friend Nanan and his 'garden,' and of the view from my porch where I update my journal every morning. The view overlooks Grand Anse harbor. His garden is about 4 acres and he tends it with a friend. He grows tomatoes, squash, carrots, beets, cabbage, bananas, mango, cocoa, yams, green beans (they hang from a tree), sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some others. He provides food for his family and also sells his vegetables to the markets, restaurants, local vendors. The other day, he had two bushel baskets full of tomatoes and sweet potatoes and was paid 250 EC for it. The exchange rate is 2.67 EC per 1 U.S. dollar. Nanan's annual salary is approximately $7,300 US equivalent. This is considered a pretty nice salary and he has a nice job working for the government and the ministry of sports. He owns a home, a car, has property, and basically works two jobs....Volleyball Coach and Farmer. When he retires from coaching, he said he will farm full-time. He has a small savings, which is not typical of all Grenadians.

Day off on Sunday. I spent the day at the beach swimming and working on lecture outlines and my practice outlines for the week. My landlord came down with a large bowl of Oil Down...which is the national dish (food). They prepare this for all foreigners and it is something they are proud of.

Guess what's in it?????????? Ya....pig tail and pork snouts! Along with yams, young green bananas, carrots, dumplings, beans, calicou, and several other things I could not identify. The best way to describe it is if you put a lot of food in a bucket, stirred it with a pitch fork, poured some kind of gravy on it, and served it in a bowl. I must admit though, excepting the tail and snout, this was the best oil down I've had.

This week will be hectic. We have a coaching clinic from 9am-3pm every day for secondary and national team coaches. We then have Men's National Team training on Monday and Wednesday from 5-8pm and Women's National Team training on Tuesday and Thursday from 5-8pm.

Respect.

May 8, 2010 Junior National team tryout

The picture is of the boys and girls (ages 13-19) that participated in today's junior national team tryouts. Junior means they must be in either secondary school (12-17) or college (17-20). The tryout was from 9am-12pm at the Carenage. We are selecting a team to compete in the Windward Island games to be held July 24-August 2nd.

It is an interesting competition. There will be four Islands competiting...Grenada, St. Lucia (the dominant force in volleyball), Dominica, and St. Vincent. These make up what is referred to as the Windward Islands. I also was not aware, but there is a world-wide cricket competition going on and West Indies is the team representing the Caribbean (and Grenada).

In the Windward Island games, we will compete in Volleyball, Cricket, Basketball, Netball, Soccer, and Track and Field. Grenada is the dominant country and is the defending champion. Volleyball has been Grenada's achilles heal.

The tryout went well, and although we did not have big numbers, there was talent. Another interesting thing about the games, you can select one group of boys and one group of girls. From this pool, you must field a team in each sport. That means multi-talented athletes are a must. Each sport is allowed a certain number of 'specialists' or players that play only that sport. Volleyball gets 4 female specialists and 6 male specialists.

Facts about the tryout:

• The boys and girls were picked up by a ministry bus that traveled all around the island to get them.
• There was a men's basketball team on the court before us, and after they finished, they stayed by the court and played LOUD calypso music (fast-paced rap reggae) and 'celebrated' either their victory or loss...whichever. How lucky we were!
• Greg Gilbert is clearly the most talented boy. He is a 19 year old with tremendous athleticism, is 6'2 and the setter and easily the best hitter and passer. He brought his little brother Jimmy (age 13) to get experience in a tryout. He may be the future!
• Two young ladies, Danielle and Renesha, both 15, also have tremendous potential. Renesha is 6'2 and Danielle is 6'. I asked how high they could touch and neither knew. I walked them the basketball rim and asked them to jump to it. Both touched it!!!! Okay :)

After the tryout, I had the afternoon off. I spent the rest of the day swimming in the sea and reading on the beach. It was a relaxing day full of sunshine. The beautiful thing about Grenada is that even when it is blistering hot, you always get the cool breeze from the sea. If you sit in the shade, it is actually cool. There is no humidity. The sea is very salty.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day! Happy Mothers Day Joan, my mom, and to All!!! Today will be another day of swimming in the sea, thinking of loved ones, and preparing my outlines for the week.

Respect and love.

May 7, 2010 St. Rose Secondary, St. John

This morning, we had a meeting with a Mr. Dei Sylvester, representing Mr. Fischer, a significant supporter of Grenadian volleyball, and probably the gentlemen, along with Nanan, responsible for it's resurgence. The meeting concerned ways to assist the Secondary and National teams in a manner to not only ensure volleyball's existence, but also emergence as a primary sport for a long time to come.

The meeting was very successful and we have a follow up meeting with Pastor Soukup, representing Grace Lutheran Church, to continue our discussion. Things are progressing well and I am very excited about what we are accomplishing in such a short time.

Today, we had a volleyball session with 9 boys and girls from St. Rose Secondary school. They were pretty talented athletes and seemed to all have interest in volleyball. The session was fun and productive. I feel my mission has changed a bit. I feel I am here more to promote the sport of volleyball, to earn respect for those playing the game, and to increase its' exposure.

I will continue to teach coaches and athletes about the game, but there is more at stake.

Yesterday I watched my first "Netball" game. It is a crazy game similar to our basketball. It is a game for girls. There is a basket, however, no backboard, and there is no dribbling. You advance the ball up and down the court by passing it.

The thing that amazed me the most was the number of terrific athletes playing! There must have been 50 girls playing and all seemed athletic and very competitive. Where are these girls for our clinics and training sessions????? Nanan and I must recruit athletes and aggressively spread the word to gain interest.

Tonight is Lime night. Yikes. It's fish friday in Guayave. There will be fresh fish on the grill, crab, lobster, and who know what else.

To Mallory and Terence....ask Nanan who is the champ at pool??? Can he say Loooooossssaaaa!!

Thurs May 6, 2010 Women's National team training

Today we will spotlight two athletes on the Women's National team. The two are twin sisters, "Metric" (on the left) and Betty Ann (right). They were selected to be our first spotlight athletes because they are the leaders of the team and both incredible athletes. They are 40 years old, single, with no children. They own a landscaping business and that is how, in part, they have maintained such a tremendous fitness level.

Betty Ann plays only volleyball. She will likely be a setter and team captain. She is a very positive player and gives help and encouragement to others. Sometimes she does it 'harshly' but it is always meant well. She takes her volleyball very serious and wants the team to be great. She is very athletic and picks things up quickly.

Metric is truly an amazing athlete. She is an outside hitter. She has played on the National Cricket Team, the National Soccer Team, and the National Basketball team. She is loud and in-your-face and demands everyone play at a high level. I can rarely understand a word she says because her dialect is so fast. The other day we were having the Men's National team training. Metric walks up near the beginning of practice, puts down her bag, and jumps in the drills. No one says a word to her. We run a competitive, consecutive touch drill and begin pulling people out that are making mistakes. Metric not only survives the 'cut,' but becomes one of the final 12 athletes on the court when the team succeeds. Metric is the player that is always loud. She's not afraid to yell at anyone, but she will also be the first to give someone a high-five. This team definitely needs Metric.

Both ladies have knee injuries. In Grenada, we pray before every practice. And in every prayer, there is a reference to making it through practice with no injuries. If a player does become injured, it is typically career-ending, or they learn to play with it. Often, they are never the same player. Metric has what appears to be a pretty severe knee injury. She plays through it and is easily the best player on our team. I feel for her though. She is a very proud athlete and you can tell, if healthy, she knows she could do more.

Practice went well. We continued working on ball control and technique. Next week we will begin team play, blocking, serving, and attacking.

I had split pea soup for dinner. I miss potatoes. I also attended a girls Net Ball game today. It's similar to our basketball, only slower paced. I was amazed at all the tremendous female athletes competing. Where are they for our volleyball clinics?????? We have much work to do.

Respect.

Thurs May 6th, 2010 Happy Hills Secondary School, St. George

The picture on the left is of students at Happy Hills Secondary School in their uniforms. Other schools may have blue, green, maroon, etc. colored uniforms. The picture on the right is of the students that showed up for the volleyball training session from 2p-4pm.

Today was a typical day for me this week. Start out by updating blog. Eat breakfast. Walk to the beach. Swim in the sea. Sit in the sand and make my practice outlines for the day. Walk back to home. Shower. Eat lunch. Wait for Nanan to pick me up to start training. He typically picks me up around 12 or 1 and I get home in the evening around 8 or 9pm.

The training sessions went well today. The students were interested and seemed to have fun. It is difficult running these sessions with boys and girls combined because the skill level and athleticism is so different. We spent half the session letting them scrimmage and they seemed to really enjoy that.

Respect.

May 5, 2010 Men's National Team and Fun Facts

The picture is of fishermen pulling in their net in Gouyave, the Fishing capital of Grenada. In the background you can see the boat that has the other end of the net.

In the evening we had training with the Men's National Team. I felt I needed to have a much more focused, intense practice. That does not always mean more running...I don't measure intense by sweat. We focused on doing the "little things perfect" as both my college and club teams can probably relate. We stressed technique again and explained the difference between an average pass (we can only set 1 or 2 options) compared to a perfect pass (we have all our options).

We had consequences for everything today and I practiced this team as I would an American team. I now know what to expect and am getting a better idea of what they can take. Their response was terrific and it was a very successful practice. I say successful because I feel our ball control is already improving, and we established a practice work ethic and 'tempo' tonight.

These are really terrific athletes! Incredible jumping ability and agility. Their willingness to dive on concrete to save a ball still amazes me. Our weaknesses: inconsistent hitting (they only want to hammer the ball...no shots); poor serve receive; inconsistent serving (and way to many top-servers); and inconsistent setting. Coach Nanan has asked that we implement a 3 person serve receive (they are currently using a "W" formation) and gradually begin introducing offensive transition and defensive systems. We will get to this possibly next week. We still need considerable work on ball control and technique. My philosophy has always been that we work on skills and ball handling/defense first and then enter team play. Team play comes quicker and it is very frustrating to me mid-season to have weaknesses that should have been corrected early.

Practice tonight went great! After practice, the team wanted to stay and played two scrimmage games to 25 on their own. I reffed and was proud. We were supposed to start at 5:30. Nanan and I arrived at 5:10. By 5:30, there were probably 13 athletes here. Just then, Nanan calls me into the office saying "Toddie, come here, quick!" I enter and find a bowl of fish soup and a Carib(beer) waiting for me. I'm a bit nervous but happy because I was starving. No eyes in the soup, but it had bones and fins...that is kind of weird to me. It was delicious and the Carib topped it off. Now we were ready for practice. Ah...Grenada :) We had 19 total attend practice.

During practice, Mr. Richard Simons, President of the Grenadian Volleyball Association, and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, showed up. We talked a bit during and after practice and he seemed impressed. After practice, Nanan and I had a television interview at 8:30pm on the Grenadian Broadcast Network (GBN). The interview was live and went well. This was our third television interview so far. We are getting good exposure...which was a goal.

Fun Facts:

• I am officially going rooster hunting tomorrow!
• I miss Lexi, Liza, and Cole terribly
  
• If you do not wash your dishes after eating, within the hour, they are covered by ants!
• bananas and other fruits last about 1 day on the counter if you leave them out;
• i have gotten tired of buying water so now I am boiling water on the stove;
• actually i am starting to drink more of their tap water. The water in the Country is much nicer;
• The showers are the same water temperature as the sea!
• I know enjoy watching cricket but still think it takes too long;
• I'm dying for a cheeseburger!!!
• Caribs (the local beer) are their version of Gatorade :)
  
• Most people use Taxis to get around. Taxis are typically Vans. They are crazy drivers!!!
• To honk at someone is a way to say "Hello."
• People in Grenada speak their mind and others do not seem to get offended, it is very open;
• Grenadians yell at each other on the court; If you miss a serve, they will say "COME ON MON, MAKE YOUR SERVE!!!"
  
• My limit is two Grenadians speaking together before I can no longer understand; the more together, the faster they speak and it is a 'slang' dialect
• I love Grenada, it is truly a beautiful country and culture.

Respect.