COACHING OUT OF BOUNDS: A Day at Wasalandia

The forecast for Wednesday ended up being favorable with warm temps. and the promise for sunny skies, so we decided to head out to an amusement park in Vaasa. The park is called Wasalandia and it is located on the western coast of Finland about an hour away from Seinajoki. We loaded up the car and set off just after the lunch hour for the one hour drive to Vaasa. We made it about halfway and then I heard a popping sound and felt the back of the car swaying back and forth. I managed to get the car off the road to a small self-service gas station about a quarter mile away. The verdict was another tire blowout. This was the second one since we have been here. We had a spare, but it was in very bad shape and not road worthy. We called Jari from the team management and he drove the half hour out to assist us. As it turned out, we were less than a mile away from a tire service center. A taxi driver also stopped to help us and he called the tire service center for us as well. We ended up using Jari's car for the rest of the drive to Vaasa and so the day was not lost after all.
The day at Wasalandia turned out to be a nice one and we had a great time at the park. The park is located in a wooded area near the Baltic Sea, so there were some great views from many of the rides. I spent much of the rest of the week preparing for our next opponent the Helsinki Roosters. It was a tough week and we seemed to face so many challenges as a team going into this game. We had 3 defensive starters out and two offensive starters. We had a limited number of guys at practice and a couple of really poor practices where there was some confusion and bickering amongst the team. We had a team meeting after practice on Thursday and talked about staying together and putting the poor practices behind us. One of the big challenges with this team is coaching so many guys from different backgrounds/cultures. I have certainly enjoyed this experience, but it has been much tougher than I thought it would be.
Fortunately, the team responded on Saturday afternoon and played a solid game on offense, defense, and special teams. We started a little slow, but our adjustments and preparation payed off. We ended up defeating the second best team in the Maple League 41-8. We worked hard for a shutout, but they scored a touchdown on the last play of the game with 3 seconds remaining on the clock. We are now 4-3 overall and 4-2 in Maple League play. We have 4 regular season games remaining, so we need to finish strong to make the playoffs. It sure does feel good to win a big game like this. I am very proud of this team and the way they respond to adversity. Our defensive coordinator also called a very good game. I gave the guys an extra day off to get some much needed rest for the stretch run. We could really use a bye week about now, but there are no breaks left for the remainder of the season and playoffs. The next time I check in will be from the Arctic Circle. We are packing our bags now for our drive north tomorrow. We are heading out to visit the north of Finland and the home of a bearded, plump, rosy cheeked guy who is rumored to lead reindeer around the world to deliver gifts to kids of all ages. Yes, we are going to visit the real Mr. Claus, (also known as Santa) and his workshop in the far north of Finland. The kids are excited about this trip and I must admit to looking forward to meeting him too. Heck, I'll be happy if we don't have another blowout or hit any reindeer on the drive up.
Lights out.

Kamryn displaying all the things the kids have been making. They are using juice boxes, foil, Q-tips, and especially their imagination to make many things like cars, houses, jewelry, etc...