Coaching in Pune

Our group flew from Chennai on the southeast coast of India to Pune on Sunday afternoon. This will be our base of operations for the next 7 days. Pune is located on the western coast of India. It is a part of the state of Maharashtra, and there are 4 million people who live here. The city is known for its high tech engineering, and it is a leading IT hub of India. The weather here is hot every day, with temps. averaging around 85-90 degrees. There is rarely a cloud in the sky, so we are all getting a lot of sun.

Our coaching group in Pune: Tony, Mark, Johnny, Stan, Eric, & Deante

Pune players warming up before practice on Monday

Stan helping to get the offensive huddle set. I just saw Stan off for his departure to Europe. He is flying to Turkey early this morning, then on to Germany, and finally to Poland. He will be playing football in Poland this season, his seventh season as a player and/or coach of American football in Europe.

Members of the Pune defensive line wait for the offense to line up.

Coach Tony Simmons instructing his linebackers

Our coaching team- along with a group of students who train year round in judo at one of the sports centers near our training facility in Pune. We watched these young athletes compete and they are truly talented athletes. They live at the training center year round and train 6 hours a day in their sport, in addition to going to school on grounds at the complex. Many in this group are at the world championship level, and a few of these athletes are Indian Olympic hopefuls in judo.

Me and "Coach Raj"-- He is the head coach of the Pune team and one of the nicest guys I've met during my time in India. He is learning the game of American football quickly, and it's evident that his players have great respect for him.


Lights out.