Reflections on Gothia Cup
We depart early tomorrow to come home. It has been a fun journey for sure, but I think we are all ready to come home and sleep in familiar beds.
I've been jumping around a bit on the blog trying to catch up. I was glad to get the Bruges blog done - definitely loved my time in Bruges. I think one highlight I did not mention in that post was spending time at those amazing and spiritual sites with Alyssa. Last time we traveled to Europe two years ago we did not hit up too many cathedrals, etc. The kids were just not old enough to really stand much of that. In fact I recall missing Notre Dame in Paris altogether and we had maybe an hour in the Louvre only because they knew what the Mona Lisa was.
Two years on and Alyssa knew I was excited to see a few cathedral and relics and art. She at first wasn't seemingly up for it - was going to join her Aunty Rosie and cousin Simone shopping but I think between my puppy dog eyes and her thinking it through, she decided to come with me to see the Bruges Madonna. And she loved it.
The more I could tell her about it, its history, its importance, the artist, the Nazi theft, the recovery, the fact that this had happened right where we were standing in the middle of the night and soldiers died trying to prevent it... I think it helped become real for her.
After that she was happy to step inside most of these churches with me and I think has started to appreciate the art in-situ and the treasures God has given us to bestow.
Anyhow, with Gothia Cup over for us in a sad and frustrating manner - we found ourselves with this odd dilemma of what to do for the next 4 days. Originally I had figured that if the tournament ended early for us, we'd possibly move on to Oslo or Copenhagen or Stockholm - but I think we were all eager to see Gothenburg a bit more and had not had any chance to see the attractions. What we never counted on was the friendships developed.
This is ultimately what made Gothia Cup so special. We made really good friends first with our own
team - the folks from Redding - The Littau family, the Salado family, the Laeber family, and our paisans from Weed, the Lemos family. I got to know Coach David and his family a bit better including his wonderful son Joe. In spending time with both David and Mike L - I grew to respect these fellow coaches all the more. So suddenly seeing Oslo or Copenhagen or wherever was not as important as spending quality time with these folks.
I could have NEVER predicated the bond developed with our host teams. Early on this guy Jonas... Jonas with Onsala... Jonas Jonas Jonas... the guy was emailing, friend requesting, planning days at a time, sending us a power point that featured a welcoming letter with Onsala BKs logo and laying out a rough schedule. Who was this Jonas? Was he a complete nut?
Nope... Jonas was the real deal and boy did he deliver for us. I know if you ask anyone... ANYONE associated with our team, probably first and foremost they'll bring up Jonas and the lengths he went to in order to make us feel welcome and a part of the Onsala family. I mean, seriously, we'd have a game and Jonas was suddenly on our sidelines giving hugs and high fiving the girls... and then poof he was gone. We'd wrap up a different game and Jonas would suddenly appear in the "good game" line and give hugs to our players. I think we ran into
Jonas having dinner... I mean of COURSE WE DID. I started to say "Jonas is everywhere". Truthfully, he wanted to make sure we were okay and having a good time. He's become a friend.
Not to be outdone, the slightly more businesslike Jitex folks were very hospitable. If it were not for Kicki and Martin and their version of Jonas was a guy named Jonas...and their coach Pieter and just about everyone else things would have been worse. Jitex invited us for the first day, soggy, wet, cold scrimmage at their training grounds. It was a long day in the cold and rain for our girls. They had to scrimmage two teams in one - one of which earned 3rd place in the B bracket (which was not a bunch of loser teams). Without that scrimmage, our girls would have lost their first real game. They may have lost to Jitex in the end, but they played them tough, the scrimmage broke the ice, and from then on when our girls took the field, it was game on.
Jitex fed us and made us feel welome to Sweden... and in the end we spent a day with them at Liseberg amusement park. Many thanks to Jitex - another group of great friends.
I sure hope we can get both or either Jitex and Onsala to come play in California next summer. I'll keep pushing. Maybe it will happen.
What to say about Gothia Cup.
It is a great experience. Teams should go if they can.
The tournament is very high profile and some amazingly talented teams come. But in the end the trophy and the honors of a championship take a backseat to the cultural experience and the celebration of youth sports. The entire city is filled with youth teams... everywhere you go a team walks by all in their matching sweats or t-shirts or jackets or hats or whatever. They carry their nation's or club's flag. They sing. They chant. They are proud to show who they are and where they are from. But then they stop and say hello. "HELLO AMERICA!" we'd hear quite often. "Hey Hey USA!!" and they'd smile. Only a few asked about Trump...and then laughed. But they love to see we are here too competing and joining in.
You saw may comments about the team we lost to from San Mateo. You can say it is sour grapes. It is not. I did not expect our girls to win all three opening round games. In my wildest imagination I did not expect us to blow through those teams scoring 13 and only conceding 1 (to our friends from Onsala). We had no clue who we were going to face, but in the week leading up to the tournament Coach David, Coach Mike and I shared videos we found on YouTube or club websites of our opponents. "Oh shit" was a comment sentiment. But we never told the girls. Youth players approach games as games. Nothing more or less. Black and white... you win or you lose. But going into it they don't think about odds or chances. They think it they play hard and well, they'll win. Onsala is a good club. Maybe not the highest ranks at home, but a good club. Stureby from what we hear is a good club. Orjersjo was supposed to be the easiest. They played us damned hard and ended up advancing far in the "B" playoffs. These are not pushover teams. As Coach David said all along, we had a darn good team and it showed.
Reflecting back on the San Mateo game - when it all crashed down in the first five minutes and how it crashed down - it is sad. But not enough to ruin the experience. The saddest part is not losing. Whatever. If I saw that team two weeks from now at the El Dorado Hills tournament that Lady Outlaws will be at, I wouldn't have a bad thing to say to them. Nope. What bothered us all was the way it happened and the different character that game took compared to the ones leading up to it. Gothia Cup was about bringing the world together through the celebration of youth football. Players were genuinely excited and happy to meet each other. Until we played San Mateo. They were rough, they were serious, they broke the rules of soccer and kept on stomping. The parents justified it. The coaches accepted it. It was everything Gothia Cup was not. That is why it hurt. That is why it was so shocking. That is why a day later we were still wondering what to do and was there really no more soccer?
But it is over. I look at the week in two phases - Gothia Cup soccer and the aftermath. Gothia Cup soccer leading up to that playoff game was all I had hoped it would be for Alyssa. She played great. She made plays that I am not sure anyone really appreciated on her team. Sure she did not score, but she set two up and set up a ton of opportunities more that her team mates could not finish. I am so proud that she shined on a big stage.
It was all I had hoped for her from a cultural experience - making friends from Sweden and also other California clubs. She learned to accept things unfamiliar to her a bit more and the world just got a little bit smaller for her and that is good.
It provided her a chance to see the ugly side of youth sports - not just San Mateo - but even the walking penis of a dad we had on our team. Captain American was his first nickname, I started calling him Captain Asshole or Captain Penis or just about anything else. He's the kind we all know - can't just support and be part of the team... nope has to be known. Has to be heard. Always knows everything. That guy claimed to be the authority on a million things - conversations would start with "Believe me...I know... I was once..." I heard him claim to be a subject matter expert on: sharks, surfing, crab fishing, weather, Swedish cuisine, USA soccer songs, World Cup history, the playing style of teams none of us had ever seen, the roster legitimacy of San Mateo's club, Gothenburg, and many many many more things. This guy started out strong and by the end even his most trusted fellow Davis parents had grown quite tired of him.
You couldn't miss Captain America. Oh no, he showed up day one in a USA soccer jersey, American flag draped over himself like a cape and singing songs he thought were well known USA soccer songs... except he was getting them all wrong. Remember the women's world cup team USA chant from two years ago? "I believe that we will win..." We barely set a foot outside of the tram on day one of Gothia Cup and he starts to yell as loud as he can "I believe we CAN win...." all in the wrong cadence. Then admonished the girls for not joining in. They tried to correct him, but they were wrong because... because he is Captain America and he knows all.
I have no problem with that enthusiasm, but I do have issue when we are up 4-0 with a few minutes to go in our opening game playing on the first field you see when you arrived at Kviberg soccer complex. Get this visual... there are 25 fields at Kviberg and the park extends beyond where we were by a good mile and half with the one way in and out...all walking. So there 50 teams playing at any one time and another 50 awaiting their match and another 50 leaving... and all are walking past our field. And they see us first, and they see the scoreboard indicating 4-0, and Captain America has walked up onto the hill overlooking our field where all are walking by, draped in his American flag cape and he is yelling as loud as he can "I BELIEVE WE'RE GONNA WIN!!" over and over and over. This is against a Swedish team that started the match by shaking our hands and ended the match with a public gesture thanking us for the match. And we've got Steve Roger's biggest fan prancing around and boasting about winning.
He was just getting started. By the next day he didn't believe the coaches were doing enough, decided to try to run a practice without the coaches before our game with Onsala - and when I chased him off he started a fight with me in front of the girls. On this day he was sporting a Golden State Warriors jersey that was a big snug around the belly - and his bald dome was bright red because while Captain America was defending Lady Liberty's honor the previous day, he forgot to wear sunscreen.
This is the guy who after the match out loud in front of our Onsala hosts said he was not going to go to their training grounds and accept their hospitality because NO ONE would tell him the exact plan. That is until he was told to get in a car and then he accepted because "I'm the first one!". That guy wouldn't shut his pie hole.
So yah, Alyssa saw that. I'm the best dad ever now. It was no contest.
So really, as annoying at it got last Tuesday with the walking penis, I just look back and laugh. I mean honestly, what would I have to tell fun stories about without that guy.
All in all a great time. The girls did extremely well. The games were fun. The atmosphere even better. Alyssa will never forget the entire thing and she goes home very happy. She just came in to wish me good night this one last time for this trip...and she said "I really had a great time....thank you so much!"
Maybe we'll be back... maybe not, but we were blessed to experience it all.
One...two ...three... USA!!!
I've been jumping around a bit on the blog trying to catch up. I was glad to get the Bruges blog done - definitely loved my time in Bruges. I think one highlight I did not mention in that post was spending time at those amazing and spiritual sites with Alyssa. Last time we traveled to Europe two years ago we did not hit up too many cathedrals, etc. The kids were just not old enough to really stand much of that. In fact I recall missing Notre Dame in Paris altogether and we had maybe an hour in the Louvre only because they knew what the Mona Lisa was.
Two years on and Alyssa knew I was excited to see a few cathedral and relics and art. She at first wasn't seemingly up for it - was going to join her Aunty Rosie and cousin Simone shopping but I think between my puppy dog eyes and her thinking it through, she decided to come with me to see the Bruges Madonna. And she loved it.
The more I could tell her about it, its history, its importance, the artist, the Nazi theft, the recovery, the fact that this had happened right where we were standing in the middle of the night and soldiers died trying to prevent it... I think it helped become real for her.
After that she was happy to step inside most of these churches with me and I think has started to appreciate the art in-situ and the treasures God has given us to bestow.
Anyhow, with Gothia Cup over for us in a sad and frustrating manner - we found ourselves with this odd dilemma of what to do for the next 4 days. Originally I had figured that if the tournament ended early for us, we'd possibly move on to Oslo or Copenhagen or Stockholm - but I think we were all eager to see Gothenburg a bit more and had not had any chance to see the attractions. What we never counted on was the friendships developed.
This is ultimately what made Gothia Cup so special. We made really good friends first with our own
team - the folks from Redding - The Littau family, the Salado family, the Laeber family, and our paisans from Weed, the Lemos family. I got to know Coach David and his family a bit better including his wonderful son Joe. In spending time with both David and Mike L - I grew to respect these fellow coaches all the more. So suddenly seeing Oslo or Copenhagen or wherever was not as important as spending quality time with these folks.
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| The Redding Crew - final night together |
ONSALA BK
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| Onsala BK1 with team NorCal |
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| Alyssa and Ally with new friends |
Jonas having dinner... I mean of COURSE WE DID. I started to say "Jonas is everywhere". Truthfully, he wanted to make sure we were okay and having a good time. He's become a friend.
 |
| There is Jonas in the Tigers hat |
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Jonas leading the language game
at the Onsala training grounds
|
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| Team Onsala BK 1 and 2 with Team NorCal |
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| An Unexpected Gift |
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| Beach time in Onsala |
JITEX
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| In the Jitex stands |
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| Pre-game handshake |
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| It was pouring! |
Jitex fed us and made us feel welome to Sweden... and in the end we spent a day with them at Liseberg amusement park. Many thanks to Jitex - another group of great friends.
I sure hope we can get both or either Jitex and Onsala to come play in California next summer. I'll keep pushing. Maybe it will happen.
 |
| HURRY UP AND TAKE THE PICTURE!! |
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| Post game and meal group picture |
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| Selfie-bonding |
What to say about Gothia Cup.
It is a great experience. Teams should go if they can.
The tournament is very high profile and some amazingly talented teams come. But in the end the trophy and the honors of a championship take a backseat to the cultural experience and the celebration of youth sports. The entire city is filled with youth teams... everywhere you go a team walks by all in their matching sweats or t-shirts or jackets or hats or whatever. They carry their nation's or club's flag. They sing. They chant. They are proud to show who they are and where they are from. But then they stop and say hello. "HELLO AMERICA!" we'd hear quite often. "Hey Hey USA!!" and they'd smile. Only a few asked about Trump...and then laughed. But they love to see we are here too competing and joining in.
You saw may comments about the team we lost to from San Mateo. You can say it is sour grapes. It is not. I did not expect our girls to win all three opening round games. In my wildest imagination I did not expect us to blow through those teams scoring 13 and only conceding 1 (to our friends from Onsala). We had no clue who we were going to face, but in the week leading up to the tournament Coach David, Coach Mike and I shared videos we found on YouTube or club websites of our opponents. "Oh shit" was a comment sentiment. But we never told the girls. Youth players approach games as games. Nothing more or less. Black and white... you win or you lose. But going into it they don't think about odds or chances. They think it they play hard and well, they'll win. Onsala is a good club. Maybe not the highest ranks at home, but a good club. Stureby from what we hear is a good club. Orjersjo was supposed to be the easiest. They played us damned hard and ended up advancing far in the "B" playoffs. These are not pushover teams. As Coach David said all along, we had a darn good team and it showed.
Reflecting back on the San Mateo game - when it all crashed down in the first five minutes and how it crashed down - it is sad. But not enough to ruin the experience. The saddest part is not losing. Whatever. If I saw that team two weeks from now at the El Dorado Hills tournament that Lady Outlaws will be at, I wouldn't have a bad thing to say to them. Nope. What bothered us all was the way it happened and the different character that game took compared to the ones leading up to it. Gothia Cup was about bringing the world together through the celebration of youth football. Players were genuinely excited and happy to meet each other. Until we played San Mateo. They were rough, they were serious, they broke the rules of soccer and kept on stomping. The parents justified it. The coaches accepted it. It was everything Gothia Cup was not. That is why it hurt. That is why it was so shocking. That is why a day later we were still wondering what to do and was there really no more soccer?
But it is over. I look at the week in two phases - Gothia Cup soccer and the aftermath. Gothia Cup soccer leading up to that playoff game was all I had hoped it would be for Alyssa. She played great. She made plays that I am not sure anyone really appreciated on her team. Sure she did not score, but she set two up and set up a ton of opportunities more that her team mates could not finish. I am so proud that she shined on a big stage.
It was all I had hoped for her from a cultural experience - making friends from Sweden and also other California clubs. She learned to accept things unfamiliar to her a bit more and the world just got a little bit smaller for her and that is good.
It provided her a chance to see the ugly side of youth sports - not just San Mateo - but even the walking penis of a dad we had on our team. Captain American was his first nickname, I started calling him Captain Asshole or Captain Penis or just about anything else. He's the kind we all know - can't just support and be part of the team... nope has to be known. Has to be heard. Always knows everything. That guy claimed to be the authority on a million things - conversations would start with "Believe me...I know... I was once..." I heard him claim to be a subject matter expert on: sharks, surfing, crab fishing, weather, Swedish cuisine, USA soccer songs, World Cup history, the playing style of teams none of us had ever seen, the roster legitimacy of San Mateo's club, Gothenburg, and many many many more things. This guy started out strong and by the end even his most trusted fellow Davis parents had grown quite tired of him.
You couldn't miss Captain America. Oh no, he showed up day one in a USA soccer jersey, American flag draped over himself like a cape and singing songs he thought were well known USA soccer songs... except he was getting them all wrong. Remember the women's world cup team USA chant from two years ago? "I believe that we will win..." We barely set a foot outside of the tram on day one of Gothia Cup and he starts to yell as loud as he can "I believe we CAN win...." all in the wrong cadence. Then admonished the girls for not joining in. They tried to correct him, but they were wrong because... because he is Captain America and he knows all.
I have no problem with that enthusiasm, but I do have issue when we are up 4-0 with a few minutes to go in our opening game playing on the first field you see when you arrived at Kviberg soccer complex. Get this visual... there are 25 fields at Kviberg and the park extends beyond where we were by a good mile and half with the one way in and out...all walking. So there 50 teams playing at any one time and another 50 awaiting their match and another 50 leaving... and all are walking past our field. And they see us first, and they see the scoreboard indicating 4-0, and Captain America has walked up onto the hill overlooking our field where all are walking by, draped in his American flag cape and he is yelling as loud as he can "I BELIEVE WE'RE GONNA WIN!!" over and over and over. This is against a Swedish team that started the match by shaking our hands and ended the match with a public gesture thanking us for the match. And we've got Steve Roger's biggest fan prancing around and boasting about winning.
 |
| Captain America |
This is the guy who after the match out loud in front of our Onsala hosts said he was not going to go to their training grounds and accept their hospitality because NO ONE would tell him the exact plan. That is until he was told to get in a car and then he accepted because "I'm the first one!". That guy wouldn't shut his pie hole.
So yah, Alyssa saw that. I'm the best dad ever now. It was no contest.
So really, as annoying at it got last Tuesday with the walking penis, I just look back and laugh. I mean honestly, what would I have to tell fun stories about without that guy.
All in all a great time. The girls did extremely well. The games were fun. The atmosphere even better. Alyssa will never forget the entire thing and she goes home very happy. She just came in to wish me good night this one last time for this trip...and she said "I really had a great time....thank you so much!"
Maybe we'll be back... maybe not, but we were blessed to experience it all.
One...two ...three... USA!!!
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Gothia Cup 2017 - Davis Alliance "Team NorCal" G12
Coaches Left to Right: Mike Littau, Joe Zoldak, David Zoldak
Back row: Charlotte Macauley, Reagan Salado, Alyssa Rizzardo, Ally Littau, Simone Kirkland, McKenna Clifford, Elly Heskett
Front Row: Sarah Pritchard, Corryn Lemos, Jayda Johnson, Marisa Zoldak, Makyna Laeber
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