Vanessa Currie: What Happened in Vegas, Can't Stay in Vegas

Coming out champions of the MSUB Desert Stinger Tournament and an 8-0 team record for the season, I couldn’t have felt any better! I could see confident energy radiating throughout the whole team and our offensive performance rallied throughout the lineup. But things took a turn for the worse this past weekend.

I thought for sure that our performance from Las Vegas would carry over to our first CCAA series vs. Cal State Monterey Bay, but it looked like a whole different team out there in all four games as we came out flat, no energy, looking unsure on defense and defeated at the plate on offense. We had plenty of opportunities to move runners around and hit them in, to either tie or go ahead in all three games that we lost, but we just couldn't string any hits together to make it happen. CSUMB capitalized on our defensive errors and our weaknesses that we showed at bat, ultimately making them more successful.

I thought that splitting almost every series last year was frustrating, but losing our first home CCAA series was the most upsetting feeling after coming in so confident. Not only was I upset with the three losses and how we played as a whole, but I was really disappointed in my individual performance. As one of the captains, I know that I have many different responsibilities as a leader, but the one I want to pride myself the most in this year is leading by example because we have so many underclassmen. I understand that I am not always going to perform as well or better than I had the prior weekend and I know that everyone has bad games, but learning to be a “gamer” as Coach Mac (assistant coach Trisha McCormick) says will make you a scrappy player even on your off days and help build momentum for your team. But this past weekend is over and there is no way to press re-play... so after taking Sunday to really reflect on the weekend and having a captains practice and team meeting on Monday, I know this talented team will bounce back to our ability and accomplish our season goal of taking at least 3 out of 4 from each CCAA team in order to win ourselves a conference title.

Although Cal State East Bay has never been one of the stronger conference teams, you can never take any CCAA team lightly. Going into this weekend, our team goal is to take all four games of the series to put us back on top. We will come out strong and confident while remembering that softball is such a mental sport, it is crucial that we recognize that our individual performances are not for ourselves, but that they determine the outcome of the team.

Taylor Vigil: The Fight Through Adversity

First I would like to apologize for not being able to make my blog posts consistent, keeping all of you following fans updated like I would have liked to. However, as the saying goes, better late than never. Again I am sorry to have kept all of you "anticipators"waiting, but I hope this blog will make up for the ones I have failed to post.

I believe the last time I left off, I spoke about “The Right First Steps” and we were underway to play the Humboldt State Lumberjacks in late November. Now three months later, the women’s basketball team holds a record of 8-12. Having overcome a huge win against the Chico State Wildcats at Chico was a tremendous accomplishment for the Seawolves, who had not beat the Wildcats at home since 2002.

Throughout my four years playing, I have realized that in this league, anything is possible no matter what the match-up may be; one should never underestimate their opponent and be ready and alert to play any team, any player and at any place. It is what makes this conference that much more enthralling to know the outcome is always unexpected. With that being said, on the other hand, the outcome I find tend to be what you put in before the end result comes. For a team that works the hardest on and off the court, takes care of the little details and ensures their team and them as a player have a vengeance and passion to never give up whether in the practice situation or game situation. Now that does not mean the harder you work the more likely things shall be handed to you. We are in an environment of competition and that is what makes the game a challenge we love to tackle down.

I have learned that throughout this season, no team can escape adversity- and well, the Seawolves have been a victim of adversity. Whether it be injury or sickness or even having to deal with the stressors from day to day that simply make it life. As a result we have learned the term “bounce.” A common term used in the locker room after any game we have lost has been a term that has seemed to carry over in our daily lives on and off the court as a team. Down to the final stretch of the season, we have learned that we are a support system that thrives on one another and if we want to be successful, we have to want success for our teammates before we can want it for ourselves. We have learned that we have to want it for our teammate ahead and behind us- from the bench to the floor, in order to really be called a success. We have done just that and have come a long way since.

Now when I say success I do not mean by the number of games won compared to the games lost. I simply mean doing the things we have talked about and gone over and played the game to the best of our capabilities as a player and teammate. If you have done all that you can by working hard and being all that you could have been by bringing all your talents to the table with pride, heart and urgency then the final numbers on the score board is not what makes your success positive or negative. It is simply your effort driven with a purpose relative to your teammates and the accomplishments made in the process. Of course as a player, I want nothing more than to win- who wouldn’t? Yet aside from that the true moments of pure happiness come from the simply great defensive plays that turn into steals, that turn into great passes, that turn into great execution and great baskets made which all then have a domino effect for every possession. The one great rebound, the hustle play, the perfect pass, to the most amazing three point shot are the possessions of bliss. The Seawolves have learned that it is no longer about one but about many working together as one. Our success has not just been by the five players working out on the floor but every person from the bench to the floor. The rebound that lead to a pass that lead to a shot are the successful plays the Seawolves have learned to make consistently.

The game against San Bernardino will be a battle between two aggressive teams. I know the focus for the Seawolves lies within us and what we can do to be successful. This game is has a lot on the line for the Seawolves. If we win, we are entered into the playoffs, but if we lose then we are automatically out at having a shot at the playoffs. For our team, however, we understand that this is an opportunity for our seniors they will never get back. The sense of urgency becomes greater- from a freshman to a senior. We have all the tools it takes to be the dictator of the game. We have discovered it is want to over have to that will get the job done. After persevering through adversity we plan to go to great measures in fighting for the W. Regardless of what happens I have full faith that we will fight and deploy all we can to have a shot at the playoffs.

We all are many but together we form one ready to fight side-by-side 'till the final buzzer sounds. Be sure to come out and support your lady Seawolves!! The game is at The Wolves' Den TONIGHT @ 5:30pm!! And thank you again for all your support.

Vanessa Currie: Finally Show Time

“Success happens when preparation meets opportunity.” -Henry Hartman

Entering my Junior season full of excitement, kickoff nerves and high expectations for both myself and the team I would love to share the inside scoop to softball with fans, friends, family and fellow student athletes! After the most mentally draining fall, with our roster dwindling down from 21 to 15 I couldn’t be happier to finally start season with the most dedicated girls who stuck out the heavy conditioning, weights and long practice hours to prepare for go time.

With initial nervous feelings all through fall about this spring season and going in with the mind set that it was going to be somewhat of a “re-building year” because of all the new teammates we had acquired, our first games against Academy of Art proved to me otherwise. This year we have 6 freshman and 2 transfers, with 7 out of the 8 battling it out for starting positions at second, shortstop and third base. They all knew that they had such big shoes to fill since we graduated some of the CCAA’s best infielders and hitters last year, and already I am so proud of them for stepping up and taking on such big roles so early in their collegiate years.

Saturday pre-game started off emotional as we dedicated the game to the recent passing of Jim Ledford, the father of former second baseman Kayla Ledford, for he was a number one fan and so much a part of our Seawolf softball family. I also shared a few words on the behalf of my friend and former high school teammate Bree Williams who was a top incoming pitcher this year for Academy of Art, but who’s life was taken this past summer only weeks before she was about to start her first collegiate season. Although I started to choke up as my little speech about the two of them came to an end, I remembered that game time was minutes away, and by thinking that today my teammates and I were going to play our best for Jim & Bree put me back into my competitive mode. I couldn’t have been happier with the teams all around performance as we kept our energy, pitching, defense and offense up throughout the doubleheader and came back from behind in both games. I am also very happy with the fact that we scored in multiple different innings, since that is a big goal of ours this year in order to score consistently throughout the game instead of get ahead and flatline or not get any runs on the board until the last innings. After kicking off the season as a 2-0 team, we celebrated at our 2nd annual Karaoke Night fundraiser in the Commons and it was a great time! Parents, family, athletic staff, friends, alumni and our signed recruits for next year along with their parents partook in the singing, games, raffles, silent auctions, food and drinks to complete the successful Saturday.

This weekend we take our first trip to the Desert Stinger tournament held in famous Las Vegas, Nevada! This will be a good test for us as we compete against and scout 28 other top contending DII schools from all over the U.S, who’s same goal is to be the 2012 National Champions. Please follow us online and wish us luck throughout our next 5 games this weekend, thank you!

Taylor Vigil: The Right First Steps

Welcome fans, family and friends!! If you have been following Sonoma State women’s basketball, then I am sure you have been excitingly informed of our victory in overtime over the Colorado Mesa Mavericks with a 55-54 score on Saturday. Your support for our team has been greatly appreciated and speaking on behalf of the team and coaching staff, we only hope to see you in the near future at our upcoming home games!!

Starting this season off on the right foot has been key for our team collectively. In my last blog I talked momentarily about where success began for us and how the foundation, aka our pre-season, is vital. It is something to build on in hopes to potentially reach our destiny and it showed on Saturday that by building on everything we have worked for, victory becomes a reality.

Saturday's win over the Mavs felt immense. It was not until Saturday night that I recall back to the time during in pre-season when, not only my teammates, but my coaches constantly reminded me that with hard work comes reward. The times of hard training and conditioning, the times of working so hard that you had to look to your teammate beside you to try and pull that second wind out of you to go on, and the times of realizing how important it is to take care of the ‘little details’, that I realized and felt those times paid off. Apart of this reward of winning through hard work and perseverance to never quit, was the simplest fact that I was endowed with this win alongside my teammates and coaches. They were the people who helped me get to this point in time, who helped me push myself to get to gain such an accomplishment like beating the Mavs, who helped me to allow the mistakes of the game only be used as my incentive to bounce back and be a difference within the next play and who helped me instill the confidence that I needed to do so.

The wins we have accomplished and, especially the win over the Mavs, was never about one individual, nor one individual for one play; it was about all five individuals out on the floor working through each possession together. It was about the bench working as a unit talking about the flow of the game, being engaged in the game by cheering on their sisters, and by using words of encouragement to help them realize what needs to be done on the offensive end as well as the defensive end. It was about the coaches who helped us get set up in the right positions and who gave us the confidence to know we would, and could, be successful during the times we were. It was about the fight we had together to never give up for 40 minutes. This team has had a small taste in just a short time of what it is like to not only ‘talk’ about being successful, but actually become successful.

Before every game I like to write some words of encouragement to my teammates to remind them about what our main focus was on during the past week in practice. I let them know that myself, as well as the other girls on the team and the coaches all believe in them and that they are capable of bringing their talents to life during the game. This last game, I used a basketball quote by an unknown author to start off my letter. The quote says:

“Love the game. Love the game for the pure joy of accomplishment. Love the game for everything it can teach you about yourself. Love the game for the feeling of belonging to a group endeavoring to do its best. Love the game for being involved in a team whose members can't wait to see you do your best. Love the game for the challenge of working harder than you ever have at something and then harder than that. Love the game because it takes all team members to give it life. Love the game because at its best, the game tradition will include your contributions. Love the game because you belong to a long line of fine athletes who have loved it. It is now your legacy. Love the game so much that you will pass on your love of the game to another athlete who has seen your dedication, your work, your challenges, your triumphs and then that athlete will, because of you, love the game.”

I used this quote as a metaphor to implant this idea in my sisters that we are a team just like any other team out there, working for a common goal and doing what we love. With that, I went onto say that while mistakes are bound to happen throughout the game, it is how well we deal with those mistakes. It is our “love for the game” that takes away the possessions of frustration and miscommunication. Our love of the game is what brings us to where we are now, our love of the game allows us to compete and have this sense of urgency to simply get the job done and it is our love of the game that allows us to never quit on ourselves or one another and it is our love of the game that lead us to victory. I am so proud of my teammates for everything they have done, been doing and helped me with. I only look forward to what the future brings.

I hope all of you fans stay tuned for more information regarding SSU women’s basketball and come watch us play at our next home games. But, be sure to check us out when we travel to Humboldt to play the Lumberjacks on November 26!!

Taylor Vigil: A New Season, A New Opportunity, A New Family

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Junior guard Taylor Vigil of the Sonoma State women's basketball team will be writing for the Seawolves' Insider Blog all season long. Be sure to check out her posts here to get an insider's perspective into the life of a student-athlete at Sonoma State.)

Hello everyone. Let me start off by saying thank you for tuning into the Seawolves' Insider Blog!

Returning as a redshirt junior on the women's basketball team, I am excited as any one of my fellow teammates to get this 2011-2012 season started. Upon arrival, myself and eight crucial returning players are ecstatic to have an additional three transfer teammates, as well as three incoming freshman to begin this new season on our road to success. With these six incoming enforcers, we were grateful enough to have our senior from the previous year, Olivia Larkin, be one of our new student assistant coaches. With the departure of Annie Roeser, a great and fun-loving assistant coach also from the previous year, we were lucky to have our newest edition to our coaching staff, Amanda Hanneman. A former player from Missouri has transformed into becoming an assistant coach on the Cali side.

Our pyramid to success has started with only a few important building blocks; the foundation, aka, our pre-season. This starting path to our journey has encountered many familiar concepts along with some new, different and exciting training drills on behalf of the conjoining forces of Coach Rigby and Coach Hanneman. To the point in which the whole concept of conditioning and intensity has been uplifted to a whole new level: BEASTMODE! This level called ‘Beast Mode’ has been the perfect ingredient to Sonoma State women’s basketball. Precision, persistence and consistency have been our focus, in link with weight lifting, condition and actual practices. This new year is one that I feel to be an exceptional one filled with many opportunities in seeking our goal and, soon enough, reaching it.

While the season is only on the edge of taking off, who says you cannot dream big? Success has a re-defined meaning for this team; it is as John Wooden once stated, “a peace of mind as a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to becoming the best you are capable of becoming.”

Kicking the year off with our first exhibition game against Cal State San Marcos with a W and a locker room chant after the final buzzer (“check ya Cougars”) was a great feeling for our first step toward success. Yet, this game, as well as every other practice from that point on, is a building block we view as a lesson to learn from (regardless of the win) and be cautious of the road ahead.

Collectively, this team, from the players to the coaches, everyone is motivated, confident and eager to see what the future holds. The upside to the future is also known as our destiny, which is held in our hands. Consciously knowing the work that needs to get done is our ambition to stay motivated and always bring out the faith and fight we have within ourselves, but more importantly one another. This team is not just fellow peers that have come together to play basketball. Myself, along with 14 others, are fully capable to look to one another and see more than a teammate, but a friend and a sister. That is just one of the many greatest gifts a team can have that makes them so special.

This team expects many great things this year and with our newest additions, there is no doubt in my mind those ‘great things’ cannot become a reality.

Be sure to follow us online at Sonomaseawolves.com and stay tuned for more news in the near future about our team. Thank you for your support and interest! Also, be sure to watch us tonight at Santa Clara @ 7 pm, and then against Menlo on Thursday @ 7 pm in Rohnert Park.

Update From Europe: The Ajax Way and van der Sar's testimonial

Coach Ziemer and his Seawolves are spending two weeks in Europe to train before the 2011 season begins. The trip is also an opportunity for team members and coaches to learn about the rich cultural heritage of Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Coach Ziemer was kind enough to send us his journal entries from the trip...


Tuesday, August 2

I forgot to mention that on Monday, August 1 before we went to Ajax, we went to watch the first team of ADO den Haag train.  They train at Zuiderpark in Den Haag, which is where the first team stadium used to be.  They tore down three sides of the stands, but the main stand is still there and they train on the former game field, which is beautiful.  The youth complex of ADO is adjacent and the area is a bit run down, but due for a major renovation in the near future as soon as the economy picks up.  ADO's next game is Thursday, so we were interested in seeing what type of training they would have.  They are in the second round of the Europa League and they lost in Cypress to Nicosia 0-3 the week before, which meant that they had a big mountain to climb in the return game on Thursday.  The team came out and knocked the ball around and then they went off the field to a small side pitch to do their running so that they wouldn't tear up the nice field. The coach proceeded to talk to the team for nearly 40 minutes, while we just sat in the bleachers and watch from 70 yards away.  They then warmed up, did some running with speed ladders and cones and flags and then played a little Rondo (keep away) before heading back to the game pitch.

For the actual training, they did a great little passing exercise, and then they played 6v6 with GK's on a 40 x 40 yd field with 1 minute games with high intensity an then 1 minute rest.  The training seemed to lack sharpness and urgency, which is the opposite of what I preach to my SSU players.  Luckily we are going to Ajax the next day so that we can see the difference.

The next day we woke up and headed to Toekomst (the future), which is the where the youth of Ajax and the professional team train.  Several years ago when we used to watch the first team train, they used to train right next to the Ajax Arena and the youth teams would train about a half mile away at Toekomst, but there was a disconnect between the youth and professional side of the club so they moved the pros over to the youth complex.  Mind you, it is a pretty unbelievable complex with at least eight fields, locker rooms and a huge club house and canteen and a stadium that seats 5,000 people.  The field that they used to train at has been turned into a parking lot!

In Holland (and actually most countries in Europe and the rest of the world for that matter!) soccer is organized differently.  The game is built around clubs with each club having youth teams and a first team which, depending on the level of the club, could be professional or amateur or both.  Nearly all of the clubs also have fields and a club house with a restaurant and bar and locker rooms and meeting rooms.  Even some of the small clubs that we have been to, for example Escamp where were are training, have a beautiful game stadium with seating and sponsor boards around it and then they also have several training fields, some of which are usually artificial turf.  Escamp also has 12 locker rooms so that they can handle a large number of teams at once and upstairs they have their offices and a bar/restaurant with a balcony that over looks the game field.  They play at a low level, but they have a beautiful complex that 99% of all youth clubs in the US would love to have and they also have a first team.  Players play for the club as youth players and when they turn 19, they can play for the first team or adult team, but if they are better than the level they can move to a higher level club, for example Quick den Haag, which is amateur or ADO den Haag, which is a professional club that plays in the Dutch first division.  But I digress!

The Ajax players came out and warmed up with the conditioning coach and they did all kinds of movement prep, jumping and coordination, running with a harness while teammate connected to a teammate who offered some resistance for strength training.  Once they got warm, the did some abdo work with the ball and some basic skills with the ball before settling into a great passing exercise.  The training was a lot sharper than at ADO and it was great for our players to see.  We constantly coach our guys to pass the ball harder, but after watching Ajax train, they now understand exactly what we mean!  It helps that the head coach is Frank de Boer (former Ajax and Barcelona great) and his assistant is Dennis Bergkamp! (former Ajax and Arsenal star)!

After the passing, they quickly moved onto goal and played a 2v2 game in the penalty box with a gk behind the 2 defenders and two counter goals for the defensive team to attack when they won the ball.  It was very quick and intense and there were come great goals.  They built it up to 3v3, 4v4 and finally 5v4. They cooled down and then some players stuck around to hit some shots.  It was also a treat that Edwin van der Saar was training with Ajax that day.  He was in town for his testimonial game at the Ajax Arena the following day.  The game is sold out, but luckily Jay van Veelen arranged for tickets several weeks ago so everybody is able to go.

Later that day we had two games.  In the first game we played SV Erasmus and although it was a little sloppy, we won 3-2 on two goals from Justin Ferreira and a goal from Brandon de la Cruz.  We moved the ball well and created a lot of chances and could have won by more if we had finished some sitters.  

 In the second game, we played Oranje Wit and they were impressive. They were all pretty skinny, but very quick and decisive and they know how to play the 1-4-3-3 and how to play against it.  They really pressed us and it took us a little while to settle in.  Once we did the game was back and forth and very exciting to watch.  The first goal was unfortunate because they had the ball and Ebby Lombardi had some blood on his face and the referee waved him off the field in the run of the play and everyone was momentarily distracted and we lost our concentration and they scored.  We came right back and Taylor Varnadore scored to tie it up.  They scored right before half to make it 2-1, which was disappointing.  In the second half they scored again to make it 1-3 and then again to make it 1-4.  We regrouped and Varnadore scored again and Brian Angel scored on a brilliant free kick to make it 4-3 with about 5 minutes left.  We had several chances to score and in the last minute we had a corner kick and pushed everybody up and they cleared it and countered and one of their strikers scored a brilliant goal from forty yards.

In Holland they have a particular way of playing.  Most teams play a 1-4-3-3.  They play ball possession soccer and they try to press and win the ball back right away when they lose it.  If you have seen our SSU Men's team play, we play the same way.  We have been bringing Frans Hoek and his Dutch staff over to the US for camps for 16 years and my brothers and I have traveled to Holland to learn for the last 12-15 years.  Every team we played was very organized and could move the balls and play well as a team.  Teams that were less athletic than us were very tough because they know how to pressure and make it difficult, but then they have the ball they work together to move the ball.  When we pressed them up the field, if one guy was late to shift and mark then they would find the open player right away.  Even when we had great pressure on the ball and our players were well positioned they would play back to their goal keeper and he would collect the ball and play a 50 yard ball to the weak side wing.  We had moments of looking the same, but it was hard for us to keep it up for 90 minutes.  It was a big eye opener for everyone, including the coaches.  It also shows us how far behind the United States is.  We headed back to the hotel to get some sleep so that we could enjoy the Van der Saar testimonial the next day.

Wednesday, August 3rd

We arrived at Ajax at 11:30am and the whole place was crazy. It was Ajax Open Day and there were activities all day.  There were clinics, an Old Timers game with past stars from Ajax playing against a team put together by the club's sponsor company, the Ajax Arena was open to look around, they introduced the 2011-12 Ajax team and it was followed by the Van der Saar testimonial game.  We brought Noma Lunch (deli meats, bread, fruit, potato salad and chips) so we met after a few hours and made plans.  A bunch of us went to watch the Ajax Old timers game and it was a lot of fun.  The Ajax old-timers beat the sponsor team 5-1 in front over 7,000 fans.  Overall there were 50,000 fans that turned out for the days events and that doesn't include the ones that showed up later for the Van der Saar testimonial.

We went into the Ajax Arena for the testimonial game.  As part of the festivities there were three games on the schedule.  The first was the Under 14's of Ajax against the U14's of Manchester United, the second was the 1995 Champions League team of Ajax against the 98 Dutch National team and the third was the current Ajax squad against an all-star team of players that had played with Van der Saar during his career..  

Van der Saar's son plays in goal for the Man U team and even though a lot of fans would show up later for the main games, there were at least 30,000 people cheering the boys on.  Man U went up 1-0 before Ajax came back to got ahead 2-1 and the game ended with a late Man U goal and a 2-2 tie, which seemed fitting.  The Man U team was bigger and very skilled individually with several outstanding players that caught the eye, while the Ajax team played brilliant football and seemed more tactically advanced.  Once they settled in, they dominated the last 3/4's of the game and would have won if not for the counter goal in the waning minutes.

The second game was incredible.  I won't name all of the players but Kluivert, Kanu, Finidi George, Rikyaard, Overmars, Danny Blind, the De Boer brothers and others (no Litmanen) played against the 98 team with Bergkamp, Cocu,  Zenden, Van Bronkhurst, Van Hoidonk, and de Jong and others.  Even though they were all older, it was a great game and the Arena was filling up and people were cheering and enjoying themselves.  The Ajax team was coached by Louis Van Gaal and the Dutch team was coached by Gus Hiddink.  For those of you that have been coming to the Hoek camps and clinics at SSU for a long time, both Frans Hoek and Gerrit van der Lem were brought onto the field with Van der Saar.

The final game was quite a spectacle. In Europe, after a top player retires their club throws a testimonial match and a bunch of their former teammates show up and play and in the old days when the players didn't earn much, it was a way for the club to raise some money for the retired player.  However, this time the money from the game was going to Van der Saar's nonprofit foundation.  They introduced the "Dream Team" and it included players from Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United, including, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Mark Vidic, Les Ferdinand, Phil Neville, Luis Saha, Michael Carrick, Edgar Davids, Dirk Kuyt, Hetiga and more.  The Allstars went up 1-0 before Ajax tied it up.  Dennis Bergkamp subbed in and even though he is in his early 40's, he got the ball wide and played a beautiful ball into Saha who layer it off and Bergkamp slotted it for the winning goal.  He must have loved to be back on the pitch again and the day before he was giving tips to the Ajax players at training and here he was scoring against them in front of 55,000 fans!  The hard core Ajax fans behind the goal kept serenading him during the game and he would turn around and wave and clap for them.

With about 8 minutes to go, the 4th official held up the substitute number with #1 on it and then the celebration started.  Van der Saar came jogging off of the field and all of the players came in and everybody started going crazy.  They brought his son out to take a penalty kick off of him and of course Edwin made the save and everybody was standing and cheering. The players lined up and they presented him with the European Cup that he had won with Ajax had won in '95 (I'm sure that he gave it back, but it was a symbolic gesture). His wife and son and daughter came out and he slowly walked around the field waving and thanking the crowed.  Everyone was yelling and cheering and people were even crying.  There were pockets of Man United fans singing Van der Saar songs in English and of course the Dutch and Holland fans kept singing for him.  The lead singer from Simply Red came out and sang "Holding Back the Years" while he walked around and when they showed him on the big video screen you could see him holding back the tears.  it was very emotional as 55,000 fans showed their love and appreciation for him.

When he finished circling the field, they gave him a microphone and he spoke for about 5 minutes.  It was in Dutch, but it was on national TV so Jay told me the next day that he had thanked a bunch of people and the fans and spoke a bit about his career.  After he left the field, we all filed out of the Arena and headed back to the vans to return to Den Haag.  What a day and I think that Ajax has 26 new fans!

Coach Ziemer's Update From Europe

Coach Ziemer and his Seawolves are spending two weeks in Europe to train before the 2011 season begins. The trip is also an opportunity for team members and coaches to learn about the rich cultural heritage of Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Coach Ziemer was kind enough to send us his journal entries from the first part of the trip...

Friday, July 29

This has been quite the tour! It seems like we haven't stopped moving since we got here. We arrived in Amsterdam on the morning of Friday, July 29. Our tour coordinator, Jay Van Veelen, met us at the airport and took the players and coaches back to the hotel. We are staying in Scheviningen, which is a beach town on the outskirts of Den Hague (The Hague), Holland. Our place is called The Skotel and it a hotel school that is closed for the summer so they rent out the dorms. It is in a great location and it is very reasonably priced, which is very important, especially with the weak dollar against the Euro! Basically 10 dollars will buy you 7 Euros, so everything is really expensive for us. The Skotel is also the same place that we stayed with the team in 2006 on our last Euro tour.

The first day we got settled in and then went to Escamp, a local soccer club and trained to loosen up and get the travel out of our legs. After training, we took the tram into downtown Den Haag and went to dinner. Afterwards we gave everyone a curfew and let them walk around down town before returning home on the tram. They key to surviving in Europe is to get on their sleeping patterns. We left SFO at 2:00pm and arrived in Amsterdam at 9:30am, but for us it was actually 12:30am, so everybody was tired. We didn't let anyone nap all day and they couldn't go to sleep before 10:00pm. We made it and went to bed and most of us were able to get to sleep.

Saturday, July 30

We woke up on Saturday and had breakfast in the hotel and then went to Escamp to train. We had a really sharp training because we had to prepare for games the following day. Although the guys were still a little jet lagged, the energy was good and everyone was in good spirits. The original plan was to go on a quick bike tour of Den Haag, but it started raining a bit and we had been going non-stop since we had arrived so we gave everyone a couple of hours of free time to get their lay of the land. We met in the lobby and piled into our four mini vans and drove to Breda for a friendly game between NAC Breda and Olympiacos, from Greece. We went to downtown Breda and had dinner before heading to the Rat Verlegh Stadium, where they play. It is a perfect soccer stadium and although there were only about 10,000 people at the game, it was very loud and the atmosphere was lively. The game was a little slow, with NAC Breda keeping the ball well, but not creating many chances. Olympiacos played a bit on the counter and went ahead 1-0. The game crept along until NAC subbed in Alex Schalk, a local product who led the Erie Divisie U19 age league in scoring the previous year and was sought after by several domestic and foreign clubs, Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen. He grew up in Breda and always wanted to play for the first team, so he stayed, but I am sure that we will hear from him again. Anyway, within minutes of subbing in, he scored a goal to tie it up and then then he scored the game winner with five minutes to go and the Breda fans went home happy. It is no secret that we play a Dutch Style of soccer with a 1-4-3-3, building up from the back and playing a possession game with wingers so it was great for our players to see NAC Breda play the same way. On the way back to the Skotel after the gam,e the players and coaches in each of the vans were talking about what we each noticed. It was a great learning experience and it will continue for the entire trip.

Sunday, July 31

Game day! We woke up and had breakfast at the Skotel and then headed to Quick den Haag, a local amateur club that has strong ties to Sonoma State Soccer. Beginning with Chirs Carniato living in Holland in the early 90's and attending the KNVB coaching school, many players played at Quick den Haag including Andrew Ziemer, Jeremy Sweet, Brett Cook, Mason Hill-Harrill, Carl Edwards, Eric Parish, Ross Middlemiss, Brandon Deshazier and former assistant coach Ian Mork. A good friend of ours, Pieter Fischer is our contact at Quick and we always feel very welcome there. We played two Quick teams and in the first game we started slow, going down 0-3 before we woke up and created a lot of chances. We didn't capitalize until the 80th minute when Brandon dela Cruz scored a nice goal and then Aaron Glover scored to make it 2-3 and we pressed for the equalizer. We though that we had it, but the linesman called offside and the game ended with a 3-2 loss. After 15 minutes we played well and if we had finished our chances we could have won by several goals.

In the second game we played very well and also created more chances than Quick. The game was back and forth and it looked like a heartbreaker when they scored with 5 minutes left, but Nico Spann scored shortly after, so the game ended up with a fair 1-1 draw. I was really happy with the way that we played, especially in the buildup and possession in the defensive and midfield thirds. In both games we need to be sharper in the attacking third, but we will continue to work on that.

After the game, they hosted a BBQ for us and we enjoyed a meal of steak, coleslaw, and potatoes with a nice dessert of ice cream, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Each of the clubs over in Holland have a stadium field, several training fields and locker rooms and a club house with a restaurant and canteen. The players and coaches from both teams were able to hang out and talk before, during, and after dinner and it was a great way to learn about other cultures. In Holland everyone speaks English so it was easy for everyone to socialize. It is funny, but if you ask someone in Holland if they speak English, they will actually say "of course"". It makes you feel kind of stupid for asking and I usually don't, I just ask the question in English and they answer!

After the game we returned to the Skotel and went to the beach for a mandatory session in the North Sea. The water is a little cold, but not nearly as cold as Bodega Bay! We made the players stay in for 15 minutes and the waves weren't bad so we 't actually had a good team body surfing contest. That evening we finally had some free time and we let the players walk around and eat dinner on their own.

Monday, August 1

On Monday, we trained at Escamp again and the players were pretty sore, but we got them loosened up and worked on finishing, hoping to improve on our poor shot to goal ratio from our first two games. After the training we showered and headed to Amsterdam to visit Toekomst, the home of Ajax FC, the top team in Holland. The training grounds are impressive with 8 fields (some turf and some grass) and a club house and canteen that looks over the training fields. We got a quick picture and saw Mike Massewinkle, a goalkeeper coach at Ajax that has come over a few times to work the SSU/Hoek Camp in the summer. He was excited to see us and we made plans to visit him again.

We parked the vans under the Ajax Arena and headed to Amsterdam on the train. We arrived at Central Station, gave the players some rules and a meeting time and everyone headed out for some sight seeing. Amsterdam is a beautiful city with the canals and old buildings and it a great walking city because it is so flat. Of course everyone knows about the red light district, but there is much more than that. The coaches didn't stop walking for four hours as we hit the Leidseplein, Rembrantplein, walked by the Van Gogh museum before circling back and walking through the red light district. It was day time so a lot of the curtains on the windows were closed, but it is still a must see for anyone visiting for the first time. We obviously have nothing like it and it is interesting to walk through and see a different culture at work. We met at 8:00pm and headed back to Den Haag. As expected, all of the players had worked their way through the red light and everyone had funny stories and experiences. Everyone fell asleep on the vans on the way home (except the coaches who were driving!) and we pulled into the Skotel and headed to bed.

We are getting ready to head to a game so I need to end here. I'm sorry that I am behind in the blog, but the schedule has been extremely hectic. We are at the Skotel for an hour or two here and there, but I have been shopping at the super market for lunch and some dinners to save money so it seems like I never have a moment. I will get caught up so that you can experience our trip with just a slight delay. The players are having a blast and learning a lot. As always, I have scheduled too much (games, watching professional teams train, Van der Sar's testimonial game and more!), but I figure that this is a once in a lifetime experience so we are going for it!