Today was all about busing and soccer.
We left The Compound early for Prague, to face Slavia Prague, currently the top club in the country. After a few hours on the bus, we got to the southeast outskirts of the city, where Slavia has built a new stadium and has six training fields.
On the way in, Dr Dan spoke about how to prepare to play. Bad traffic presented a teachable moment about dealing with adversity (possibility of arriving late) and controlling the controllables. Dr Dan also spoke on nutrition and the impact various foods would have on performance.
The facility was great and sat on the same grounds as the pro hockey club, HK Slavia Prague. After overcoming the language barrier, we were shown to the locker room and begun preparations.
The 94s played well in spurts, but quickly learned a valuable lesson: top teams finish opportunities if given the most slim of chances. Soon we were creating our own chances, but unable to convert and gave up the second goal. Our effort was decent, but we were unable to recover against a top level opponent and finished down 5-0.
The 95s played well in the second game, creating and finishing two early opportunities. Quickly thereafter, Slavia brought on two very skilled center mids, who began to create problems. A few adjustments enabled us to get two more goals before the half-time whistle. The second half saw us score another goal and quickly quell any attack, guaranteeing the 5-0 victory.
Following the game, our gracious host gave us a personalized tour of the year-old stadium, which is very modern and clean, fit for any team in the world. The stadium is very intimate, with no fences and the stands very close to the field, which Andre feels gives them a major home-field advantage. We started at the field level, with a brief tour of the visitor's locker room; the host locker room is off limits to anybody not connected to the team.
Andre, our tour guide, is the Director of Media Relations for the club and a lifelong fan. He told a brief history of the club, focusing on how the communists forced the club to change their name and colors, as it was not a club for the people. With the departure of communist rule, the name and colors were returned and the long process of rebuilding the club took hold. Winning replaced by wallowing (and a berth in the Champions League, with a quick exit following a 7-0 drubbing by Arsenal). The boys were allowed to walk out the tunnel to field level (although not allowed on the field), just like the pros! All eyes were wide, in awe of stepping out of a first class clubhouse onto one of the finest fields any of the boys have ever seen!
Our tour continued up to the VIP section and further up to the restaurant/disco, where the players and staff are available to the media before and after every game.
Andre was nice enough to answer many questions, many of which were very educational for the boys in what it means to be a pro (training, diet, rules, salary, etc).
It was a great tour and very gracious of Slavia to give us this opportunity. The boys were then set free in the fan shop!
We then went to dine at the home of Slavia's bitter rival, and more famous club, Sparta Prague, where the girls were playing. However, we were sent to the 'new' stadium downtown and had to find our way to the training facility, which sits inside the world's second largest sports stadium (Indy Speedway being the first), Strahov Stadium. Strahov seats 220,000 people. The infield now housed 8 training fields (yep, full size), a club house, offices and a parking lot. Amazingly, all this is inside a stadium - I am unable to describe the immensity of this place - google it, you will be impressed. Sparta currently use this facility as a training ground for their youth, women and reserves.
We are now sitting still in traffic on our way home. We hope to be back to the compound around 11:30 (it is now 9), as we have been invited to meet with the Mayor of Kyov and local press in the morning before we head to training and a group dinner with some of the FC Slovacko youth players.
A very long, but highly productive day comes to a close and a day of rest and rejuvenation await before we depart for Slovakia and Austria.
The boys are all doing very well and gaining experiences and appreciations that will undoubtedly help mold their lives.
Until Tomorrow ...
