Reunion Party & Revoked Ambassador Status

Iceland gang will reunite at the Kathy and Ken's on Friday, September 16th 6:30p.  Thanks for hosting!

On a more serious note, I'm saddened to announce that Win Brandon's status as "Ambassador" has been revoked.  After considerable deliberation, it was decided that Win's failure and/or refusal to share his 1000+ photos justified an immediate demotion to "Assistant to the Assistant of Macy."  The Labeling Committee will consider reinstating Win if he chooses to cooperate with his sharing obligations.

There is further, yet so far unsubstantiated, suspicion that Win's "lost blog" post was perhaps a deliberate move on his part to avoid his blog posting responsibilities.  Nobody on the Labeling Committee ever saw his "draft" post that he claimed was lost to some mysterious "cyber" error.  Investigation is continuing.

Please be advised that the Labeling Committee has hired some highly regarded mercenaries to enforce Win's photo sharing responsibilities. The special operations team has been given full authority to use whatever measures necessary to persuade Win to cooperate ---- including gagging him and making him circulate at a cocktail party with the inability to engage in conversation with anyone.

Epiblog -- Greg's Top Ten

Here is my "Top Ten" for the trip:

10.  The "Wide Mouth Frog" Joke, told by none other than Mac Brandon.  

Thank you Mac for making me laugh day in and day out on this trip.

9.  Tim Putz.
We will never forget Tim's trash bag dance on Day 2 of the tournament --nor will any of our opponents.  Here's to Tim Putz, who kept us busting at the seams with his hilarious punch lines the whole trip -- except for that stressful moment when he swapped bags with some stranger at the shuttle stop. 

8.  The "Dance"
I'll never forget dancing like a fool and singing "Sweet Caroline" at the top of my lungs with Ken Peterson, Win Brandon, and Bill Ezell.  That band Rocked!  Who else can bust out Neil Diamond, Bob Marley, and all those traditional Icelandic folk songs.  I trust Win has deleted all incriminating photos from his digital camera!

7.  Sunburn
That's right…sunburn.  Erin and I put the fear of Mother Nature into our fellow travelers with warnings of rain, wind, rain, and more wind, and more rain.  After all the drama, it turns out we get nothing but beautiful sunshine. 

6.  Jack's Cheerleading
There's nothing better than starting a game with loud "U.S.A." chants in the background.  Jack's lead with all the marching cheers and Rush songs was awesome.  All the boys got into the spirit!

5.  Friends of Erin Parham
The success of this trip really had little to do with soccer and a whole lot to do with becoming closer friends with our group and experiencing all the sites and sounds of Iceland together.  We were blessed to travel with such a fun and caring group of parents and siblings.  Thank you to the entire group for pitching in and sharing all of the responsibilities along the way.

4.  Charlie's First Goal
The first goal of the tournament was scored by Charlie, just a few minutes into Game 1. As he ran back to midfield with his shirt over his head you could sense the relief felt by all of our players and spectators.  We had broken the ice and now we could move forward and enjoy playing and watching the game we love.  

3.  The Ambassador
Win Brandon could make friends with Helen Keller.  This guy talks to everyone, everywhere, and it was great.  Through Win's relationship building we became very well know to many of the other teams and chaperones across the island.  My favorite quote from Win:  "I love Soccer!"  shouted at the top of his lungs at the dance. I've sworn not to mention anything else he said at that place....

2.  Macy
Want to make trip planning look easy?  Have Macy do it.  Each time we had a tour, or a bus pick-up, or a new activity, Erin made sure that everything moved along like clock work.  My biggest fear heading into this trip was not being able to enjoy it due to the day-to-day management of everything involved.  Macy made it easy and enjoyable for everyone. 

1.  Playing with Character
On the championship day (day 3), I didn't give my usual pep talk.  I spoke to the boys about how much I have enjoyed coaching them for the last 2 1/2 years and what a privilege and honor it has been to coach such a positive, passionate, and talented group.  I presented the challenge for the day as striving to be the team that ends each game playing with the most character and confidence.  They knew that everyone would be looking on at the U.S. games and I wanted them to think about how wonderful it would be if they played with the most class, and the most confidence, no matter the score.   It was time to show off what they could do.   What I witnessed in the next four games was more than I could ever have asked for.  Thank you boys for giving everything you had and for playing fearless, attacking soccer.  You are my Champions!

Shellmotid: Perspective from the coach after Day 2 of the Tournament

Here I sit after day two of the tournament.  We've won all games but one and we are playing for the championship round.  I could not be more proud of our boys.  Despite their travel and adjustment to new rules of play, they are playing better than I had ever imagined possible.

The logistics of this tournament have been difficult for an english speaking coach, but I've gotten a lot of assistance.  Not only from Gudmundur in the U.S., but also from coaches here in Iceland.  Kalli from the KR club and Steinar from Throttur have been quite helpful.  Our friends at Grotta and Sulfoss have also pointed us in the right direction a couple of different times.  Of course Google translate has been invaluable. Each time I receive a tournament update via text message I try to get to the computer so that I can figure out what we're supposed to be doing next. 

The tournament involves much more than soccer.  We've had boat tours, bus tours, parades, indoor celebration games, a relay race, dances, and an all star exhibition game, all packed between regular games and meals.  Keeping track of when we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner has been tricky enough.  Add in all the other stuff and my head has been spinning.  I mentioned to one of the other coaches about the difficulty of keeping on track with schedules when I don't speak Icelandic.  He replied that it's next to impossible to keep on top of everything even when you speak the native language.  There are just an endless amount of activities.

Despite the non-stop activities, I've been lucky enough to travel with some wonderful parents.  All of them are passionate about soccer, but also very grounded with making sure this trip has as much to do with soccer as it has to do with a fantastic life experience.  I think this tournament provides a good glimpse into Icelandic culture.  Football is huge here, so experiencing Iceland from this angle is particularly meaningful.  There is no question that this tournament is about the kids.  I admire all of our parents for their willingness to compromise and put the needs of the boys first. 

Tonight after two full days of games I met with several of the club coaches at a tournament social.  With 5 wins and 1 loss in the bracket of the top teams, we've gotten noticed.  Several coaches remarked about our style of play being "individualistic."   This description was first delivered to me as a critique at the friendly game in Reykjavik.  Despite some wonderful play, we lost both scrimmages because we had not become adjusted to the tactics of the 7v7 game played in Iceland.  The no offside rule is a huge change for our boys, who are accustomed to stepping up to trap strikers offside.  When they stepped up in the scrimmages they were punished by easy through balls to strikers that would have normally been 10 yards offside.  Based upon a couple of comments from the Icelandic coaches and one of the tournament directors, I sensed that they felt our "individualistic" play was our downfall.  As we played more games in the tournament, however, the "individualistic" nature of our play received more and more accolades.   Coaches admired the skill at which many of our players could attack 1v1 and I discussed with several of the coaches the differences in training philosophy that Rush takes to create confident 1v1 players.  

One of the most interesting questions I received from an Icelandic coach was how much time we spent working on running in our trainings.  He and his coaching staff had assumed that we spent a lot of time teaching our players to run fast, and that it was also clear we had conditioned them.  I confessed to him that we rarely run in training without the ball and that living a mile above sea level might have something to do with our endurance.

At the same time some coaches admired our creative attacking and 1v1 skills, I took notice, and I think some of our players and parents also took notice, of the simplicity with which the Iceland boys approach the game.  We were beaten by a team today - Bradeblik, that moved the ball incredibly well with one, two and three touch soccer.  Most of their goals were simple tap-ins after beating our defense with quick, intelligent passes.  1v1 soccer is not absent from the Icelandic game.  It's just not quite as noticeable because they only dribble when it makes sense to dribble, where our team finds itself dribbling sometimes when a quick pass would be much more effective.  

Another difference with the Icelandic players was their ability to finish goals.  My observation was that it took our team twice the opportunities in and around the box to yield a goal versus the opportunities from some of the higher level Icelanders.  Their ability to finish one time balls from the outside was impressive. 

At the 7v7 level in Iceland the rules allow for pass backs to the goalie and the goalie can pick it up with his hands.  On goal kicks, the goalie also has ball in hand rather than kicking the ball from the goal kick.  My personal view, and the view shared by every Iceland coach I spoke with, was that the pass back rule actually hurts development.  They complained that the goalies do not learn enough about how to handle the ball with their feet because they never have to.  I observed that every team we played had a dedicated goalkeeper that played both halves.   Perhaps these players are unable to play any other position because they lack the foot skills. I prefer the no pass back rule in the U.S.

Tomorrow when they play for the championship they will be playing before many curious Icelandic coaches, spectators and players.  I confess that winning is nearly the last thing on my mind.  I so desperately want them to play confident creative soccer -- because that is why they are getting noticed.  As the games have gotten more and more difficult, the soccer has gotten more and more stiff.  The boys are playing less creatively and more fear is creeping in.  Of course this is natural, but I'm hoping that the play in the championship round is full of confident attacking soccer.  

Greg P.    June 24th

Last Day in Iceland

Today was our final day in Iceland. We started the day with a whale watching tour, which turned into a puffin island tour because of rough seas. We embarked on the planned 2 hour tour on the "fast boat", which cut through the waves & delighted the kids with amusement ride-like bounces and jolts. We were below deck because of the speed and waves and it looked like we were in a car wash as the waves hit the boat. We stopped at Puffin Island to view puffins on the rocks and in the water. We had a bit of excitement when Tim Putz inadvertently left a life jacket on deck, which immediately blew into the water (no child inside...whew). The captain notified us that we would have to turn back after Puffin Island because of the rough seas, but not before conducting a search & rescue for the life jacket. Thankfully, the life jacket was rescued in one piece and seemed no worse for the wear. Tim said he was making sure it worked......

After walking around the city and having lunch, the group headed to the airport for another Iron Maiden voyage. While the airline claimed the flight was on time, it was not meant to be....we knew things were amiss when the computer at the gate wasn't working & the line to board the plane was backed up for what seemed like miles. Then we sat & watched the ground crew close the baggage hatch, open it again, and unload about 40 pieces of baggage while they searched for one bag, which was eventually removed and picked up by the guy in the orange vest w/ the van. One hour, 45 minutes after scheduled take-off, we eventually were airbourne and ready for our 5hour, 25 minute flight. We arrived without incident in Newark and eventually managed to take the hotel shuttle to the hotel....blurry eyed & weary, we arrived at the hotel at approximately 11pm local time, which was the end of our Iceland portion of the trip. We head back to Denver tomorrow, Tuesday June 28th.

The trip was fantastic and we're all looking forward to finally reaching home. Thank you again to Greg & Erin Parham for organizing the trip and giving all of us a wonderful experience that we'll remember forever.

Successful Tournament

Today was another gorgeous day with sunshine and spectacular scenery as a backdrop during soccer. We were placed in the championship bracket and were playing for the Shell Cup, the highest honor for 10 year olds in Iceland. We played 4 closely contested games today and the boys displayed their skill and fighting spirit throughout the day.
Colorado Rush placed 6th out of 104 teams—Spectacular!!!!!
The boys were also successful trading Rush USA jerseys with the Icelandic players and they all had huge smiles with their new Icelandic friends. At the closing ceremony, Colorado Rush was honored with the Sportsmanship Award and they walked to the stage among a standing ovation and chants of USA by parents and players. This was a great experience for the team and they were rewarded for the exemplary behavior, on and off the field. Finally, Alex Dunda was selected to the All Tournament Team, comprised of 10 players from the tournament. With over 1000 boys in the tournament, this was a great accomplishment for Alex and Colorado Rush.
They team ended their day with guess what….more soccer! After the closing ceremony and hot dog dinner, the boys headed back to the school for midnight soccer on the turf fields with siblings and the other Icelandic teams. What a great way to end the day!
We have to thank our coach, Greg Parham, for successfully leading our boys in this tournament. Their focus and determination showed in their strong performance and they were respected by the Icelandic coaches and players. What a great honor for Greg and Colorado Rush.

Success on Tournament Day 2 - into the highest bracket we go !

The morning started with our first clear view of the Eyjafjallajökull (Ey-ah-fet-ley-ooh-hook - I think) the volcanoe that erupted in June 2010. We could see steam rising from areas on the volcano - at least we think that's what it was ... sure that's what it was - FIRE AND ICE BABY.

What an incredible trip this has been for weather and scenery. We came prepared for what Iceland has to offer, but today was probably the best day yet. Sunny and warm. The unique beauty of Iceland might be lost on the boys who are having a great time goofing with their friends and playing some competitive games that are really fun, but it's not lost on the adults. Below is a bit of an idea of the spectacular tournament location.



I'll give a tip of the húfu (hat) to our goalkeepers today, being a salty old Icelandic goalkeeper type myself. Mac and Simon have been outstanding, keeping us in games that might have gotten out of hand early which gave us time to find our game. Below are a couple quick clips of outstanding saves made for Colorado Rush USA.

Our first match against Afturelding was a pretty demanding start to the day. The first half started with the team on their heels a bit as the Afturelding midfielders were getting the ball quickly to their forwards putting our defense on ... well, the defensive. Mac came up with 3 huge saves, two diving and one knocking the ball out of the upper 90 to give us a chance to advance.

The entire tournament, our goalkeepers Mac and Simon have been outstanding. In this format the ball can be played back to the goalkeepers when it gets too hot, so the keepers have to be on their toes at all times. They have done a great job of directing the defense. Also, with no offsides and frequent goalkeeper punts, they face a lot of shots. We wouldnt be moving to the final highest bracket without these guys playing so well.





Gradually, NIck, Ben and Beau began to turn the tide of the game with terrific tackling in the back. Alex won the ball at midfield drove and layed a beautiful pass to Kevin who chipped a nice ball amost in. The gargantuan (no exaggeration, this kid was BIG) Afturelding goalkeeper got a piece of it, but Alex was there to volley in the rebound for a huge goal, the only goal of the game. Colorado Rush USA 1-0

Between game, the siblings tried out the renovated Westman Islands pool. This pool has a slide that drops onto a trampoline then into the pool, a climbing wall that falls away into the pool and of course 3 hot tubs of varying temperatures. Jack Parham was able to master the trampoline slide and surf down it on his feet. He's going to leave soccer now and pursue trampoline slide surfing as his true sport. Later the siblings hoofed it up one of the steep grassy slopes that surround the soccer fields to watch some of the game with the puffins. Well, they didn't see any puffins, but you know, they could have.



In the second game against Fylkir the boys put it all together and dominated from the start. You got the impression Fylkir was holding on for dear life and the certainly held our forwards and mids (not called ;-)) Ben and Kevin kept their cool, avoided Icelandic curses and kept the ball moving foward to Charlie, Alex and Beau who eventually proved too much. Alex broke through with a rip to the far post and that was that, another 1-0 win.

The final game against Breiðablik was was the end of the road for the undefeated run. Breiðablik is a strong club and the boys fought them to a stalemate in the first half. However, they opened the second half with a quick goal. In this format, the tiebreaker is whichever team scores first in the, so if you go down 1, you need 2 for a win. They boys pressed up to get the two goals, but there is risk with that and Breiðablik went up 3-0 during the press. Beau broke the shutout and gave the boys energy and hope with a penalty kick, but a 4th goal doomed the effort Breiðablik 4-1.

The good news is we still qualified for the top bracket, and many Icelandic coaches and parents complimented our game and said how surprised they were that our boys played such solid football. They said making the top bracket on the final day to play for the Shell Cup where only 8 out of 104 teams advance is a great honor. They congratulated us, and surely hoped we would not advance much past that.

During the tournament tour officials watch games and evaluate players to be given the opportunity to play in an All Star game played on Friday evening. Our team must have made their head spin with so many amazing soccer plays made all the boys. As it was, Nick was chosen to represent Team USA in the All Star game. This was an amazing experience for Nick as the entire tournament turned out to watch the game. He also received a soccer kit with a Shellmot All Star 2011 jersey. Nick made a few nice plays during the game and his Team USA teammates really made it special for him by cheering as hard as they did for him. Thanks boys, that was the best part. Nick's team lost 4-1, but I don't think that mattered at all. After the game, lots of Icelandic boys were crowding around Nick, talking to him and hugging him and it was really something. An unforgettable experience for Nick, as the entire trip has been for our family.




After the game, we went into the green box (?) a metal gym and had a rally. There was a magician doing card tricks ... on a stage ... in Icelandic ... so ... you know ... limited accessiblity. But then it was the hamburger eating contest in which Simon represented Team USA. Sadly, Simon had just had some delicious lamb at dinner earlier at the dining hall. Had we thought this through, we certainly would have starved him in preparation. Simon came up a little short and a lot full.



After that, to bed for the boys. A huge day tomorrow in the top tournament bracket against the best teams in the tournament. Can we win it all? Stay tuned and go Colorado Rush USA.

Day 6 -- Steller Soccer and Happy Birthday Annie!

Well the day the boys were finally waiting for, day one of the tournament.  For those who aren't aware, there are a 104 teams in this tournament, with 103 being from Iceland and then there is our team.  Three clubs in this town of 4,000 alone.  Needless to say there are a lot of 10 year old boys running around "supervised" by their coaches and chaperones - a bit of chaos.

We met up with the boys for breakfast at 7:30.  They seemed well rested and ready to play.   We had played a couple of friendlies in Reykjavik on Monday to try to get the boys accustomed to the rules in this tournament (no offsides, 15 minutes halves and goal kicks are ball in hand) and although we dominated those games we lost them both.  This is a new day and these games count.

The first game started out with a bang against Vikingur.  Charlie scored almost immediately and then again.  Alex scored another to make the game 3-0.  The boys were playing great.  Connecting passes, staying back on defense.  It was a great game to watch.  Second half, Alex scored another goal followed by Beau and then Simon got in two goals.  All and all a great game.  Final score 7-0.

Second game was at 10:20 against Breidablik.  This game was a bit more challenging.  They scored first although it was very late in the first half.  We had quite a few opportunities to score but it just wasn't happening.  The first half ended 0-1.  The second half started out about the same with neither team able to score.  Alex finally put one away to tie up the game 1-1.  Charlie soon followed with his second goal and then Breidablik tied it up.  Time was quickly running out on the second half when Beau managed to sneak in a goal to put us up 4-3 - final score.

Our third game was after lunch (fish balls) and this was against Throttur, who we had played in a friendly match early in the week.  The boys were ready for revenge.  They did have a couple of tall kids in the back field.  Throttur scored first and had the only goal of the first half.  Our defense was working extremely hard.  Simon was the goalie first half and was moved to the outside midfield for the second half.  We're not sure if he was upset that they scored on him, but whatever was going on with him was great because he came out the second half and marched down the field to score and tie up the game.  He scored another shortly after to go up by one.  The last couple minutes of this game seemed to go by extremely slow and we were all greatly relieved when the final whistle blew.  Final score 2-1.

The boys all went and had an ice cream to celebrate a victorious day while the parents found various things to keep themselves occupied until dinner.  We had an early dinner (spaghetti) so we could book down to the harbor for our boat tour.  It was short but informative.  10,000 species of birds breed on this very small island (including 30% of the world Puffin population). 

After the tour a quick break before the opening ceremonies.  These ceremonies were a great thing for the boys, parading down the streets with 103 other teams into the stadium where we saw fireworks, air show and a professional soccer player do some amazing dribbling.   This is where the boys received their first loss of the day.  At the end of the ceremonies all the teams had to do a relay race where each player on the team had to run down the length of the soccer field, pull a bag of chips out of a garbage bag tied to the fence, run back and hand the baton off to the next player.  Beau got us an early lead, but he had an issue getting the chips out of the bag.  This continued to be a problem for us and clearly the coach should have spent more time on working with the boys on how to get small bags of chips out of a trash bag tied to the fence.  Well, guess you can't win them all.

post by Suzy

Days 5 - The Journey to the Island

Yes, we successfully made it over to Iceland but now we were heading over to Westman.  Our day started without a hitch and more sunshine.  The bus driver was early and his father was making the trip with us.  We had a two hour drive and then a 30 minute ferry ride, which most of us non sea worthy people were quite happy about.  The bus ride was very quiet, most likely due to the fact the majority of the people were asleep as we pulled away from the hostel - boys included.  Much different from the bus ride home from the Blue Lagoon the previous day, where the kids entertained us with songs the entire ride back - I won't mention the fact that the selection of songs was very limited.

Anyway, the drive was uneventful at least as far as we know.  Just before reaching the harbor we saw a beautiful, lush mountainside with quite a few high waterfalls off in the distance.  The ferry ride was an experience.  We were told that there wasn't really a concept of a queue and that is truly the case.  It is just a free for all.  We did manage to get on and grab a spot on the boat for the whole crew (28 in all).  Once we arrived at the island, we elected to wait until the smoke cleared and then quietly and calmly debarked from the ferry.  We did have to stop one Icelander from taking off with one of the women though.

We eventually loaded up all our luggage unto some unmarked truck with a man who never asked us where we were going, so we were a bit unsure if we would ever see our stuff again but figured it was a small enough island we might be able to track him down.   A bus then dropped the boys off at the elementary school, where they would be staying during this part of the journey with the chaperones, as well as the rest of us.   It seems that even though we drove right by the Guest house we were staying, it wasn't convenient to drop us off there.  

Although the sun was shining with some scattered clouds, the biting wind made it seem much colder.  Still no rain, so no complaints here.  After the boys were settled at the school and the majority of the adults at the Guest house we did a bit of exploring of the town.  We then met back up at the school to head to our first exciting dinner with all the other teams.  We were treated to some Icelandic meatballs, roasted potatoes, jam and cole slaw - not too bad.  After dinner a quick bus tour of the city.  We had a wonderful guide, who was quite a comedian take us around and tell us about the town.  He told us about the volcano that erupted in 1973 that spewed tons of ash on the town and although none of the inhabitants were killed the population went from some 5,000 people down to 4,000 after it erupted.  Also, Keiko, the killer whale in Free Willy had lived here for awhile during his lifetime.

Not too much happened after the tour, we have an early breakfast with our first game at 9.  We did hear some rumors of the chaperones playing some serious cribbage games and then sneaking off to the tavern to hang out with the locals after the boys had gone to sleep.

post by Suzy

Day 4 - The Blue Lagoon (not quite like the movie...)

The day started with bright blue sky and little chance for rain. The boys had there normal morning training and we were told that there was a special guest appearance from "Caveman" - the barefoot goalie, who didn't quite have the lightning fast reflexes required.

We had the morning free so after breakfast the majority headed out for some shopping - snacks for Westman island and Iceland soccer memorabilia. The boys helped the store meet its quota for the month with all their cool new gear.

Next we were off to the Blue Lagoon. It was a nice change of pace. Out in the middle of

lava fields, next to the power plant isn't where you would quite picture this place but the blue water against the black lava rock is incredible. Most of the adults however, found the fact that you could get drinks at the pool bar just by letting them scan your admission bracelet was "priceless"! Luckily you were limited to three drinks and the kids bracelets didn't have that capability.

On the way back to the hostel we were able to convince the bus driver into a short detour to the liquor store. There are very few of these in Iceland, unlike back home. That store thought they hit the jackpot when the big tour bus pulled up.

Once we arrived back, we had a nice team dinner that was arranged by Ken and Kathy and then we were off to the Icelandic club soccer match Fram v. Throttur. The match got a bit heated with lots of yelling, shoving and yellow cards, so the boys enjoyed that. Although Throttur won 3-1, it seemed that Fram dominated. This picture was taken at 8:30 PM tonight.

Tonight, the sun supposedly set 12:01 AM this morning (on the longest day of the year), looking out the window at 12:45 AM it looks like it is about 7:00 PM!

Morning training in a few hours and then heading over to the island. Vacation is over and now it is down to business!

Less enraged Icelandic horses allow tourists to ride them

Yesterday the Putz's and Luke took a ride on Icelandic horses. They are very short horses but very powerful, and as I guide suggested don't call them ponies - it makes them. Icelandic horses are just barely the height it takes to be called a horse.





The horses had Icelandic names except for Tim's which was .... Shadow. Icelandic names just can't seem to stick in our minds so there were two horse M's a Two horse L's, a horse T and ... Shadow.



Riding them was a lot of fun. We walked for a while and then started to do more tolting. The tolt is trot of the Icelandic horse and it's pretty jarring. Some soreness for sure tomorrow. Roseann mentioned she felt like she was going to come off the saddle at any second, but from my vantage point, she looked like National Velvet. That's not the horse right ?



The kids did great, Abbey was a kick to watch. Nick wanted to go in the fast group. Grace's horse was a bit unpredictable. Luke liked to steer his horse to each side. The scenery was fantastic, with rolling hills of lava rock and a few covered in the purple Nootka lupine. We rode past lots of Icelandic country houses. Beautiful ride.

Day 3 in Iceland ... and still no rain!

A couple of nice goals from the friendlies

Kevin gets a rebound

Beau off the crossbar

Alex with a beauty sliding

LUUUUUUUUUUUUKE !!!

Sliding in Reykjavik

The kids take part in Reykjavik's major underground sport.

Oh When the Rush

Here is a little Rush cheer from high above.

Gulfoss (Golden Falls)

Here is Gulfoss, also from the Golden Circle tour.

Enraged Icelandic Horses Attack Tour Bus ...

Hope to get more video from today's Golden Circle Tour up, having some struggles with Blogger. But here is an interesting one.

Some Messages Home to Mom & Dad

Finally.... we get to Iceland. It was Worth the Wait!

Our trip started without a hitch.  Everyone to the airport, on the plane, and flying to Newark with no problems in site. Once we landed in Newark we experienced a little hiccup.  We quickly gathered our bags and headed to the Iceland Express counter to try and check our bags early to begin the long 4+ hour layover.  When we got to the Iceland Express counter we learned that our wait would be much longer.  For some unexplained reason, our flight had been delayed by 4 hours and would now leave Newark at 1:00a.m.  Yikes!

We managed to kill nearly 3 hours of our layover time in the Chili's Too restaurant.  This establishment will go down in history as the slowest possible service on the planet.  I think the Putz family managed to wait well over an hour before their order was taken.  It was slow as molasses, but not quite as tasty.  We took it in stride though because the slow service made our layover seem a little quicker.

After midnight we were able to board the Iron Maiden Frontier World Tour 2011 plane. I'm not kidding.  Here is a picture of the plane.  You've got to check out the pictures.

Although our Iron Maiden "Ed Force One" was grandiose in image, the seats were the tightest seats any of us had every experienced.  I'm thankful we were flying a team of 10 year olds instead of 16 year olds.  The good news was that we were all so exhausted that we slept fairly well.

When we arrived in Iceland everything began to click again.  The tour bus for Erin Parham & Friends was ready to sweep us away to good ol Taco Bell/KFC for a quick bite and then to a tour of the area surrounding Reykjavik.  I would tell you all the cool sites and such, but I'm so delirious at the time of this writing that I can't remember any names.  The pictures will have to suffice at this point.

After we checked in to our hostel the groups split up to explore the area.  Eventually we all ate a pizza dinner on the deck under the warmth of the sun, which had been shining brightly all day.  The weather is simply fantastic.  Following dinner we took a nice dip in the thermal pools next door.  AAAHHHG!

Can't wait the to get the boys up @ 7:00 am tomorrow for training!

Lauren's Birthday? That calls for the Sugarcubes' Birthday

Happy Birthday Lauren!

In 1988, the Sugarcubes from Iceland debuted an album called Life's Too Good and the 'big' hit was Birthday. Perhaps you remember it. The Sugarcubes are Bjork's original band. This video is the English version and truth be told, the Icelandic version is better, but the English version has a video with shots of Reykjavik and they have an interesting birthday party in the Blue Lagoon at 2:35.

Also shown at 1:41 is Kerið Crater Lake where Bjork performed a concert on a barge in the middle of the lake. I think this is part of the Golden Circle Tour.

Back in 1988, a young strapping lad just out of college, I was really digging on the Sugarcubes and I remember thinking how cool it would be to travel to Iceland. A mere 23 years later, an old sagging lad gets to go. Thanks for getting this going Parhams, can't wait.

Are We Ready Yet?

We hope today's preparation scrimmage helped the boys burn off some of that nervous energy they've had bottled up in anticipation of leaving in 2 days.  I think it would have been better to have all the parents running in the scrimmage!

We want to extend a huge thank you to Golazo Energy Drink for outfitting the team with some great training jerseys and wrist bands.  The boys look fantastic!

We also want to thank all the players that helped us prepare for the tournament today as as "Team Kade." Thank you Jack, Aiden, Tyler, Cason, Kade, Ian, Dalton, and Conner.  We promise to show our Rush pride in Iceland.  

 

Upcoming birthday

Hi everyone, Lauren turns 13 on June 24th while we're in Iceland. Please wish her a happy b-day when we're out there!

Introducing Rush USA

Jonas Sigurdsson, from the Shell Tournament, asked if I could provide some photos of the team and some information about where we live.  I put this on the Meet the Team page. 

Sneak Peek at Rush USA Jerseys

Thank you Kathy Peterson for handling the design and ordering.  These are fantastic!

Wrist Bands Are In!

We received 200 wrist bands from the UPS guy today.
Thanks April for all of your help in getting those ordered!

Volcano - No Worries...

Here is what Reykjavic City Hostel said on FB about the volcano:

Reykjavík City Hostel wrote: "The eruption has now abated and air traffic should not be affected anymore. Most of the ash landed in the surrounding area and without a direct plume from an eruption to directly push it upwards, there are very slim chances that it could interrupt air traffic from now on."

You should Friend them on FB.

Greg

Interesting NPR Story About Iceland - Tim Putz

Ferry to Westman Islands

Courtesy of Tim Putz, here is a nice video of the ferry we will be taking to Westman. Wear your rain gear!



If you look at the end of this video you will see two big rocks. These actually look like a couple of the Islands that are part of Westman. For all you worried parents out there, here is a picture of those rocks from the good ferry.

Iceland Here We Come!!

Just a few more weeks and we're headed to Iceland to play in the Shellmot with over 100 other U-10 Boys teams.  Check back often to read our travel logs, game reports, etc.