DWNT 2012 Day 17

Another day, another hectic flown by kind of day.

Woke up this morning in another country. Welcome to Brussels. Had a 9AM breakfast and it was dandy. Bacon (incredible), sausage, eggs, meats, cheeses, toast (never thought I would love to see toast) and orange juice. Fresh, cold, beautiful orange juice. Throw in a "red berries" tea and it was a great start to the day.

We headed to the bus for our 11:30 practice. It was a short drive through a very pretty neighbourhood to get to our gym. Only problem was the bus driver took a wrong turn and ended up with us on a very narrow street and he couldn't turn at the end. We stopped while he figured it out and out of the house next to the bus comes this old lady who tore into him because the bus was on the street and they weren't allowed on her street. Interesting start to the basketball side of things. Since the gym was just down the road we got out and walked down the road. The facility is a nice facility and the coaches were ready to go. Too bad the players weren't ready. We had a stinker of a practice. Tried to speak to them about increasing their energy but it had little effect. We battled through and then discussed what we needed to do for the evening practice. We were a few minutes over time and one of the executives from the Belgian Basketball Federation noted that we were keeping the bus too long and we shouldn't be late. By the time we got back to the hotel we were a little late for supper and we were told that it shouldn't happen. I guess they like to be on time which is a good thing.

Lunch was just after 2pm. Great meal again. Big steaks cooked perfectly, potatoes, broccoli, pasta and sauce with a fruit/custard pie for dessert. DANDY. Topped it off with a caramel peach tea. After lunch we met for a bit and I went back to my room while some of the staff went for a walk. I wanted to catch up on some email and plan for the 2nd practice. Wanted to make sure we had a good one. I had about 1.5 hours of "me" time before our player meetings that started at 6pm. Met with 9 of the girls and they all went fairly smoothly. Had to cut the meetings off at 7:15 so we could hop on the bus for our next practice. We had to leave at 7:30 for an 8:30 practice because the gym was around 30 min away. It was a pretty drive into a very pretty town. Along the way we passed a farm with a bunch of big draft horses out in the field. My guess is they were Belgian horses. Pretty good guess huh?
Outside the gym, there were numerous clay tennis courts and a lot of people playing tennis. The basketball facility is in a big old building but the court is AWESOME. The whole facility had about 14-16 hoops with some set at mini-ball height. Great facility for that community.
We start practice and the girls are going pretty hard. They were really focused and working really hard. About one hour in stopped practice and asked them how they felt they were doing. They said they were feeling very good. I agreed and gave them one last shooting drill then cut off the rest of practice. They felt good about the reward from what I saw.

After the practice I began talking to a gentleman who is with the Belgian Basketball Federation and while he was very interesting, he kept me there forever. He loved to chat and I was fascinated to talk with him but we had to go. He said he would be at the games so hopefully we get to chat again. He was explaining their whole system. He also told me that in our games, one of their best players is an 18 year old who is 18 years old. 6'3" and named the best junior aged player in all of Europe last year. He said she is very good. Sounds like we will have our hands full. So we hop back on the bus and head back to Brussels. Along the way we look at the clock and realize that it is 10:10pm and still able to read outside without a light. The brightness is tricky as you tend to think it is around 8:30 or 9 when it gets dark and it is really 10:30. Tricky on the system.

Along the way the girls start pointing outside and wondering what was above the trees. Nope, not a UFO. It looked like little black tornadoes. It was actually MILLIONS of mosquitoes. In minutes the bus windshield was polluted with dead bugs. Very interesting to see. Glad we didn't stop though.

Made it back to the hotel for a late supper. Another home run. Started with fresh cucumber and then a dish that was YUMMY. It was cheese wrapped in prosciutto with tomatoes and herbs. Almost like a Caprese salad and tasted kind of like bruschetta. Fantastic. Throw in the chicken, green beans, broccoli and pasta. Great meal and finished off with a green apple yogurt. Never had it before and it was good.

So tomorrow is a day off. I really tried to pull off a day trip for the girls but I couldn't do it. I wanted to take them to Ypres and Flanders Field. I think it would be great for them to see the land where Canadians fought in WW1 and to see the actual fields that we were all taught about in school. I am sure it would have been an emotional trip so hopefully another time I will get back here to go.
We will head into the heart of Brussels tomorrow to sightsee, shop and sample some goods from the nearest boulangerie. I am envisioning a nice meal for lunch followed by a crepe or something loaded with chocolate. Might have to get a waffle as well. Sometimes it just sucks being a coach for Canada Basketball!!!!

So that is the plan. We will see how it goes. Until then...........