Day 2: exploration of Trollhattan, education and skating tests

Monday, January 23, 2017

0030: Fell asleep watching BBC World Service at 20:00 after an extremely long day of travel, was wide awake again only four and a half hours later.  So, I get up to write yesterday's travelog from my hand written pocket notebook into this text file that I will then copy into the blogspot app along with photos. My mind was not working well, and I was unable to figure the transfer of images from mobile phone to my netbook for composition of the travelog on the blogspot app. So, I decided it better to go back to sleep for another four hours.
0800: awoke, showered and shaved before putting a little more work on the computer to transpose the travelog and add photos.
0900: Down to the dining room for breakfast where the other three USA referees are there working on their computers. They too, had early rise and were waiting for the dining room to open at 0530. I enjoy breakfast and conversation with our USA corps before the dining room closes for breakfast.
1030: I decide to take a walk along the river and explore the trails between the canal and the natural river where there were historical waterfalls.

 Trollhattan is name based upon Troll Hats, which signifies the natural rock formations that poke up from the river and resemble the hats of a troll. There is a series of great waterfalls in this area with a large hydropower system powering industry. Shear cliffs with exposed granite remind me of the area around Taylor Falls on the St. Croix River between the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin north and east of the Twin Cities metro area. A nice walking trail makes its way below the dam, and I find a special rock outcropping with inscriptions of Swedish royalty going back several centuries.

A beautiful old church overlooks the river gorge between the canal and river.

 I continue my walk back up river to the hotel which is on the east bank of the river canal. With more time to kill, and the desire to walk off more of the kinks in the legs after yesterdays long flight I decide to make the short ten minute walk up to the bandy hall, Slättbergshallen, home of the Grippen Bandy Club. The hall is located in a nature reserve where the receding glaciers had scrubbed the landscape clear leaving large flat horizontal slabs of exposed granite. There are nice walking trails where many people are out walking their dogs, and there are many birds flying about. The birds are quiet, so I am not able to attempt at imitation of their whistling calls.  After brief reconnaissance of the facility, I make my way back to the hotel for lunch before we are scheduled to begin the referee education, tournament protocol, and written tests of the FIB rules.
1400: we meet at the referee conference room in the hotel, and I find myself beginning to set up with the referees before I realize that I am now a Supervisor and will be seated at the front of the room with the other four FIB Match Delegates. I do miss the camaraderie of the referee corps, but also am very happy to have been invited to act in this new capacity.
1730: the education and tournament protocol is completed and we break before dinner, opening ceremonies and skating test at the bandy hall later in the evening.
1900: opening ceremonies begin with procession of the teams from hotel to the town square. The referees may participate in only part of the ceremony due to need to depart for skating test.

1930: Team FIB (referees and supervisors) board the motorcoach for transport to the arena where the referees will be put thru their skating tests. The first test is composed of an endurance interval test where the referees skate a 240 meter oval circuit inside the bandy pitch. Each lap must be skated in 30 seconds, with a thirty second rest in between each interval. Referees must complete the circuit withing 5 meters of the line at the 30 second time - or they are shown a Caution Yellow card. Upon two Cautions, the referee must stop and they are recorded the number of laps completed. Assistants must make 12 laps and Head Referees a minimum of 15 laps.  This is not an easy task, and the key is to make a quick start for first 50 meters of the lap and then carry the momentum thru the rest of the lap.  The referees skate as a group and take turns leading the pack and breaking the wind like speedskaters or cyclists.  All of the skaters to well, and the leader of the referees are able to get a first look at skating skill of each of the referees.
We then spend 10 minutes cooling down with some instruction on positioning during match situations such as corner strokes. Each referee position is defined depending upon which corner the play is restarted. It is critical that the Assistant Referees understand the system of control based upon whether the corner is taken from their side of the pitch.
The second skating test is for agility and entails skating a rectangular course of six cones at 40 meter intervals. Each skater starts at the middle of one side and skates forward the first leg to and around the first cone, 90 degree turn and around the second cone where another 90 degree turn toward the middle cone where there is a corner flag set up. The skater then switches to backward skate another 90 degree turn into figure eight pattern back toward the start line cone. The figure eight is completed still skating backwards and continues with 90 degree turns around the final two cones to the finish. This test certainly gives the Referee Leaders a complete indication of each referees ability on their skates.
2100: the skating session is now complete and one of the teams is arriving for their practice session, the referees pack their gear bags and we board motorcoach back to hotel and again to the conference room where the first days assignments will be given. There is great anticipation, and I am very happy to see that our USA referees have shown their excellent skating skills, giving the leaders confidence to give them their assignments. All referees are instructed that assignments are to be held in strict confidence, for the referees assigned to all games are not published until one our before each fixture, when the team leaders meet in the referee room for handshakes and to confirm the jersey colors are in contrast. We USA referees are now really hitting the wall that is jet lag, and we head straight to bed. Our second day is now in the books, but we have been on the run for three days now. Tomorrow the tournament begins and there are sure to be some butterflies in the stomachs of the referees which is a good thing in anticipation. I have great confidence in our crew and their preparation. The two female referees will make history tomorrow as they will be pioneers - being the first to referee in a major International Men's tournament. I am so very proud of both the FIB and these very talented individuals in this regard.

2017 World Bandy Championships: Day One travel to Trollhatten, Sweden

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Preparing for trip to Trollhattan, Sweden to participate in the International Bandy Federation (FIB) World Championships, B-Pool.  So very happy to have prepared in advance with most of my gear washed and packed several days ago. With an afternoon flight, this gives me extra time this morning to wrangle the rest of my belongings before a mid-afternoon flight. I've cleared the refrigerator with some left over sandwich fixings, so have packed myself a sack lunch to enjoy while waiting at MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul) airport and Delta flight to AMS (Amsterdam).

1230: called for Uber transport to MSP, and estimate pick up in less than 10 minutes. These new arranged transportation services have made getting to/from the airport so easy and relatively cheap. The 11 mile (18Km) has very little traffic and I am at the terminal in about 12 minutes for $19.
1300: I have cleared the security checkpoint with zero wait, seriously, there was only one person walking thru the queue in front of me and I went direct to the agent to process passport and boarding pass. I have no issues with my carry-on backpack with lunch, electronics, toiletries and my coffee brewing apparatus. The departure gate is very close, and they have made major improvements to the retail areas and the departure lounge is full of single seat booths and high-top bar tables. Each seat has a built-in I-pad where travelers can place orders for food that is delivered directly to your seat. There is a retail area set up similar to a grocery store with fresh fruit in addition to all the other trappings that are found in most airport convenience stores. I am the first of our group of four USA Bandy game officials to arrive, so I break out my sandwich, potato chips and clementine orange. The other referees begin to arrive as I am preparing to begin my airport tradition of brewing a small batch of coffee.

The portable heating element takes an extraordinarily long time to get the water hot, and I figure this is due to very low amperage being fed to the convenience outlets that are located at each seat. As boarding time approaches, I complete the brew. Our departure is scheduled for 15:18, and I am seated near the rear of the Delta Airbus A330-300 by 14:55, and we take off at 15:30 with on time arrival indicated.
1715: I enjoy these international flights, for each seat is equipped with seat back monitor with free movies and video provided. First beverage service  includes complimentary beer, and I select Sweetwater IPA from Atlanta. It is not too bad, but a little sweeter than I prefer, but better than any of the mega-brewery alternatives. Dinner is served shortly thereafter, and I select the spinach ravioli with a glass of red wine. Th dinner includes a shrimp (3 of them) salad, garden salad, dinner roll, cheese and cracker. The ravioli is quite tasty. I hope these two alcoholic beverages will assist me getting some sleep during the overnight flight.
1750: dinner is complete and there are still 5 hours, 21 minutes remaining to destination. I settle back in to complete the most recent in the series of Jason Bourne action thrillers.
2200: the cabin lights come back on, and the flight crew are delivering a breakfast which of Orange juice, greek yogurt, orange+cranberry roll with orange marmalade and of course a cup or two of coffee.

Sunday, January 22, 2017
0615: we're on the ground and expecting a 10 minute taxi to our gate at the gigantic Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. We have a very quick layover, so we deplane and head for passport control. There is a full queue for the non-European travelers, and I note that there  is only one station open. The agents are directing those with 0700 departures to jump the line in order to make their flights. Our boarding is scheduled for 0730, and it looks dire. Shortly, three additional agents arrive for their shift, and the line begins to move along. No worries. We clear passport control and begin our long walk to our departure gate which, of course, is located at the very end of concourse B. The morning walk will do us all a bit of good to work out the kinks after a nine hour overnight flight.
0815: dawn is breaking as we walk down the jetway and stairs to the tarmac where our KLM Cityhopper, Embraer 195 awaits. The temperature is just below freezing (-1 C) and the cold air infused with the fumes from the kerosene jet fuel is crisp in the nostrils as we make our way up the stairs and into the aircraft.

0850: we are served a wonderful egg salad sandwich for breakfast. The packaging for the sandwich extols the virtues of this particular chicken farm where the happy chickens live in wonderful conditions. There is full description inside of the packaging.

 The 90 minute flight is uneventful (the best kind), and we break out of the low ceiling of clouds just above the treetops.  Amazing that the precise navigation technology has us lined up just a hundred feet above the runway.  I do have full confidence for my father was a pilot, my mother a flight attendant, and brother is also a pilot.
1000: we have gathered our luggage and there are two drivers at the land side of the airport with the tournament logo sign and USA Bandy to transport us in their two cars a little over an hour up the canal from Gothenburg to Trollhattan. While the sky is overcast and grey we are still able enjoy the scenery of southwestern Sweden featuring large outcroppings of granite rocks, small farm fields and pine woods. There is quite a lot of heavy industry located along the canal with a long history of heavy manufacturing including Saab and Volvo automobiles.
1130: we are all checked into the hotel. The two women referees are booked into one room, the other assistant referee is booked into his double occupancy room and his Chinese roommate will arrive tomorrow. I have the new luxury of a single room, for my position is now that of FIB Match Delegate/Supervisor. I quickly unpack my bags, set up another coffee brew and jump in the shower. We have just over an hour until one of the other FIB Match Delegates picks us up for a short drive to the next town where we will watch an U-20 Elite league bandy match.
1300: We gather in the hotel lobby and drive the short 15 minutes to the town of Vanersborg and their indoor bandy hall. (image).

This will be a great opportunity for all of us to observe the professional Swedish referee crew work the game. There have been some changes to the referees system of control which will be very important for us all to observe and implement for the tournament which starts in two days time. The game is very good with the visitors enjoying the better of the first half. The team managers obviously make some changes, and the second half is more equal and the intensity has ramped up. We are luck to be accompanied to the match by the FIB Delegate who is also a member of the Swedish Bandy Federation and a leader of their elite referee training committee. He is also an old friend from several of my previous FIB tournaments including my first men's tournament in Moscow 2008 and women's tournament in Irkutsk, Russia 2012. After the game, we visit with the referee crew in their locker room, and have a very short discussion before we depart back to hotel. Upon arrival at the bridge to cross the canal next to the hotel, the gates are dropping as a large ship is making its way up the canal toward the big Lake Vanern (inland sea).  The drawbridge raises, and we must wait a few minutes for the ship to pass.
1630: the USA bandy officials are now getting quite hungry and ready to eat and get some much needed sleep. We are able to get some Swedish Krona (8.9 SEK/US$) from the ATM across from hotel, and we begin the short one block walk up the street to Muang Thai a small restaurant that we saw upon our arrival and sounded much more interesting than the ubiquitous pizza places that seem to dot small towns across the world. We all order some curry with rice (95 SEK / $11) and enjoy dinner before we all begin to 'hit the wall' that is jet-lag. It has been a long day.
2000: I have done some organizing of my room and electronics and decided to look thru the television for a moment before going to bed. I find a broadcast of the BBC World Service in English, so watch that for a while to catch up on the news and begin to set up the WiFi on my devices.  Shortly, I find myself asleep, so turn off the lights for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, the tournament begins for the game officials with rules review, education on tournament protocol, written rules and physical skating tests in addition to the opening ceremony that will be held in the local park near hotel adjacent to the canal.
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