A Summer in Skövde, Sweden: Thoughts from my Leksand Weekend

My ride came to pick me up at 7 am on Saturday morning. I was headed to Leksand with Mattias, the head coach of Skovde and the National Team, and three Skovde teammates, Alexandra, Malin and Maria. I had gone to bed early the night before, but that didn't stop me from falling asleep for 20 minutes or so on the 4 hour drive. When I last posted, I thought I would be helping at a clinic for younger softball players, but it turned out to be an open practice for the Swedish National team! I was unsure of what was expected of me--participate or coach? I jumped into warm ups and played catch and then helped the coaches wherever they needed me. Here were some thoughts from the weekend:

Finally here!

1. "I thought I left Boston weather behind!"
     It was 6 degrees Celsius. I'm still not great at the conversions, but I knew enough from being outside that I couldn't feel my fingers. It started raining, so we cut the morning practice off a little early. Later, we went into inside tennis courts to work on basic infield, outfield and hitting drills. Many of the players had their winter jackets, and needless to say, I was under dressed and ill-prepared to deal with that kind of weather. I missed the space heaters, hand warmers and puff jacket I used at Harvard!

2. "Such amazing Swedish hospitality!"
     One set of parents did an amazing job keeping those who had to travel to the practice well-fed. After our morning practice, we had a pasta/ham/carrots/broccoli stew. After our evening practice, the whole team went over to their house, and they had set up a taco buffet. Not exactly the carne asada burrito I've been craving, but still amazingly delicious. It was really nice to have a home cooked meal, and I got to talk to some of the players on the team. Mostly they all speak Swedish to each other, but they switch to English for me. In the morning, the same parents had set up a breakfast for us before we started practice. This helped me figure out what to buy in the grocery store for the next time I go shopping.
     As for accommodations, my Skovde teammates stayed in the gym of a local school in sleeping bags, but I, the delicate American flower, got to stay with one of the Leksand girls in her house. I was so incredibly grateful because it was so nice to be in a home, even for just one night. (It didn't hurt that the bedspread matched my own, giving me a little taste of home. It was also no surprise since the bedspread was from Ikea!).

3. "This isn't exactly what I expected..."
     Softball is on a much different level here. Watching these practices made me reflect on my own softball upbringing. I went to hundreds of practices where we did speed/agility drills, took grounders, pop flies, and did pitching and hitting reps over and over, dating back to when I was 8. Most of the girls on this team started playing softball in the past few years, and so the sport as a result is somewhat underdeveloped. The coaches have good drills and I chimed in when I could, but there just isn't a strong program in place. I really enjoyed working with the pitchers and introducing them to new types of pitches because they both threw only fastballs and change ups. It was just amazing to me that this is the national team and there are girls who are playing their second year of softball! Soooo different from the US.
     I also pitched live today, and only a few girls actually swung in their at-bats. Mostly everyone else tried bunting. If they were able to get the bunts down, the defense had some trouble making the plays to get outs. Mattias mentioned that the team's strategy is to bunt off of good pitchers since they can't catch up to faster pitching. I have a feeling I'll be pitching live a lot to the Skovde team to help them prepare for faster pitching. This national team practice was the last time the team will work together until they go to the European Cup in Prague at the end of June, (which I am pretty sure I'll be going to as well to help coach!!!). Overall, it was a good weekend of practice, and it was great to be introduced to the team. Here is a team photo, followed by some other photos from my trip.