Every trip I take to Finland seems to be better than the last time, and these past two weeks have been no exception.  I have gotten the chance to play a lot of lacrosse, see old friends, make new friends, learn more about my family’s background, and ultimately experience a culture very different from what we are familiar with in the United States.  During this trip, I stayed for the most part with my good friend Antti Hassinen.  On my last day in Helsinki, Antti wanted to show me his favorite spot in the city where he can play as much wall ball as he wants in the rain, snow, or shining sun.  My initial thoughts were that I’ve been in plenty of gymnasiums where i’ve thrown a lacrosse ball to myself against a wall, but it turned out I was very surprised to see our final destination.  We set out down Antti’s street, Köydenpunojankatu, tossing the ball between us, as passers-by on the sidewalk stared at us with curiosity.  After just a few minutes, we came upon a massive open space beneath an elevated section of the road, Porkkalankatu.  There was a lot of construction going on nearby, so we had to navigate our way around some fencing and heavy machinery to get to an open spot directly below the overpass.

Now I knew what Antti was taking about when referring to being his favorite place to play wall ball no matter what the weather is.  It was perfectly sheltered from the elements, and it also had a massive flat concrete surface which gave a true bounce back every time.  First it was Antti’s turn.  Positioned next to a large backhoe, he began playing pass with himself, throwing the ball high enough over the temporary fencing so that it would return back to his stick.  Each time he released the ball he would count, “yksi, kaksi, kolme” etc. going up to one hundred and beyond.  Antti said that when he’s feeling energized, he tries to get between five hundred and one thousand repetitions with each hand.  As if the location itself didn’t provide the urban atmosphere on its own, the graffiti covering much of the wall really gave it an underground feel.  We were taking lacrosse to the streets, and Antti is definitely the undisputed wall ball king of Helsinki.

When it was my turn, I matched Antti’s repetitions from distance, but then I also wanted to work on some quick sticking.  With the fencing in the way, we had to meander back around all of the construction equipment to get closer to the wall.  Losing count, we did as many repetitions as we could until our arms and shoulders began to tire.  Wall ball is great practice, and I encourage everybody to do it.  When alone, it is a terrific way to improve stick skills and the consistency of the ball coming out of your stick.  Rather than taking shots on an empty goal and wasting time shagging balls, you can get a ton of repetitions in a short period of time by throwing against a wall.  Satisfied with the work we had put in on the wall, Antti and I returned to his apartment to pack all of my stuff up before heading to the airport in the morning.  Leaving Finland is always bittersweet for me.  My friends are incredibly outgoing, and I have so much fun with them whether it is training for lacrosse, hanging out in a sauna, sipping a cup of coffee on the esplanade, or taking in an epic Kanye West performance.  All of the aforementioned are just a fraction of all the fun that I had this time around.  Now it is time to return to the reality of teaching at NMH.  New faculty members have already arrived on campus, and in just a few days, we will begin our final preparations for opening the upcoming school year and welcoming both new and returning students and their families to campus.  As for Team Finland, our coaches say they will shortly release the 23-man roster that will head to Amsterdam next summer, but until then, all we can do is wait and keep our fingers crossed.

On Saturday, I was afforded the opportunity to travel 100 miles west from Helsinki to the city of Turku for a game between the perennial top two teams in the Finnish National Lacrosse League, the Helsinki Chiefs and the Turku Titans.  The great thing about this game was that I was not about to experience the rivalry from the stands, but in fact I would be playing as a member of the Chiefs.  These guys have a deep dislike for each other, with the Chiefs sporting black and gold, and the Titans in black and red.  Earlier this summer, the Chiefs planned ahead for this moment by essentially adding me to their roster from the waiver wire, so my presence in the game fully complied with league bylaws.  My friends and I made the two hour drive to Turku early in the morning, and while taking in the scenery we speculated about how we should approach the game.  At this point, it was revealed to me that quite many of the good players from both teams would not be competing because of a three-day end of the summer concert in Helsinki, appropriately named the Flow Festival.  Of course my initial reactions were of frustration and disappointment.  In situations like this, it is hard to understand why people’s priorities are what they are, but I suppose the saying “to each, his own” applies here.  To me it seemed fully feasible to play in the game and have plenty of time to travel back to Helsinki for the festival, but I guess if you really want to make a an entire weekend of the concert, then the lacrosse game is going to be a bit of a thorn in one’s side.  We all have to make choices in our lives, and some guys chose lacrosse while others chose a 72 hour music festival.

Needless to say, the game was sloppy.  Both teams had just four subs on the bench, so play dragged without much transition.  At both ends of the field, the defenses dominated the seemingly inept offenses.  Additionally, the two best goalies in Finland were in net, subsequently limiting the scoring.  At our offensive end of the field, we could muster little to no attack due to frequently dropped passes in addition to numerous outside shots that are not going to beat a goalie like Lauri Uusitalo.  At this point, I felt like I had a bit of a dilemma.  As I looked at my teammates, I saw a bunch of guys who have only played lacrosse for a few years, in addition to two teenagers for whom it was literally their first lacrosse game ever.  I was not about to try and play one against six because that is not my style.  Call me stubborn, but I will continue to play my game and try to utilize my teammates no matter who is on the field.  To be honest, it was very frustrating to continue to dodge and draw early double and sometimes triple teams, but one of my staples of play is to be able to find my open teammates after I have drawn the slide.  Throughout the game, I continued to set my teammates up for time-and-room shots from outside in addition to uncontested opportunities on the backdoor, but ultimately dropped passes and the inability to finish were our downfalls.

Unfortunately, the officiating was terrible as he virtually never blew his whistle for any type of infraction, and the game ended up more like an ice hockey score than a lacrosse score, tied 3 – 3.  You are probably thinking, how can a lacrosse game end in a tie?  This was a first for me as well.  Ultimately, the deciding factor was that the field had been double-booked, and there was an Australian Rules Football game waiting to begin after our game, so we were forced to vacate the pitch for them.  My friends and I hoofed our way back to Helsinki, dumbfounded as to how we all just played in such an awful lacrosse game.  In retrospect, it was a fun time despite the poor quality of play, and I think I’d rather have the game end in a low scoring tie than have our team win a game in which I shot the ball every time it touched my stick, for example.  Lacrosse is a team sport, and I believe that is the way it should be played.

Today I took a train from Helsinki to the city of Lahti, about 65 miles to the north.  It was a smooth hour-long ride to the small city known for hosting numerous olympic training camps in various sports.  I have fond memories of Lahti, as we competed in the European Championships here in 2008, when we came in 5th place out of 18.  My first objective was the meet my dear old friend Antti Salomaa.  He is the godfather of Finnish lacrosse, and it is always an honor to spend some time with him.  The story goes that he and some friends saw the movie American Pie when it first came out around 1999.  It had many lacrosse scenes, and they thought it was a really cool looking game, so they bought some sticks, and the rest as they say is history.  Antti’s days playing for Team Finland are past him now, but he is still the ultimate ambassador of the sport here in Finland.  His eyes light up just talking about the game, and he is truly an inspiration to me.

In the evening, I had the opportunity to practice with Lahti’s lacrosse club, the Predators.  These guys are hard-core, and they will do anything for the chance to play some lacrosse.  Proof of their devotion is that the practice started at 9 pm in the rain.  I think under those circumstances, most teams would opt not to play, but these guys went hard for an hour and a half.  I was able to show them some new drills and work specifically with their offensive players on moving off-ball and finding open seams for passes to come through.  It was an honor to practice with these guys, and I hope to come back and play with them again in the future.  When the practice concluded, they presented me with one of their jerseys and told me that I am now an honorary member of their club, and I can come back and play for them any time I’d like.  These guys are the best!

The tryouts wrapped up with our final two sessions on Sunday, with a more intense atmosphere, as all the players knew it was the final opportunity to impress the coaches.  The morning practice included a lot of walk through situations for the offensive players, while the defense did a lot of skill work.  Our coaches put us through a variety of offensive sets, and all of the rotations they would like to see from both the attack and the midfielders.  We got to end the practice with some live action 3-on-3 as well as numerous ground ball drills.

Since the morning practice was not so physically demanding, the six hours between sessions gave more than ample time to get fired up for the inevitable full field games that would take place in the evening.  As we returned to the field, the coaches once again split us into three teams, playing full field 10-on-10 in fifteen minute spurts.  Everyone went all-out in all aspects of the game, and we even caught the attention of many curious passers-by, who stopped to see what it was all about.  That’s the best way for word to spread around here, as some people catch a glimpse of this great game which to them looks a bit like ice hockey on grass.  They take some photos and videos and go off to tell their family and friends what they have just seen.

Now the waiting begins.  The coaches will announce the 23-man roster later this month, so that everyone can begin to plan accordingly for next summer.  With almost no funding, all the players will have to start saving money and arranging adequate time away from work for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of representing our country in athletic competition.  I have a few more days to spend in Finland, and I hope to travel to a few cities outside Helsinki and catch up with the local club teams there.

The second day of tryouts in Helsinki featured two sessions full of high intensity lacrosse as everyone here is making the coaches’ job very difficult in selecting just 23 players for the team.  The morning session included a lot of shooting drills and stickwork.  The guys were all happy to be given a chance to rip some shots and show the coaches what kind of power and accuracy they possess.  Later on, we got to work on a lot of odd-man situations, which are some of my favorites as an offensively minded player.  Personally the 2-0n-1 situation seems a little unfair to the defender, and while it is pretty easy to score, it is good to be in the mindset of always looking to identify where the 2-on-1 is on the field.  I prefer the 3-on-2 and the 4-on-3 situations because it feels a little more game-like, and offensively it requires more than one pass generally.  Fortunately, we got to practice many of these scenarios.  We ended the session with a lot of 4-on-4 games during which I scored bar-down, which I’m sure all the NMH boys will get a kick out of since it’s their favorite type of goal.

The seven hours between practices looked like a long time on paper, but after a hearty lunch and a short nap, it was already time to return to the field.  The stickwork warmup this evening was three-man-two-ball, which admittedly is one of my least favorite drills to participate in.  However, no one can deny the importance of catching and throwing on the run as well as having a quick change of direction.  Even if I don’t especially like it, I still do it, and I do it hard, trying to get more repetitions when I am in the middle than when my other two group members have their turns.  I find this is a great way to make a drill more enjoyable by bringing an element of friendly competition into play.  Once everyone was good and warmed up, the coaches split us into three teams, and we played a series of full-field 10-on-10 games.  This was exactly what I was waiting for.  There is nothing I enjoy more in practice than having the feeling of competing in a real game.  The competition was intense, with hard fought face offs and ground balls, some crisply executed fast breaks, and some great dodges and finishes.

It’s such a cliche that time flies when you’re having fun, but it’s really true.  The 2 hour practices go by so quickly, and with just two more practices on Sunday, we all have little time to show the coaches why we deserve a spot on this team.

I love the summer!  Once again it’s that time of year when I get to travel to Finland, spend time with friends whom I haven’t seen in a year, make new acquaintances, and of course play some lacrosse!  Last summer I was here with the team heading to the World Championship in England.  This year, we have tryouts for the team that will go to Amsterdam next summer to compete in the European Championship.  I am continually amazed with the progress lacrosse is making outside of North America year after year.

This year the flight over was a bit long.  In total, it was about 13 hours from Boston to Paris, killing time in the airport, and then forward to Helsinki from Paris.  Not so long ago, Finnair flew to Helsinki direct from Boston, and I dearly miss how easy that once was.  My trip started out with a bang, as I went straight from the airport to practice with the Helsinki Chiefs.  The Chiefs are the best lacrosse club in Finland, winners of the national championship every year but one since its inception.  Finland’s national league has grown to 8 teams, and it is great to see it continue to expand.  As I arrived to practice, I was blown away by the new field the team was using.  In 2005, when I first came to play in Finland, the field on which we practiced resembled more of a potato patch than a grass field.  A few years later, the team upgraded to an 80s style astro-turf which was absolutely brutal on the legs.  Today, the Chiefs compete on a brand new artificial field-turf surface, which is as nice as the best we have to offer at NMH.

In addition to the accommodations improving, the level of competition continues to get better.  Our coaches, who live in Maryland, arrived this morning, and orchestrated the first practice of the weekend later this evening.  They were greeted by an eager group of over 50 players, ranging in age from late teens to early thirties.  At 29 years old, I am obviously part of the older crowd, and it is a good test to compete against the younger guys who have a bit more spring in their step.  Tonight’s practice was a light workout, as the coaches spent a lot of time working with the 4 goalies, and the rest of the players did a lot of stickwork.  Eventually we got to get into some live action with numerous repetitions in 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 drills.  It was a great way to start off the weekend, and with four sessions remaining, the tempo is bound to pick up.