Spartans in Russia 12

September 8th, 2010: Moscow, Russia

Today started early. 4am departure from our dorms to the airport in Krasnodar. The group from Mykop had to leave at 1:30am to make it there so that made our Krasnodar group not complain. Marc Howatson joined us at the airport. The missionaries that he stayed with in Anapa got up early and drove him to join us. They truly went way beyond the call with their generosity. John and Naomi Musgrave were their names, and their ministry is called House of Grace, Russia. Please pray for them and their ministry here in Russia.

It was a short trip to Moscow made even shorter due to everyone sleeping. Once in Mockba (as the Russians spell it) we experienced traffic in a way North Americans can never understand. We asked Victor the Russian when rush hour was and the answer was 5am to 3am so if you wanted to go anywhere you had a two hour window to utilize. With that said it was clear we needed to get comfortable riding on busses. To make things interesting was the bus in which we were riding. It sat 23 which was perfect as we had 23 in our entourage but that didn’t account for our baggage. So the Spartan clown car, packed to the gills with athletes, coaches, bags and Victor the Russian, made our way…slowly…to our Moscow home. Two hours later and 35km we arrived to our destination.

We are staying at a volleyball centre where a number of different professional and club teams call their home base. The facility is amazing with multiple beach courts, indoor swimming pool, weight facility and a beautiful 3 court gym (1 of which is a Teraflex court). The complex is designed for volleyball training and our “house” that we are staying in is perfect for our needs. We have one house with 7 rooms plus a common area and laundry. A great home to finish our tour at.

After a brief nap we jumped back into the bus of death and headed back into the chaos of Russian roads. The death trap leaks carbon monoxide, grinds gears, shakes, rattles and we are praying doesn’t roll. The possibility of rolling requires speed and that is what we don’t have…a positive hey-oh. The team has taken the death box and the traffic just like they have taken everything on this trip, in stride with a positive attitude of adventure.

We went to a sports school to play an allstar team of sorts. Moscow had 6-8 of these volleyball schools (we heard differing numbers). This one was coached by Alexi Verbov’s mother. For those who don’t know Verbov was the libero for the Russian national team the past two Olympic cycles and is considered one of the best on the planet. It was an honor to meet her. When we arrived at the school the hallways were lined with pictures of Russian legends and trophies. A pretty intimidating entrance but what we saw when we walked into the gym was equally intimidating.

There were 24 6’3-6’7 athletes all with perfect arm swings and digging/passing technique playing pepper. It was like a little army barracks with the soldiers in the yard drilling. They were like robots in their play, we were thoroughly impressed. Once we began to play we realized that as perfect as their skills were they were still young. We beat them pretty soundly but it is now very clear why Russian volleyball is #2 in the world. There are 5-7 more of these in the city producing 12-15 athletes a year with these types of skills, size and athleticism.

After the match we had a time of sharing and Rudy gave his story again. We agreed to play this school again Friday and the coach said she would bring in some different players…aka ringers. We took the subway back to the death box and had fun experiencing the Moscow subway system. Like most European countries the subway system was very efficient and busy.

Back to the surface and back to home. Day one in Moscow completed and if we can survive the traffic, the death box and short nights it looks to be a great leg of the trip.

Go Spartans!!!