September 10th, 2010: Moscow, Russia
This was the final day of the volleyball phase of the Russia Tour. It began early and ended late but all was great. The first match was to be against a team in the Dynamo Moscow club system. When we arrived we discovered the match would be played in a forest. As we walked into the university that was “home base” to our opponents, Dynamo Olymp, we were dwarfed by the giant, young, trees. We had heard the night before that this team was going to be big and could block well but we did not realize that what they meant was they blocked out the sun. Six foot six to six foot ten was the height range of our opponents. To make things more impressive was their age range was 15 to 19. This team is the “youth” development team for the parent club Dynamo Moscow. They compete in a Russian professional league called 1st Division. This league mandates that all athletes must be under 20. Apparently the team graduated 7 players from the previous year’s team to the High League A development team. The Russian development system is complex but we think that we’ve figured it out:
Sport School: Volleyball Focus (15-17 years)
Club Youth Development Team (15-19 years)
Sport University: Volleyball Focus (17-21 years)
Club Development Team: High League A/B (20-24)
Advanced University Training: Non-Volleyball Focus (21-25)
Superleage Professional / High League A (20-40)
Pro Leagues:
1st Division (Dynamo Olymp – today’s team)
High League B (the team we played when Marc got hurt)
High League A (most of the players from the sport university)
Super League (Kazan, Dynamo Moscow, etc)
Now that it is as clear to you as it is to me (note the hint of sarcasm) we can move on. Where were we…oh yes…the forest. We quickly changed as we were running late, standard for the Spartans in this country. When we hit the court our opponents looked even bigger than they did in the lobby. We had a chance to talk with the coach and the intimidation continued as we discovered he had coached in Brazil and hadn’t lost a major competition the entire time he was there. He started name-dropping, usually not a desirable practice, unless of course you are dropping names like Sergio, Gustavo and Heller (all gold medalists with Brazil and legends of the game). DJ was joking that the mind games were in full effect, true that but we concede the battle of minds to the guy who helped develop the best libero in the history of the planet (Sergio).
Warm up started and a very nervy Spartan squad began to shake out the edginess and tired legs from the short turn around from the night before. As hitting warm up began it started to become clear just how young our opponents were. Their arm speed and pop in the legs just wasn’t the same as the Sport University team we played the previous night. The battle of minds may have gone to the opposing coach (it usually does) but the battle of bodies looked like it was strongly leaning the Spartan way.
The match followed the trend of the warm up for the first two sets. The Spartans were just too physical and too well skilled to be tested too much by the young Dynamos. It was very clear that we were playing future world superstars with the operative word being future. Two quick sets had the Spartans sitting pretty in the third when…Boom…just like when the Death Box hits a pothole the Spartan machine was shaken. The Spartans looked very tired and the young Russians were getting better and more confident, especially from the baseline. Set three to the Russians.
After our beloved bus (Death Box) hit a pothole the following few kilometers were a little hairy as it lurched, shuttered and shook. Just when we thought a breakdown was inevitable sweet DB caught her rhythm and we continued. The fourth set was much that way. The Spartans found their rhythm and continued on the same path building a 22-18 lead…Boom. Uh-oh, not again…big hole and the axel has to be gone. There was a stench, things were uncomfortable, we were hot, tired and cranky…wait I forgot what part of the analogy we are talking about…no matter its about the same. In the fifth the Spartans recovered their rhythm and rolled smoothly to the destination, safe, sound and thankful to be done that exhaust-ing journey. It was a great example of toughness and grit as the Spartans found a way amid a variety of distractions and continue to not let anything come in their way as they pursue their goals.
After the match the teams had a chance to share together and Dan JVD gave his story. He did a fantastic job and has a career in speech writing should he choose. Again it was clear that these were very young men that we were speaking to but they were very friendly, like all the Russians we have met thus far. Unfortunately we had to get moving and it was time for lunch…McDonalds, hey-oh. Rotten Ronnie’s has now become our go to for a little taste of home.
After gorging ourselves we made our way over to the volleyball sports school to play the younglings again. This time it was to be an official match not just a five set scrimmage. When we arrived the kids were excited to see us again and they remembered/researched our names and said hi to us individually as we walked in. The volleyball community in Moscow, like in Canada, is a small world and word travels fast. They knew all of our results and were talking about it with us when we arrived.
Canadians and Russians have a lot in common. Similar look physically except they are the bullies on the playground we are the bullied size wise. Similar climate, vegetation, diet, sports interests, etc. Both nations are very competitive but one of the major differences we’ve noticed is the amount of pride the Russians have, in a good way. This match was another example of the Russian pride that broke the might of Napoleon and Hitler like Lucas against the rocks in Sochi. While we were not attempting to conquer a nation we were trying to win another volleyball game against some very young and talented kids. What we saw in that match was some of the most inspired defense and big play ability you could imagine on a 17 year old. We played our babies and toddlers against them to level the playing field and we gave them all we had. Those little, sorry not little, young Russians dig everything and transitioned it right back. Their coach had either lit a fire in them or they were showing their best for a national hero who was in attendance. Just before the game a mountain of a man walked into the gym and immediately Victor the Russian ran over and introduced me to Kazakov. One of the Russian Senior National Team’s middle blockers who was just playing in the World League Final a couple months prior to this meeting. I’m sure his 7 foot presence inspired the young Russians to play well. To OUR younglings’ credit they played well in the face of adversity and won in four sets.
After this match we had another time of sharing. The young students spoke some English so there were a number of great conversations. This was our most friendly time of sharing and showed that it was a great idea to come back to further the relationships with these young superstars. After lots of talking, joking and trading it was time to head home. A late night return and a big day of sightseeing in Red Square awaited our morning’s rise.
The volleyball phase of the tour is now over. The recap is:
Sochi #1: W 4-1
Sochi #2: W 3-1
Anapa Inside: L 1-4
Anapa Outside: L 0-3
Krasnodar Culture Centre #1: 2-0
#2: 2-0
Krasnodar Agriculture University: W 3-2
Prison: W Got out alive
Mykop: W 3-2
Moscow Sport School: W 4-1
Moscow Sport University: W 3-2
Dynamo Olymp: W 3-2
Moscow Sport School: W 3-1
One bump on the road on an otherwise perfect record. If this tour was all about volleyball it would be a success but it is about so much more. That more is where this tour’s biggest successes lay.
Go Spartans!!!
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