A look at what we have

I thought I would show a little about our field and facilities which are result of this clubs 21 years of working their tails off. Last year at the 20th anniversary of the start of the Arlanda Jets, they showed some pictures of the first practice...on a gravel field. This club has a strong tradition of getting things done and this is a picture blog of the things that have come to pass over the last few years that I have been here. But don't get the wrong idea. These were not done because of me. The spirit and leadership in the club has been working hard for many, many years to get these things accomplished....
This picture is a picture of our new press box that will be up and running for this season. Not sure if there will be a big buffet served up for the "press" but it will certainly serve a great purpose and most importantly, it has a second floor which will provide a great film angle for the side shot...that's most important to me.

Here is a shot from across the field at the Bleachers and new press box. The field is 3rd generation turf and seems to be holding up fantastic. You can see that there is plenty of snow piled up on the sides, but that is postitve. Our Kommune, local municipality, does a great job in the winter plowing the field off as the snow comes down. Since it is not heated underneath, keeping the snow off, helps the field thaw quick and also gives us the opportunity to work-out on it as much as we can. If the weather cooperates, we can play just about year around. Usually, December, January and Feburary are a little chilly in this area of the world, but there have been mild winters, where we were able to have outdoor practice and not freeze at those times...this year...was not an option...

Here is the weight room that is under the bleachers. This is all started as an idea when we moved the current bleachers from the old field to this place. The bleachers used to rest on the ground at the old field. When we moved to this new field, the idea about moving the bleachers came up. Then the idea to raise them up, followed by the "what will we do with the space underneath"---and the weight room was born....it has been a long process and not quite finished in finality, but we have 4 plat-forms with 150kg per platform. We train using the general idea to create movement---create strength--create power and speed....sounds fancy to write...bottom line is "hard work works." Simple...but true.....

This is the last project left in the wieght room. In the space you see there, we are working on getting some rubber flooring and 3rd generation turf put in on top of the rubber flooring. This will give us a unique opportunity to have an 15 yrd long and roughly 10 yard wide space of turf to work on everything from plyos to take-offs to individual techniques....it will feel very good if we get that done....

So that is a quick lood at our facilities we have at the Arlanda Jets. I don't post it to brag, just to give a look at what has been done. To any of my American friends who read this the thing to understand is that there is no organized school sports like we had when we grew up. No athletic department to buy stuff...every sport is a club and the people who want to have a football team put it together...What we have is a true credit to the committed people within the club that heard many "NO" responses, but hung in there and slowly the NO's turned to "Yes" and it seems to be non-stop right now.  I would also have to mention that we are not the only club in Sweden with a promising future. There are other clubs that are working hard and are developing and educating good football players. As an American who grew up in School sports and coached College football for 15 years, it is amazing to see the hard work that these people put into making the sport work and their clubs work so that our sport can grow....
Until next time...as a lineman remember....To win the battle, you have to have leverage...to get leverage you have to be able to sink your hips...what exercises help you do that??? Do them....