Easter Weekend 2023

Fri.-Mon., April 7-10, 2023

Lots of good family time again this weekend.

Easter Weekend is a time for

family and reflection afterall

On Friday, Michael, Vanessa,

Jacob and Mary came to our house

for an Easter Egg Hunt

The dynamics of family life made Good Friday the best day for us to get together.

Above, Michael is holding up Laurie's sign about the strict rules of this year's hunt.

Mary and Jacob each found

their fair share of Easter Bunny magic

The Easter Bunny also left each of

them an Easter Basket of goodies

Mary loved her first ever kaleidoscope and Jacob was equally into his initial harmonica experience.

I have no words

We all enjoyed one of Laurie's great family holiday dinners this time featuring ham as the traditional main dish.

Because it was Easter weekend, the Camarillo Cosmos did not participate in a track meet on Saturday.

That is not to say that the three of us

did not attend a Saturday track meet

 

The 53rd Annual

Arcadia Invitational Track Meet

This is arguably the best high school track meet in the United States drawing incredible talent from every part of the country.

The stands were packed

Every square inch of every Arcadia H.S. athletic field was in use for warm-ups if not for an actual event save the baseball and softball infields.

Directly in front of our seats, you see the Women's Pole Vault runway and landing pit.

The winner of this event was a Senior from Capital H.S. in Olympia, Washington. Hana Moll cleared the bar at 15'-0" to become the first woman in American high school history to clear the 15 foot barrier in an outdoor meet!

The second place finisher was another Senior from Capital H.S., Hana's sister Amanda Moll who had a best of 13'-3".

Quite the Pole Vaulting family don't you think?

Jacob and I watched some

excellent discus throwers

Tyler Poole of Utah's Layton H.S.

won the Discus with a hefty toss of

192'-6"

I saw this hilarious sign pleading for

stronger Arcadia Apaches baseball players

The competition in the discus had its landing area in the baseball field's left and center field areas.

The 110 Meter Hurdles Champion was

Davis Davis-Lyric of California's Upland H.S

in a time of 13.85

An interesting name combination to go along with speed and technical prowess.

Jacob watch some REALLY fast

young women race by him

Dreaming never hurts

There were no Italian Football League games scheduled for this weekend but there were still some good all-star games being played on the Continent.

IFAF sponsored a series of marquee

match-ups featuring U-19 National Teams

Team Italy romped

I coached Italy's Catania Elephants in 2008 and 2009 and the Varese Skorpions in 2018, 2019 and the Covid shortened 2020 season.

I've never coached in Great Britain.

Spain also had an easy time of it

My Spanish experience includes the Murcia Cobras in 2015 and with both the Osos Rivas and their feeder club, the Guadalajara Stings, in the suburbs of Madrid in the Fall of 2016.

Again, I have no coaching experience in Belgium.

Germany just loves European

land acquisition games of all types

Germany is regarded as one of Europe's two best American football countries. I have never coached in Deutschland.

I had the absolute joy of coaching the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons during the long 2012-13 season that ended with a 12-0 record and a French DIII National Championship.

An all Scandinavian battle

Lots of BIG people in this game I'm sure.

My Swedish coaching experience consists of the 2010 season with the Hässleholm Hurricanes and time with the Wäsby Warriors in Spring of both 2016 and 2017.

My only American football experience involving the Danes was a Hässleholm road trip to scrimmage Denmark's Frederikssund Oaks.

It was cold.

The Czech Republic has a strong team

I've not coached in the Czech Republic but have great respect for their level of play given the Czech coach and players that we've had on our five Europe Warriors all-star clubs over the years.

I did spend an amazing year coaching the Thun Tigers in the heart of the Swiss Alps during 2012.

Austria is the other consistently top notch

notch country for American football

Our 2019 U-18 Europe Warriors team played the Austrian National Team in 2019 and got drubbed. Austria is indeed good.

Finland is another country where I have not coached.

Lots of good European National Team U-19 football over the weekend to be sure.

The Italian Football League will be in full swing again next weekend with eight of the nine team in action. The 1-2 Varese Skorpions will host the 0-3 Emilia Stainless Steel Warriors on Sunday.

I hope that you all enjoyed a . . .

HAPPY EASTER!