Links

Check out some recent stories that have come out about me:

http://nln24.com/news/story/ex-nantwich-youngster-gets-norwegian-chance

http://yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=blog&entry=114

http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=69730

Training!

I’ve had a pretty long day. We trained this morning and also this afternoon; tomorrow is a double training session day also. I really like the training at my club, everybody always works very hard and the level of training is very good. It is a good feeling to be able to train with a good club everyday and come off the field feeling good, from having worked hard and competing with good players day in, day out. That is huge for developing as a player and that is why I am here. I love training everyday and always do my best to improve every time I step on the field.

The quality of training in Norway is very good. All the players seem to be very committed and have a good skill level. It also helps we have a very good coach, he seems to really care about helping us develop as players and making the sessions enjoyable every day. In training we play a lot of small-sided games. Almost everyday we spend time playing 4V4, 5V5 or 6V6, etc. games. These games get very competitive and everybody always wants to win. Playing so many small-sided games makes training fun and it is a good way to keep match fitness up. Usually in our morning sessions, we work on technical skills, and do a lot of shooting and ball work. These sessions are usually really fun for everybody and it is usually my favorite way to start the day, even though it can be pretty tiring by the time were finished our afternoon session also.A typical session for us in the afternoon would consist of a good warm up and stretch, followed by possession squares (4V2 keep ball), some technical work and then finished with different varieties of small-sided games, like I mentioned above.

Here is an example of what my week of training with the team could look like:

Monday: Training 4:15

Tuesday: Training 10:00, Training 4:15

Wednesday: Training 4:15

Thursday: Training 10:00, 4:15

Friday: Training 4:15

Saturday: Training 11:00

Sunday: Off training (Watch First team game)

Monday: Game (Reserve team)

So we can have anywhere from 5-8 training sessions in a week, depending on our game schedule. I will probably also go to the gym 3-4 times a week on my own. So when I’m not training, I love to just relax and have some down time. I usually spend a lot of time on my laptop, going on Facebook and talking to my friends on Skype, watching movies and stuff like that. Anyways that’s all for now, I have another long day tomorrow!

Robbie.

Summer Camps

So it’s been a busy couple of weeks for me since I last wrote. I’ve been working really hard in training as usual, and we have been training a lot. On top of that I’ve been putting in an effort to get in the gym and lift weights as much as possible, so I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately. We've also had a few other activities outside of training to keep us busy the last two weeks...

Last week the club held summer football camps, which all of the players at the club coached at. When I found out I had to do two days of coaching I wasn’t too sure what to think. I really enjoy coaching, but I thought it would be a different challenge this time since I didn’t think the kids would be able to understand me. I was with a group of 11-13 year olds the first day and they all understood everything that I said. They all spoke almost perfect English, it was pretty impressive. The next day I was with a group of 7-8 year olds and it was a bit more of a challenge. But the kids seemed pretty excited that I was from Canada. They understood the basics and I was able to get my point across and we were able to talk about favorite teams, favorite players, etc, so it was a good day and I think the kids had fun all week.

The week before that, we were all told that we had a team activity after training one day and I didn’t really know what we were doing. All the players in the First and Reserve team were split into groups and given areas of town to go to and hand out tickets and club flags for people to put up on game days. I think this was a pretty good idea from the club to bring in more fans and it definitely seemed like it worked for the home game last weekend; at least it looked like there were a lot more fans there then there had been in recent weeks. Unfortunately the first team lost 2-0. Hopefully the fans were happy about their free tickets and continue to come out and support the club.

I have tomorrow off, which I'm really looking forward to... Next week we have a full week of training, which should be pretty intense. I'm going to try and update this more often, so keep an eye out for more posts this week!

Robbie.

Pictures of Bodø

Here are some pictures I have taken of Bodø, I will post some more later...

Saultstraumen (strongest tidal current in the world)

Midnight Sun in July

View of the whole city from the mountains

The other side of the mountains

View of the city from across the water

Town square in Bodø

Back in Bodø, Norway

I’m back in Norway after having four weeks off, which I spent at home in Canada. I had an awesome trip home and had a really great time catching up with friends and family. I also got to celebrate my 20^th Birthday at home. It was the first time I’ve been home for my birthday since I was 15, so I was pretty excited! I took a break from playing, other than the occasional fun kick around at the park, which was great because my body needed a solid rest. I did spend some time coaching for my old club Peace Arch Soccer Club, at their Summer soccer camps; the same camps I played in when I was about 10 years old! It was pretty fun for me. As usual it was hard to pack up and leave, but I’m happy I got a chance to spend some time at home and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season here.

I had a very tough trip back to Bodø. It started at 3 am Tuesday morning when I left my house and headed to Vancouver Airport. I then flew from Vancouver to Chicago, where I had 6.5 hours in between flights. I spent that time getting McDonalds and Starbucks for one last time, since I can’t get either of those things in Bodø. Then I got on a plane to Frankfurt, which was a decent flight. I had a seat in between me and the other guy in my row and he hardly moved the whole flight, so it was pretty comfortable. From Frankfurt I flew to Oslo, which was a pretty easy flight, but I was starting to feel pretty tired. I usually can sleep on planes, but not very well, so I had a pretty hard time staying awake during my 2.5 hours at Oslo Airport. It felt pretty good to get on my final flight to Bodø. It is only a bit over an hour flight from Oslo and I managed to sleep nearly the whole flight. I got some pretty cool pictures from the plane of the area around Bodø, its an amazing view from the plane. I will try and post them later if I can figure out how to upload pictures from my blackberry to my computer. I arrived in Bodø around 5 pm on Wednesday, which means I was traveling for about 30 hours straight. I went for a run as soon as I arrived, because even though I was tired I usually feel much better the next day if I get a run in as soon as I arrive somewhere. It felt pretty good to go to bed and I slept for 13 hours straight, until 1 pm the next day.

It felt a bit strange to arrive back in Bodø after a month in Canada, but it was nice coming back to somewhere I had already been to and to a team I had already been training with for around 6 weeks though. I was pretty tired when I arrived, but I was also excited to get back into training. I had my first session last Thursday and I was exhausted, but I felt okay at training. My legs were feeling a bit heavy, but that is to be expected because it was also my first competitive training session in a while. Training on Friday was also good and we had Saturday off. There was a game Sunday, but I was not eligible to play due to my International Clearance not going through in time. I am disappointed because I was looking forward to playing my first game, but hopefully it gets sorted out as quickly as possible. The team won 6-1 and played very well. It was a great first game back for the team and the perfect way to get things on the right track from the start. Today (Monday) I went to the gym to do some weights and then went straight to training from there. It was a hard session, but it was fun. We are training again tomorrow and then we have an away game on Wednesday, which I do not know if I will be eligible to play in yet.

Anyways, that’s all for now. I’m feeling happy to be back and looking forward to the rest of the week. I can't wait to get onto the field for a game, hopefully it's soon!

Robbie.

Update

Okay, time for an update. I had hoped to write again sooner, but this is the first chance I’ve had.It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me, lots of training. We train at least once everyday, but quite often twice a day. The quality of training is very good and so far I’m really enjoying playing and living in Norway.

A lot of people might wonder, how does a Canadian player end up playing North of the Arctic Circle in Norway? To be honest I never thought I would end up playing for a club this far North, but playing in Norway is something I’ve always been interested in. I was lucky enough to visit Norway with my family, when I was 6 and 15 years old. Both times we stayed with relatives close to a small town called Stjørdal. Since then, I have always thought about the possibility of coming to play here.

Following my season in England, I knew I needed a change. I wanted to try something new and that was when the opportunity to come to Norway came my way. I got invited to go on trial with 1^st Division team Ranheim FK, in Trondheim. I headed to Norway, right after my season in England finished and stayed with my relatives close to Trondheim. The trial with Ranheim went well and was a great experience, but I did not sign for the club. Following that I trained with a 3^rd Division team called Tangmoen Il in Stjørdal and they asked me to sign for them, but I wanted to look at other options first. So my cousin helped me put out a few phone calls to other clubs and I got invited to go to Byåsen FK, a 2^nd Division team in Trondheim to tryout. I was doing very well; but during my trial, I got invited to go to the town of Bodø, to tryout for the 2nd team of First Division club, FK Bodø/Glimt. I couldn't say no to the chance to tryout for a great club like Bodø/Glimt. It was a fantastic opportunity for me.

So the next week I jumped on a plane and headed to the North of Norway. I didn’t know what to expect when I first arrived, but to my surprise it all seemed pretty normal. After a week of training, they asked me to join their 2nd team for the remainder of the 2010 season. I have now been training with the club for almost 5 weeks and I’m really enjoying it. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to play a game yet for the club, because of some paperwork issues and my International Clearance hasn’t gone through yet from England. So now I’m just waiting for that and then hopefully I can start playing. There is only one more game before our summer break, so it looks like I might have to wait until August now to play.

I’m heading home to Canada next week, which I’m very excited for. It will be the first time I’ve been home in over 6 months and I will also be home for my 20^th Birthday (July 24^th). It should be great to see my family and friends and spend a bit of time at home. But for now, I'm hoping to have a good final week here before I head home.

Coming soon, I'll write more about Bodø and what life is like here. But for now, here is a photo of Aspmyra Stadion, Bodø/Glimt's stadium; this is where we train everyday. After a long week of training, we have tomorrow off and I'll be watching the 1st team's game there tomorrow vs Alta IF, in the Adeccoligaen.

Robbie.

First Post

Finally I’m writing my first post on my Blog. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while and now I finally have time to write on a regular basis.

I’ve spent the last two years away from my home in White Rock, Canada playing soccer in Europe. It all started two years ago, after I graduated from High School. I headed over to Scotland on a one-way ticket to tryout for Ayr United FC of the Scottish Second Division. I spent one season with the club, before moving to Nantwich Town FC of the Northern Premier League in England last year.

I will be playing for FK Bodø/Glimt 2, Reserve team of Bodø/Glimt of the Norwegian First Division. So far I have had a great experience in Norway. Time is flying; I’ve been in Norway for almost two months already, which is hard to believe. On my blog I’m hoping to write regularly about my experiences living and playing abroad. I also plan to write about some of my past experiences over the last two years playing in Europe and post pictures regularly. I hope that you enjoy my posts and if you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at robbie.tice@mac.com I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks and Enjoy,

Robbie.