Day 10 - March 28, 2014

Day Ten started with everyone trying to fit in their last few "must-see" things with the girls before they go to their billets.  Many of the parents also had to finalize their shopping since the tournament starts tomorrow, and we will no longer be in the city.  A small group took the short ferry to Suomenlinna the sea fortress in the mouth of Helsinki Harbour.

At 1:30pm all of the girls got together for formal team pictures.  The weather was perfect and all of the girls looked awesome.  The scene looked like a press conference at Senate Square in front of the Helsinki Cathedral, with many of the parents snapping photos too.  I have included a couple of my quick blog snap shots, but the official photos will come from Heather once we return.  Heather did a great job coordinating and organizing the photos today.  A few challenges presented themselves, but no one got run over, and those people in the background that we politely asked to move, were happy to oblige.

After the pictures, everyone split up for the last hour or so with the girls in the city.  Shopping, eating and even sleeping were the priorities.  After that, many in the group boarded the bus to the Klaukkala Icehall for a joint Sting/Finnish practice.  This practice was shared with many of the players from our host Nurmijarvi and Kerava teams.  Some of the Nurmijarvi coaches were nice enough to run the practice and they did a great job with 36 skaters and 4 goalies on the ice at once.  The Finns are amazing hosts and they even had a welcome sign at the rink for us.  They graciously set up a table and provided coffee, tea, juice, cookies and delicious bread for our players and parents.  The Finns are always so nice to us!

It was exciting when our bus first arrived at the icehall, as most of the Finnish girls were already there and waiting for us.  Many of our players finally had the opportunity to meet their host billet girls (and families) that they have been communicating with for several months now.  After practice, our girls loaded up their gear with their billet families, while our parents took the bus back to Helsinki with 21 empty seats.  It was a much quieter ride home.  It certainly seemed that the girl's transfer to the billets was much harder on the parents than the girls.

My observations for Day 10:

• The Finns are, once again, proving to be great hosts.
• The ringette world really is small.  Prior to the girl's practice, we had the opportunity to watch a bunny/novice Finnish ringette practice.  It looked very much like any similar practice at home.  Little ringette players are the same on the ice, and leaving the ice, wherever you go.  It made me smile as they trudged out of the rink, smiling, with big equipment bags in tow.  We did notice a few "technical" differences in the practices, and have discussed bringing some of those ideas back.
• It was nice to see my friend Jari Kauppinen again.  He has done an incredible amount work, on the other side of the world, to make this trip a reality.  Even though his daughter is older, and not part of this group, Jari has had the vision to see the benefits of our trip for both ringette communities, and more importantly the girls themselves.
• I never want to see Canada mittens again.  They are a perfect gift idea, but I think there is a coaching conspiracy to drive me crazy.
• Most importantly - Tomorrow is game day!!!!