"My son just attended one of the camps in Harrodsburg, KY. I am writing this letter to express my sincere appreciation for the way one of your staff members communicated the game of soccer. My son has played competitive soccer for several years and is playing on his middle school team. Colm Muldoon really expanded my son’s knowledge of the game and how to work as a team. Everything was communicated in a very positive way. His energy and passion for the game is extraordinary. My son said that he made the camp fun and gave good communication during drills to understand why he was doing the drills. I am looking forward to sending my son to future Eurotech® Camps. Thanks for the positive experience for my son."
Tom Hartlage, Parent, Mercer Youth Soccer Association, Kentucky
"I know that I have already told you, but I’ll tell you again so you can pass the word along. We had the best camp, and the kids loved Neil and Maurice! I could really tell a difference at the end of the week in the kids and their skills. I can’t thank you all enough for helping us out and giving us the opportunity to meet and have this kind of a program for our town. Our soccer program started about 4 years ago and went from 80 kids to 420 this past spring. I’m sure that we will continue to grow. Our town has always hasd this wonderful baseball team and prided themselves on that program...well our soccer program has far supassed that baseball program! They have NEVER offered such a great and awesome experience as Eurotech® has allowed us to offer! I feel like we have even passed our sister city, Greensboro, in that they haven’t offered such a program either. We will definitely have another camp next year and our goal will be to have twice as many kids. Thanks again for a SUPER JOB! You work for a wonderful company and we here in Pleasant Garden, NC will spread the word! In the next two weeks there will be a big Fox TV sports presentation on our camp, telling about Eurotech®. We can’t wait to see it. It was also on TV Friday evening, but just a small piece. Keep up the super work!! Keep those wonderful fellows coming back! Or as Neil say "mates." Hope you have a great day!"
Cheryl Stone, Camp Coordinator, Pleasant Garden Soccer, North Carolina
"As Camp Coordinator, Kelly Cassidy of the Marshfield Parks & Recreation Department deserves a big pat on the back for taking care of the administration of the camp. There were many, many details that needed to be worked out in order to make this happen. As we evaluated where we go from here, the opinion of the participants is very important. I was given only very positive feedback from the kids and parents that I talked with. The consensus seemed to be that we need to bring Eurotech® back again next year. Thanks for a great week!"
Howard Hoffman, Coach, City of Marshfield, Wisconsin
"Petr worked with the U12 academy boys and part of the U13 Athena girls’ team. He also conducted a goalkeeping instructional session for Titans’ netminders. He stayed with the Currys. We have loved having Petr stay with us. He has been a blessing. Petr is excited and fulfills a lifelong dream to come to America and see it first hand. He is looking forward to the opportunity to come back to the US again in the future, maybe as a student or on a job with a soccer related field. He loves everything about US and has found Americans to be a basically happy people. With all the changes in Czech Republic since the wall came down, there are still adjustments being made to true freedom. The younger generation has embraced the change although the older generation is still finding it difficult to accept and adjust to. He came initially to improve and work on his English skills. He has taught himself 3 other languages as well. He has a 14 year old son who loves and is a skilled hockey player."
The Currys, Host Family, Report from Troup Titans Soccer Club, Georgia
"Fokko worked with the ’91 Titans 9U16 boys team) and stayed with the Piestraks. Fokko was great. He really became like a part of the family. We are still finding little things he left or did while he was here. An interesting story, getting out of the shower one morning, a family discovered someone had written "Fokko is cool" on the mirror in the steam. Of course you can only see it when the mirror is steamed up. We all talked about it and that was that. Saturday after Fokko had left, Matt hollered for me to come to the bathroom right away, I heard the shower running and was somewhat apprehensive. Matt opened the door very quickly, pulled me in and closed the door again. Written on the mirror now was "Thanks for everything, Fokko." We have a thank you note that is encrypted in steam. Later that evening I was changing the sheets in the room Fokko used, Donald came and noticed Fokko had left a practice device, ball with a string you put around your waist for the boys. We discussed so many things and he was very honest with Matt about his skills and abilities. He shared things he needed to improve. He laughed, talked and really seemed to enjoy being in a home sharing an American family, including the craziness. We were extremely fortunate with the support from the other members of the U16 families. They basically handled the lunch break for Fokko daily. It was a huge help. Understanding the youth soccer system in Europe helps me understand the vast difference in level of play between US and European players. The entire process was culturally and emotionally enriching."
Laura, Matt, Donald and Lala Piestraks, Host Family, Report from Troup Titans Soccer Club, Georgia
"Nucu worked with the ’90 Titans (U17 boys team) and stayed with the Luebbers. I just wanted to let you know of a few of the experiences we had with Nucu. We watched him have some new experiences like going to Wal-Mart. His first comment was "You could live in here!" We shopped for his children (clothes) and it was fun to watch him try to pick out the perfect outfits for them. We took him out to dinner twice, first at Cisco’s Mexican Restaurant. The second restaurant was Bonzi the Japanese Steak House. Bran and Fokko joined us there. We put the three of them front and center of the chef. They were all smiles and laughed the entire time. They acted just like kids again. The last night we had him with us we took him on the Yate’s ski boat. He tried to wake board but could not manage it. Afterward he said he just did it to try to cheer Eric up after his accident before we took him to the hospital. That is the kind of guy he is, he really is a very caring man and became attached to Eric. Again Bran and Fokko joined us. It was the first time they had ever been on such a fast boat and been pulled on a tube. Fokko said, "We have to do a camp here next year!""
The Luebbers, Host Family, Report from Troup Titans Soccer Club, Georgia
"Leon worked with the evening recreational campers as well as girls from the U13 and U16 Athena teams. He stayed with the Martins. Not knowing the exact day our Eurotech® guest would be arriving, I made the statement last week that “someone, from somewhere, is coming sometime, to stay with us for a week", being an “owner” of a global heart, Eurotech® hosting provided a wonderful opportunity to connect with a global neighbor! Coach from
Holland, represented his family, his country, and the game of soccer so very well! He told many stories of his life both on and off the field. Growing up in
Holland, English is taught as a 10 year old. Then, as a 13 year old, German is added, then French. He continued in his study of English and German throughout school. Today, his love of coaching and teaching others the sport he loves, along with his foreign language and athletic skills, have given him job opportunities many would dream of. Five months of the year he’s a ski director/instructor in Austria. Two months of the year he coaches soccer in the U.S. with Eurotech®. Two months of the year coaching in Norway. One month of the year coaching in
Holland and then two months vacation! The coaches, with a variety of fun, disciplined and challenging activities, have raised the bar for the individuals who participated in Eurotech® Camp. The coaches, with their skills and their love and understanding of the game, have stretched our boys in their skills and love and understanding of the game."
The Martins, Host Family, Report from Troup Titans Soccer Club, Georgia
"Anjo was the “head coach” of the Eurotech® coaching contingent. He stayed with the Huttons. Anjo trained the U14 Titans’ boys and U16 Titans’ girls. Anjo was from Holland and what we enjoyed was understanding the cultural differences between the US and
Holland. They are primarily a meat and potatoes culture with very little rice eaten during meals. Breakfast consists of whole grain breads and lunch meats. They eat a lot of peanut butter also and enjoy a chocolate spread on their bread versus jelly. Organized religion, while a majority of the people profess to belong to a church, is not growing. They have gone back to more of a strict worship, more classical, and this is driving the young people away. Anjo really enjoyed seeing a traditional southern Baptist worship service and how it was more laid back compared to his church. While they have cars over in Holland, they are a lot smaller than what we have here in the U.S.. Anjo drives a Ford Escort Station wagon and pays nearly eight dollars a gallon for gas. Most young adults will ride their bikes to and from clubs and to school. Most of their driving is within 5 to 10 miles from their home. Anjo first came to the U.S. four years ago and he liked seeing all the things that he had grown up seeing on television about the U.S.. Everything is so much bigger and better than what he imagined. He likes seeing the small town America like you would see in the movies and television shows. Anjo was able to experience riding a jet ski for the first time and going to Dairy Queen for the first time. He has come to enjoy Gold Fish (the food) and Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. Both of those he can not readily get over in
Holland."
The Huttons, Host Family, Report from Troup Titans Soccer Club, Georgia
"Bram stayed with the Monleys and trained the ’94 Titans (U13 boys’ team) It was fun to take Bram, Fokko, and Nucu to Bonzai (our local Japanese steak house. They said they have never been to a restaurant like that (they laughed like our kids used to before they knew the show by heart). Bram really enjoyed going out on the lake on Friday night with the Luebbers, McCrary’s. and Yates’. We were going to rent jet skis on Saturday, but they ended up leaving early. I wish we had more time to take him sightseeing. Although Bram spoke very good English, there were a few times when you could tell he either did not understand or did not know the words to convey what he meant. He was very well mannered and very appreciative of everything. His soccer background was kinda sad. He was on track to become a professional soccer player, but tore his ACL (this was one of the things we could not be absolutely sure of because of translation), took a year off to recover, and then was told he could never catch up. He left home at age 15 to go to three year boarding school to become a soccer coach. He is now 21, so he has quite a lot of experience coaching kids. He will start school in the fall to become a school teacher, since the professional soccer dream did not work out. He is still in a semi-pro soccer club, and will start back with that as soon as he gets back to
Holland. He was here a bit by chance. His girlfriend broke up with him in March. I asked him if he would have done Eurotech® if they had still been dating, and he said definitely not. He talked about coming back next summer. He likes to watch movies and listen to music. He was very dedicated to his sport (did not smoke, very little drinking, good nutrition). I tried to ask him about his training at home, but the language barrier did not allow for much elaboration on this. His father grows tulips in
Holland, and he showed us a picture of his crop (beautiful!).
The Monleys, Host Family, Report from Troup Titans Soccer Club, Georgia
