Warberg Goalie Camp, summer 2015! ... and a lot of cake.

Finally!

I finally got to return to Warberg Goalie Camp for a second time. 8 months is a long time, but it makes the reunion with the goalies, coaches and the arena that much more special. I took one week off from work and informed my teams in Pixbo where I coach that I would be away for one week, but  that I would return fired up and enlightened with new ideas, techniques and thoughts. That is exactly what I did.

Cake. I also got cake.

I turned 25 and Wihlma turned 17 on the second to last day of camp and we were properly celebrated as soon as some of our friends and fellow goalies found out that we shared a birthday. I tend to not make a big deal out of my birthday which could be because of the fact that I haven't been at home (at my parent's) on the day of my birthday for a long time, or maybe because I generally don't like making a big deal out of things but either way, this was a fantastic way to celebrate. 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

This is the group of amazing people who were responsible for buying all of the "fika" (Swedish word for... cake and stuff) and not only that; their passion for floorball and goaltending makes coaching even more worthwhile.  

There was also a third cake that we all actually ate but in this picture, there are only the face-smashing cakes. There was even Pommac (non-alcoholic version of champagne, kind of) and small fancy glasses in plastic.

We also had to pose for 6 different cameras before proceeding with the fika.

On three!

"Let's blow out the candle together on three." 

I of course wanted to win, so I went on two!

We ate and laughed whilst waiting for the ice cream cakes to thaw and eventually... this happened. 

As you can see, I was very focused with eating the cake on my face (without using my hands) before it fell off. When I then realized that it wasn't going to fall off, I dove in for a second bite. Absolutely delicious!

Oh and yeah, floorball.

 We didn't just eat cake, we did some floorballing as well! Seen above is coach Lundin going over a drill during the first day of camp, before he went with the men's team to Czech Open. Seen in the foreground sporting the Målvaktsfokus company t-shirt is Lina who was in charge of social media for the second time at Warberg Goalie Camp. She has a keen eye when it comes to knowing what to capture on film, you can check out the videos from the camp at Warberg Goalie Camp on Facebook!

Let's keep going!

Remember when you were about 14 years old and absolutely impossible to wear out, when you could keep going for hours on end and when you couldn't get hurt because your body was made of mostly rubber and magic? 

That phenomenon is exactly what these girls displayed by attending not two but four days of camp, and when the days came to an end they stayed in their gear and asked instructors and players to keep going. One of the days when I was just about done both mentally and physically, they came up to me and wanted to practice penalty shootouts. I was immediately inspired by their energy and of course, stayed on the court to practice penalties with them for at least another half hour. For them, that was a total of 4 extra hours in gear.

The Fantastic Five.
Ellen, Sara, Beatrice, Sara, Alice. Missing from the previous picture is Ida.

That kind of commitment and interest spurs me and almost gives me the shivers even now. To get to work with such inspired players is a coach dream come true!

Warberg men's team goalie Tobias Jernsand showing the angles in the net from the perspective of the ball.

"You will need your mask for this next drill."

A key point to practice is keeping your head at compete-level. What better way to do that then engaging in a one on one reaction drill with a king of the hill element?

To add further to the spirit of competition, wrestling became a natural part of the drill. This was so much fun to watch! 

All the participants from Goalie Camp step 1.

All the participants from Goalie Camp step 2

All the participants from Goalie Camp step 3.

A huge thanks as always to Per Svedin and Oscar Lundin for this amazing camp. You are an inspiration for all of us and working with you is an absolute pleasure. Here's to many more years of goalie training! 

That is all for now. I leave you with this year's rendition of Warber Goalie Dance! Thank you Elin and Ida for the choreography and choice of music! 

Don't forget to check out Warberg Goalie Camp here:

Instagram: @warberggoaliecamp

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wbggoaliecamp

Website: http://wgc.warbergic.se/

/Pontus