Rolund's offseason lead him to of course a place well know to him Azoroth, he was tasked with holding camps everywhere he could. The first stop of course Ironforge where football is booming because of the attention Onyxgut gets, purple and orange or green and gold jerseys everywhere. Second stop was Stormwind where the humans are really starting to get football seeing that other humans are really good at football. Last stop on his alliance trip was the Exodar where sports are a bit of a hard sell to the Draeni, but there is a growing number of players though with a collegiate team that for sure could hold some stars. The scariest part of the trip was heading to Orgimar but once arriving everything went very well the young orcs and trolls love football and most took to it like a dwarf to a keg. The last stop and one of Rolunds favorite places Mulgore where the Taurens love football but it was a good opportunity to get a little more eyes on the ISFL.
When the Japanese American Football League (the JFL) reached out to Cape Town, Justin Willis knew he had to jump on board. He'd known about the niche league for quite awhile as he tried to keep up with all the "amateur" leagues around the world to help keep his team informed of any undiscovered sleepers. While in Japan, he led a workshop primarily focused on (you guessed it) Offensive Line play, and noticed that a lot of the players were focusing on the technical aspects of the position instead of really building up their raw instincts. He found some success in relating the position to Sumo wrestling. A lot of the older players there had already made that connection but he was able to get some of the young guns to let go of a lot of their technical thinking and operate more on pure instinct and willpower. The penalties might have gone up slightly, but he walked away knowing that he'd gotten at least a few of those young men to understand the passion for the position that he had.
As we all know, the Ultimus locations get dumber and dumber each season. The ISFL decided to see if there was enough interest in Svalbard, Norway, so they sent Arizona Outlaws running back Danny Nedelko to the Arctic Circle to scout the place out (he volunteered, as it was a drug test cycle).
What he found was a cold, borderline uninhabitable place without the population of infrastructure to either warrant or support such a prestigious sporting event. He visited a statue of Lenin in Barentsburg (the pictures did not play well with the football fan base), went to see some polar bears and visited the Svalbard Global Seed Valut for to particular reason except there aren't many thing to do on Svalbard and he doesn't like to be outside for too long, as it ages his skin. Nedelko left Svalbard 10 pounds lighter, as he refuses to eat fish, and reported back that it was one of the worst possible locations to hold the Ultimus. The ISFL were still considering it, however, as there was a cool logo.
With sumo being a huge sport and lifestyle in Japan, the country has been exploring some trainings of football and teachings of offensive line to the sumo community. With Raya Ho'opa'i being of Asian descent, what better ISFL player to champion the initiative in Japan. She was treated as royalty there and, essentially, showed a "Day in the life" of an ISFL offensive lineman to 20 interested participants. Whatever Raya would do, these participants would also do. From the early morning wake up, to a hearty breakfast (pancakes included, of course), to her typical training regimen, to her mental health meditations, community service, and massive dinner prior to an early bed time. Little did the participants know that they would be competing with each other for a chance to showcase their talents to ISFL scouts back in the US. The top performing individual would fly back to the US with Raya for their very own try out. It wasn't all about the physical test, but also mental fortitude, and professionalism.
During the Offseason, my team & I got to travel to Brazil to hold a Football workshop. We also travelled to Italy, the 2 countries we travelled to. When we were in Brazil, we helped a lot of practices on the field as well as off-field workouts and strength building. We helped them in Brazil build a workout & fitness routine so that they can always be fit and play at their best. On the field, paired them into teams and also a ran a little tournament. During the tournament, we would talk after every few minutes, or play we see what needed to be improved. This really helped the players there, and they were especially happy that they had the opportunity to train with us. The experience in Brazil was very fun, we got to try their food, and learn about their culture. We conducted pretty much the same routine in Italy.
Nick Williams enjoyed being able to spread the love of football in another country this season. The Berlin Salamanders sent Nick to Mexico to teach a small league of footballers some tricks to help them get better. It was a bit of a battle however. Football, as in soccer, is a major sport in that country so it took some time to get the players over there accustomed to our version of football. He was pleasantly surprised though to see the stamina and speed of the players. Their years playing soccer really helped them in those areas and Nick coached them into how they could apply those strengths to the game of american football we know and love. He spent 2 weeks with the various teams over there running drills, practicing throws, and helping them get a better grasp of the rulebook. Nick also brought along his teammate Known Acquantaince so he could teach them to kick the ball. They were already good at kicking but just needed a little guidance to translate that into the form of kicking american football needs. The players in Mexico were fast learners and had a great spirit and willingness to learn. This made for a successful workshop and Nick left Mexico sure that they had a good foundation on which they could build and expand the love of american football in the country.
As the game of football continues to grow, interest sparks across the world and into places that we've never considered as potential bastions of talent. One such place that came to prominence at the end of the previous season, and asked for Absolute Unit specifically, was Mongolia, north of China. While in the United States, we usually think of Mongolia in the context of the open steppes and perhaps Genghis Khan, there is a rich sporting tradition in Mongolia as well. In fact, Mongolians seem to dominate the upper echelons of sumo wrestling, which is likely what sparked the initial interest in football among the Mongolian people. So, Absolute Unit flew out to the country, where he toured and spent time with many of the friendly and open people there. All in all, the fans were a little disappointed that Absolute Unit wasn't teen feet tall or had the strength of a dozen men, it still was a worthwhile trip for all involved.
Prompt Wrote:With the growth of the game of football across the world, some countries keep calling your team to go there for a workshop, to help them be better at the game. Your team decides to send you in the offseason to travel there. With the offseason now over, tell us your experience! What country did you end up travelling to? What did they do when you reached there to help direct a workshop? I went to Munich in Germany and had a great time. The workshop I was at was about teaching about hand usage for defensive backs - a lot of the players there have a soccer background and so don't have nearly as much experience with hand usage while playing a sport. I was able to help them out with some more detailed strategy and a few tips on the drills they were using in practice to try and improve. We had 4 sessions going over the basics of usage while covering a receiver during the route running, the actual ball interception and punch out techniques, what to do when blitzing and trying to shed blocks, and finally trying to handle getting around blockers on run plays and after catches. As far as the actual setting up the workshop, they were definitely enthusiastic and figured out most of the logistics and advertising for us. We also talked about maybe doing a video collaboration to have basically recorded classes in the future and I'm definitely interested in that since I loved the food over there. The bread dumpling things they serve were great, especially. Draft Steal (retired S35 CB) - Profile/Update | Wiki Troen Egghands (retired S22 DE) - Profile | Update | Wiki
My team decides to send myself (Joe Bazooka) to Australia to grow the game. We start near Bondi Beach to link up with the Buccaneers and see about growing a major's team in Sydney or Brisbane. Both cities have been interested in the ISFL for some time and it's time to gain another team and/or move a team to that location. After Australia, he headed to Japan. How crazy would it be to grow the game of football in a nation we don't know will love it or not. Going there it seemed to be quite popular to move it towards the top of the list. Which city? Tokyo, Nagasaki or do we head to the other island of Osaka? After we head to Japan, they send him to Brazil where the sport of football has been growing at a rapid pace. Rio wants a team, and it makes sense to push for this to happen. Seems like expanding is our only option.
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