Laza & Alf Visit America

I know I haven’t posted in awhile, close to a month actually.  First off, the hard drive malfunctioned on my mac, putting it out of commision for a week.  This put a dent in my end of the year highlight film, as I lost video of our last 2 games I had on my hard drive.  The video was supposed to be my next and more than likely final post.  However, it is indefinitely delayed.

On a brighter note two of my friends from Serbia are in America.  Laza, our head coach, and Alf, our running back, will be spending 6 weeks in Arizona learning from the coaches at ASU and NAU.  It is their first trip EVER to America.  They spent their first week and a half down at ASU for the opening of their fall football camp and just recently spent a whole week in Flagstaff at NAU.  Yesterday they visited the Grand Canyon and Sedona, two tourist spots here in Arizona.

Luckily I was able to catch up with both of the guys about 2 weeks ago.  I took them out for their first dish of Mexican food, which they raved about.  Then we ran some errands and scouted some gear for them to purchase before they head back to Serbia in late September.  Below are some pics from their adventures so far, taken from Laza’s facebook page.

The guys with Larry Kentera, the man who brought American football to Serbia

Laza in the football office at Sun Devil Stadium

Meeting up with my “old” friends

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Serbian National Team

The Serbian National team headed over to Bolzano, Italy, on the weekend of July 25th for a friendly American football national game against Italy.  Among the participants for the Serbian team were 12 Wild Boar players and Laza, who is the national team defensive coordinator.

The Serbs put up a good showing, losing 28-7.  Although, reports indicated that a huge momentum changer right before halftime was taken away.  Igor Vukuje (WR/KR from the Klek Knights) returned a kickoff for a TD breaking a 7-7 tie, except there was a block-in-the-back call that took the TD and the lead away.  The Italians came out in the second half with a good aerial attack, adding 3 TD’s for the margin of victory.

I was proud to hear the report from Laza concerning the game.  It sounded like the Serbs played exceptional well.  The Italians were surprised not only by how they played, but by the Serbs knowledge of the game, preparation, and desire.  Indeed, the game of American football has surely evolved in its 6 year existence.

Laza going over a drill the day before the game with both teams DL’s

The stadium in Bolzano, Italy

Pre-game meeting between the teams

Captains heading out to the field

Milan, LB from the Wild Boars, attempting to block the kick

Vukuje jumping for a ball amidst 2 Italian defenders

Scele and Tomic with the Serbian flag

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