Summer: Part 1 of ?

I guess 50 days into the summer its about time that I blog a little.  I have had a super busy summer thus far so I will break the blog down into parts so I don't bore anyone with a long rant.  I started my summer with a two week camp that I put on at my school.  It was pretty laid back but I got to teach the kids more about America and our traditions and they got to teach me more about Ukraine.  My favorite activity of the week was def. teaching the girls how to play American Football.  I was a little nervous how it would go over, but every day the girls couldn't wait to play.  I was even proud the I was able to teach the girls how to run pass patterns, send a receiver in motion, "juke", and the importance of a touchdown dance. 

After my camp I headed up near the capital to work at my friend Mike's little kid summer camp.  I only spent a few days there but it was a lot of fun.  The camp was well organized and I was able to contribute by entertaining kids via kicking a ball high up in the air for about 30 minutes each day.  Never have I been so loved for doing something so simple, but I will take it.

Next I headed down to the city Cherkasy for the 11-12 yr old Ukrainian Little League Baseball Championships.  It was great getting back to my favorite summer pastime- Umpiring Baseball.  The tournament had 6 teams and was played in a local park.  Basil Tarasko runs Little League Ukraine,  he lives in N.Y.C. but comes back to Ukraine 3 times a year to hold clinics and organize these tournaments.  It is amazing to see his dedication as well as the coaches and the communities who support this entirely run volunteer program for the kids.  The games went great and at night we got to enjoy the nice beach along the Dnipro River.

Score keeper Whitney, myself, PC Country Director Doug, Head of

Ukraine Little League Basil, Umpire Matt, and PC Youth Specialist Anatoliy

After the 11-12 yr old tournament we had the 13-14 year old tournament in a city just to the south, Kirovograd.  The stadium the games were held at was really nice, it had huge dugouts and an inner office system connected to it.  The coach of the Kirovograd team is also the Ukrainian National Team and was really interesting to talk to.  This 13-14 yrs old tournament was also won by the boys from Kirovograd.  Last week they actually won the European Tournament and get to fly to America and play in the 12 team tournament for the World Championship.  

The 3 teams in the tournament at the field in Kirovograd

After a few days of games there I headed to the West of Ukraine.  Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Krakow up next.