AUGUSTANA FOOTBALL BLOG
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A delegation of Augustana football players and coaches is headed to Norway with a game plan to teach and learn. The program will blog along the way
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“Augustana prides itself on providing students the opportunity to study in foreign countries,” said Mike Aldrich, Augustana's head football coach. “Football players don't always have that chance because of the time commitment to practice and games. So, we arranged a football service trip to teach the finer points of American football in a foreign country.”
Each of the 16 players and eight coaches are responsible for paying the $3,500 fee for the 10-day journey (May 21-31). Some of the players did fundraising on their own. Each of the student-athletes receives one service credit for their participation.
With Augustana's steep Norwegian heritage, Norway was a logical choice for Aldrich and the Vikings.
“This is a way for us to go and teach football to those who want to learn the game but don't have the resources,” he said. “At the same time, we will be learning about the Norwegian culture.”
The Augustana contingent will spend two days organizing and running a practice for the Oslo Vikings. A clinic is scheduled for one of the evenings.
The Oslo team was organized in 1986 as the Westside Vikings. The club added a junior program in 1989. The Olso Vikings compete in the Norway American Football Federation and the European Federation of American Football.
The Oslo team has won eight national championships. The head coach is Marques Anderson, who played football at UCLA and was a third-round pick by the Green Bay Packers in the 2002 National Football League draft.
A session with the LillestrØm Star Fighters includes a youth program in the morning and an evening clinic for the club's senior players. The Star Fighters are a recent addition to the Norwegian Football scene, founded in 2010, and work closely with former NFL kicker Jan Stenerud for the development of youth football.
Aldrich and the Augustana delegation will be the guests of the LillestrØm team at a viewing of an international soccer match between Norway and England. “We want them to teach us about their football, too,” he said.
The stay in Norway includes a guided tour of Oslo, a trip by train across Norway, including the breathtaking Flam Railway, a two-hour fjord cruise, all ending with a stay in the coastal town of Bergen.
The Augustana group will also spend two days in Iceland. There they will tour the Golden Circle, the name given to a 190-mile circular route which encompasses many of Iceland's most famous landmarks.
“We want to learn as much as we can about Iceland's Nordic roots. It also seems appropriate that we are following the trek of the Vikings as they migrated towards the Americas,” said Aldrich.
