IK Skovbakken news

Exciting times in Aarhus. I trained with just the 1^st team for the past few days. After training yesterday, the team manager called me into his office…I knew it was going to be good or bad. He said they are going to offer me a contract! I don’t have all the details yet and hope to get more during the next few days. I will be playing in the final league game with the 1^st team  on Saturday and then my trial period with IK Skovbakken will be done.

I still have to figure out details of the offer and I might go back to Norway or on to Sweden looking for more soccer. The down side is that things are wrapping up in all the Northern Europe seasons. I guess my first goal of getting a team interested enough for a contract offer is accomplished.

I also tried to make a carrot cake for my host family today. We couldn't quite figure out what american baking powder was in Danish ingredients and I guessed wrong. Sort of a flat cake, but should still taste good I hope.

Joga Bonito,
Jake

IK Skovbakken

Wed 6/8. It’s been a few exciting days since my last post. I have been training with IK Skovbakken 1st team and things have been going well. I did pick up a knock at training on Tuesday where during a dribbling speed drill I popped my hip-flexor. I didn’t want to sit out, so I did my best to keep training. By the end the coach called me over and asked what was wrong. I told him and he sent me right to the trainer. Good thing for me that Wednesdays are a day off, when a game is to be played on Saturdays. With some ice, treatment and day off, it feels much better, but not 100%.

My host Calle Graversen took me over to Aarhus facilities on Tuesday. We got to walk around the pitch, check out the locker rooms and meet a few players who were working out. I did not get the opportunity to train with AGF Aarhus or Fredmann. They have a partnership with IK Skovbakken (a 3rd division team 3 places behind AGF Fredmann in the standings.) AGF Fredmann is also 3rd division, but will most likely be moving up to 2nd through playoffs. AGF Aarhus is going back to 1st division. They are not looking to sign any international players until promotion/relegation is figured out. Because they are both moving up they are expecting they will have lots of interest from some top European players and academies. I guess I will just keep working hard and see where that takes me.

Joga Bonito,
Jake

Aarhus Day 2

Day 2 in Aarhus was full of firsts.  It was my first day of full training with a professional team, the first time meeting all the players on both the 1st and reserve team and the 1st time I've ever been thrown up top as a legitimate scoring threat!

I arrived for reserves team training a bit before 6 and saw the 1st team playing.  The coach, who I had meet the day before, yelled to me to hurry and throw my boots on! I ran to the locker room, laced up and sprinted to the practice field to jump in with the 1st team for the last half hour.  They had layed out my practice gear early so I was able to get out there quick! I played with the 1st team for 30 minutes, scored a couple goals in 4v4 (teams of 8 with alternating sides when you get scored on) and met the team.  If I had to say how I fit in Id say for it being the first time I played with them I was fitting in well.  The pace was quick but I found myself getting a lot of people in on goal and scoring more than most.  After meeting the team the coach told me to come to 1st team practice tomorrow!

I then went back to the locker room, changed shirts and went out with the reserves.  We did 3 different drills in all, each for 30 minutes.  The first was half field keep away with a target area in each corners that you could score in...you had to either pass it in or dribble it into the target area and connect with a new player.  The second drill was the same as the last one the first team did, 4v4 with alternating shifts every 2 minutes...my team won all 3 games to 5 and I scored the majority or our goals.  This is when my last first of the day comes into play.

After training, the Reserve Trainer came to me and asked "I thought you said you played central midfield, do you want to play striker in our reserve match?" I was shocked and wasn't sure if I wanted to say 'I was just feeling it today, I wouldnt do that if I were you' or 'Yes, I'll score a hat trick for you!'  Either way I haven't played striker for 90 minutes since I was 11 or 12 so if I do play up top this week, they may be a bit disappointed.

I'll be taking pictures on my phone before training tomorrow of the stadium, practice facility and locker room!

Joga Bonito

Jake

Oslo to Aarhus Denmark

Today is day 1 in Aarhus.  It is mid day here and I don’t train until 6pm this evening, so I’ll take this opportunity to write an update for the last few days.

While in Oslo, the city felt very different. Yet my Norwegian friends told me that Oslo is very similar to Minneapolis, probably as close as you can get to a “Minneapolis feel” in Scandinavia.  It was interesting being in an 'old’ city, where the buildings are built right up to the edge of the street. I seemed odd that with plenty of room for two way traffic and parking along the streets, everything was still packed so tightly. I suppose it seemed like a ‘typical’ euro city, but I haven’t been to many yet. 

Oslo is very young and urban. Lots of people in their 20s.  The clothing style is REALLY different, especially the men. More feminine style than I expected. I guess my euro friends at the U, really toned things down when they came to the states!  Deep V-Necks are huge and lots of very colorful shorts rolled up with your typical converse All-Stars.  Soccer is on all the time in pubs and restaurants, even with the number of European leagues winding down. Awesome!

Saturday evening I took a ferry from Oslo to Frederikshavn, Denmark. I wasn’t really sure what type of boat I was to being riding,  except the fact that it was going to take about 12 hours.  The boat was essentially a cruise ship, 3 floors were reserved for passengers cabin while the rest were restaurants, spas, clubs and a casino.  I wish I had more energy to check them out but the only places I went were the buffet at 6:30am when I woke up, and I also checked out the top deck to view the city coming into port.  The cabin was pretty cool though, 2 beds (I was nervous to be sharing it with someone and that could have been awkward) but luckily it was all mine so I slept like a baby.  After docking I walked to the train station and took a 3 hr ride to Aarhus where I was picked up by a club associate and taken to the house I am staying.

I had my first taste of Danish soccer that afternoon during a short kick about.  I trained with the reserves and all we did was a warm up with 5v2 keep away, then some passing followed by a finishing drill. So far, training both here and in Oslo, teams seem to have adopted the 'Ajax' blueprint for training. A lot of possession and touching of the ball followed by game like drills.  There isn’t much pointless time wasting during training.  Today marks the first real day of training. From now until Saturday is my opportunity to show what I can do in training, and also a couple of reserve matches.  Obtaining a VISA over the summer is the goal, which would require signing by a top division team. I will have to play some unreal soccer for sure. I learned that it will be difficult to get a work permit in Denmark, unless I make a top division club. 

I’m still hoping to upload some photographs, but I am still phone/data plan challenged. More later.

Joga Bonito

Jake

Oslo Norway

Before getting into the soccer stuff, I feel it is important to briefly touch on the travel aspect.

Its day...3 in Oslo? I say this because the time changes May 30th I left Minneapolis at 7:30 pm. On my way to Norway I changed planes in Iceland, I arrived there around 6:00am local time, very odd flying into a city when its early morning after a 5 hour flight from a Minneapolis evening. I left Iceland around 7:00am and arrived in Oslo at 1:00pm (13:00 here). The whole time I didn't catch a wink of sleep, which was/still is brutal!

Soccer started that evening at 8:00pm when I watch my friend  Lars Stormo and his 4th division team play a league match. Long story short they went up 3-0 in the 1st half, 70-30 possession and were strolling into a win. The 2nd half was a night and day difference. There goal keeper was sent off 15 minutes in, they gave up a pk and had to put in a 3rd string keeper. The team is currently missing 4 starters and their back-up keeper. They gave up 3 more goals after making a bunch of substitutions thinking they had the game in the bag and lost 4-3, epic fail!

After the disappointing result, I then went home and went straight to bed, about time. The next 2 days consisted of a run around Oslo and some touches in the evening. Today was day one of real training/practice. I got to kick around with Lars' team for one of there regular training sessions. The game is much more technical here and speed of play is quicker. The next few days will be more of the same, I'll be heading to Arhus, Denmark Sunday morning to start my 10 day, multi-club trial. Excited is a understatement.

With the number of holidays in Oslo this time of year is been hard to get a phone and be able to add pictures via twitter and mobile uploads but I'll be blogging more  in the coming days!

Joga Bonito

Jake

Jake Gibbons Intro

Hi my name is Jake Gibbons. I am leaving for Europe today on a Soccer Adventure. My goal is to play professional soccer in Europe. Even if I have to just grind out a living, I have always dreamed of playing over seas.

I was born in LaCrosse, WI and moved to Minneapolis on my first birthday. I am the oldest of 5 kids and we all play/played soccer at some point growing up. I grew up playing soccer in the back yard with my brothers, Dad and neighbor Sydney DeVictoria-Michael. My first organized soccer was at Fuller Park, playing co-ed with other 5-6 year olds. My Dad tells me that in my first game, I stood with my hands on my knees, “ready to go!” But I didn’t actually ever go after the ball…I just watched.

I eventually played traveling soccer with the Minneapolis United Arroz for a couple of years, before making a Bangu team. I was also involved in ODP for 6 years and was lucky enough to travel around the U.S. with my Bangu team for Regionals and playing college showcase tournaments. I played HS soccer at Minneapolis South and had fun playing with my twin brothers for a few years. I grew up watching MN Thunder games and some of my best memories are waiting after games to get player autographs.

I also played golf and a little hockey growing up but soccer has always been my passion. Most recently I played on the UofM club team, EC Aris FC and MN Twinstars (both in the NPSL) and some MASL men’s teams. I wanted to finish my BS before going on my soccer journey. I was playing indoor men’s league at Augsburg about 15 months ago, and a player on my Dad’s over 30 team mentioned that he (Michael Peterson) had connections in Denmark. After watching me play a few times he contacted his uncle who is with AGF AArhus and AGF Fremad to see if they would have any interest. I have to say a big thank you to Michael for all he’s done to help me get setup up for training and evaluation trials with AGF clubs.

I worked with some other contacts to get trials in Norway and Sweden as well. I will start out in Oslo, Norway, training and trying to show well for some 3^rd and 4^th division teams. A good friend and former UofM club player, Lars Stormo, lives in Oslo, Norway and plays for Oldenborg Idraetsselskab.

Thanks to Manny Lagos for letting me train with the MN Stars this winter/spring. I’ve been training, doing fitness and playing every day for months. I am excited, nervous and optimistic. I will mostly be blogging from a smart phone, and will do my best to post something on a regular basis.

Joga Bonito,

Jake