Tag: CEESA

Friendships

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Nadia, Josh, Jani, Ollie, Owen, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

One of the nicest things about these CEESA events are the opportunity to make new friends. The visiting student-athletes are traditionally billeted with our students’ families when we host an event. This is a great way to forge new friendships and get to know people from a different cultures.

We are hosting two young men from the International School of Helsinki. They are shown above yestrday morning in the school parking lot with Nadia and the boys. Owen and Ollie have been so excited to have the “Husky” basketball players staying in our home. They will not leave them alone. They were so excited the first night, that we had a difficult time putting them to sleep.

Both Josh and Jani are very nice gentlemen and we have enjoyed hosting them. We’ll be sad when they have to leave on Sunday for Helsinki. These are just two of the many friendships that form over the years in CEESA. When we travel to the various events, our students are billeted with the various host families. The players get to know one another and make lasting friendships. It is all about bringing the nations of the Balkans and eastern Europe a little bit closer to each other.

It was nice that yesterday’s game between the International School of Belgrade and the American International School of Zagreb was about the students and no politics involved. All of the teenagers in the game yesterday are great examples of products of international schools. They was a strong spirit of camradarie and athletic competition.

We had the coaches dinner last night and that again, is an opportunity to make friends. We had a lot of laughs and this season, Nadia and I have gotten quite close to several of the other team’s coaches.

It has been a very rewarding basketball season. Our final game is this afternoon. It will be our 20th game of the season. We have 12 wins and 7 losses. We’ll see what the end brings us.

Day One CEESA Tourney

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Official Team Photo, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We had a successful day number one of the CEESA “Blue” Division tourney. In the first game we defeated the Anglo American School of Sofia 50-20. In the second game, we came back from a sluggish first half to beat Nova School from Skoplje, Macedonia 55 – 38.

We now complete the round-robin schedule with a game tomorrow morning against the Pechersk School of Kiev, Ukraine.

Note the big fellow in the back right. I wish he was playing for our team!

All of the results for Day One of the Tourney are below.

Pool A
Belgrade 51-20 Sofia
Pechersk 46 – 33 Skopje
Belgrade 55 – 38 Skopje
Pechersk 52 – 34 Sofia

 Pool B
Latvia 45 – 13 Helsinki
Zagreb 43 – Crnjanski 59
Latvia 42 – 50 Crnjanski
Zagreb 42 – 22 Helsinki.

CEESA Basketball Tourney Begins Thursday

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It will be a busy weekend of basketball as we are hosting the annual CEESA (Central and Eastern European Schools Association) Boys’ High School Basketball championship. This is the “blue division” or small school division of CEESA. We have a high school of 100 students. Teams are coming from Bulgaria, Finland, Ukraine, Latvia, Macedonia, and Croatia. One team pulled out of the tourney at a late date so we have another Belgrade team, Gimnasium Milos Crjnanski participating also. We will play at least 5 games in three days and it will be quite tiring and exciting.

Our family is also hosting two players from the International School of Helsinki. That is one of the nice things about these CEESA events, is that the players stay with host families. It cuts down on expenses for the players and helps them form friendships with families from other countries. Above is a picture of the team during practice last week. I’ll keep you posted with how we do.

ISB Wins A Trophy!

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Team Photo With Trophy in Helsinki, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Doron and Zoki are holding the third place trophy outside of the International School of Helsinki. The team was celebrating an important victory over the Kiev International School in the consolation match, 50-47. The victory earned the team the third place trophy. There were 8 teams competing so it was quite an accomplishment. It was appropriate the cup was filled with snow, as it represented the team venturing to the frozen north of Finland to compete in the tourney.

Misa Goes for the Rebound
Misa Goes for the Rebound

The Dragons led the entire game against the Cosaks of KIS. ISB used a full court pressure defense to disrupt the opponents. The strategy worked as many fast break layups were scored by Doron and Nikola. Panayot played with an injured foot, and despite the pain, he had his usual outstanding game. A special mention also goes to Mik for his defensive efforts on their best player. Coaches Sands and Kralovec thank the team for their efforts. It was a fitting end to a great season. The boys played close to 20 games! They developed their individual fundamentals of basketball, learned the strategies and finer points of the game, increased their fitness, and interacted with students from all over the world and Serbia.

Things are looking bright for 2009-2010, as the entire team that traveled to Helsinki returns. We will also get some excellent players from the Middle School team that finished in second place in their tourney. We will also be hosting the high school boys’ tourney, so there are many things in our favor. Job well done gentlemen!

CEESA Championship Final Day

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After watching the fifth and seventh place matches, we had the consolation final against the Kiev International School. The Dragons defeated the Cozaks, 50-47 to take the third place trophy (of eight teams competing).

It was an incredible performance by the boys’ basketball team. Mik had 6 points and played stellar defense against their top player. Tausan and Misa rebounded well against the bigger Ukrainians. Pan played with an injured foot and still scored in double figures. It was a proud moment for the school and the team. Congratulations to the Dragons! Photos and video to come!

Day Two of CEESA Basketball Tourney

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ISB on the Attack, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The International School of Belgrade lost this afternoon to the Perchersk International School of Kiev, Ukraine, 39-47. The game was the semifinal, as the Dragons won the Pool B. The boys were matched up with the second place team of Pool A. The team started out slow and shot only 12% from the field in the first quarter. The boys from Percherk were physical and out played us.

The Dragons were led by the outstanding long range shooting of Nikola T. and Doron. They gave a good effort and cut down a larger deficit.

2 Points for Nikola
2 Points for Nikola

ISB now goes to the consolation match. The Dragons will take on the Kiev International School at 1:00 PM tomorrow. The Dragons previously beat KIS and the Cozaks will be seeking revenge. At stake is a third place trophy. Can the Dragons bring home some hardware? They will also have the chance to leave Finland with a winning record as they are 2 wins and 2 losses currently.

It was a great day despite the loss. The games were held at a local professional team’s arena (Messuhalli II). The arena was used for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. We saw the photo of the USA Olympic team who played in the gym as our students did today.

CEESA Boys’ Basketball Championship Day One

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Laurynas Makes a Three Pointer
Laurynas Makes a Three Pointer

The International School of Belgrade won their first two games on Day 1 of tournament. In the first game this morning, the Dragons defeated Quality Schools International of Bratislava 52 – 34. Six players scored for the Dragons, with Panayot leading the way with 20 points. Mi also scored 6 points. Nikola T. had a stellar performance on defense.

In the second game today, the Dragons won by a score of 56 – 49 over the Kiev International School. The hard fought game was decided by coolness under pressure demonstrated by the Dragon. In the final quarter, Pan and Doron made some big baskets and steals to seal the victory.

Pan and Andras on the Move!
Pan and Andras on the Move!

We have one more game today against Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, a local Finnish team. If we win, we guarantee a spot in the semifinals. If we lose, there will most likely be a three-way tie for the top and then it will come down to point differential, which we want to avoid. If we do lose, we could finish anywhere from first to third in the group.

UPDATE:

We lost to the local Finnish school, 47 – 74. The score was tied at halftime 30-30. In the second half, we ran out of energy as this is our third game today. The Finn school played a reserve team in the morning (lost to KIV) and had an easy game against Bratislava. It will be disappointing if this game against a non-CEESA school causes us to out of the semifinals. If due to point differential we finish third, the highest finsh we can have is fourth.

In the other Pool, the most likely winner will the Internationl School of Latvia and second place will be the Pechersk International School of Kiev, Ukraine.

Boys’ Basketball Team Arrives in Finland

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ISB Cheerleaders Send off Hoop Team, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The ISB cheerleaders gave the team an enthusiastic farewell before the boys embarked on their journey. The cheerleaders have been incredibly supportive this year. This is the best cheerleading squad perhaps in the history of the school. They attended all of our regular season games. On behalf of the team, THANK YOU!!! You can see them in action by clicking on the video above.

We bussed to the Budapest, Hungary airport and flew from there to Helsinki. The International School of Helsinki (ISH)is hosting the annual Boys’ Basketball Championship of the Central and Eastern European Athletic Association. Eight teams from all over the region are competing for the title. All visiting student-athletes are billeted with ISH families.

I wil try to post regularly during the competion which begins today. We have been placed in Pool B with the Kiev International School (Ukraine), Quality Schools International of Bratislava (Slovakia) and Soumalainen Yhteiskoulu (Finland). We play those three teams today with games at 10:45 AM, 12:45 PM, and 3:45 PM. It will be a grueling day indeed.

This is the farthest away I’ve been from the equater. Helsinki is at 60 degrees north latitude, a mere 6 degrees (400 miles) from the arctic circle. There is still snow on the ground and temperatures are below freezing. This is a special trip for me as my mother’s ancestry is Finnish. It will be great to learn more about Finnish culture and coaching a lot of basketball the next three days.

Middle School Boys’ Basketball Team Success!

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The Team Hoists the Trophy
The Team Hoists the Trophy

 

Last weekend the ISB Middle School Boys’ Basketball Team travelled to Kiev, Ukraine to participate in the “Blue Division” championship of the Central and Eastern European Athletic Association. The Dragons won 5 games and lost 2 and finished in second place. They defeated teams from Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, and Slovakia on their way to the finals.

In the final, a few controversial referee decisions in favor of the hosts, gave the win to the Kiev International School. The boys were gracious in defeat and won the Sportsmanship Award as well as earning a standing ovation from the crowd. Basketball is one of the strengths of our school and it reflects the history of the sport in Serbia and the USA. I would like to thank Coach Ethan Van Drunen and the boys for their efforts in dedication in bringing honor to our school.

Seeing the Sights
Seeing the Sights

The final results are posted below.

Win – American International School of Budapest  40-15

Win – Kiev International School Team One 34-27

Win – International School of Latvia 38 -21

Loss – Pechersk International School 37-40

Win – KIS Team Two 48 – 11

Win – Bratislava International School  40 – 21

Loss – KIS Team One 37 -40

 

Family Journal: November 8-9, 2008

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We had a busy weekend as our school ISB, hosted the CEESA Boys’ Soccer Championship. Part of the weekend is our families billeting the visiting players. We hosted two fine young gentlemen from the Anglo American School of Sofia, Bulgaria. Shown above is Lubo Zhelehanov with our children. The boys loved having a real soccer player in the house! We also hosted Darren Bonev (shown below with Ocean) another “Wolf” from Bulgaria.

Both young men were very well behaved all weekend and it was enjoyable getting to know them. It is a reflection on their families and school. It was a really nice weekend and a positive experience for our community. I hope we can do more of these in the future.