My Next Adventure

2014 - a new year, a new challenge. I will be heading to Germany on February 1^st to train with some clubs. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and very excited to be returning to Europe. I last played in Europe during the 2012 season, after spending last season in North America. I have definitely missed all that comes with playing in Europe. The level of play, professionalism of the clubs, and the culture that surrounds the game over there are on a completely different level to North America. It has been a goal and dream of mine to play in Germany for a long time now. I hope to have success on the field and sign for a club for the remainder of the season once I arrive.

Since returning from Florida this fall, I have been on the soccer field pretty much 7 days a week. I have been coaching full-time in the greater Vancouver area. I love coaching and have been very fortunate to have some great opportunities to work with young players while I’ve been home during my off-seasons the past couple of years. I also attended the US Soccer National Youth License Coaching Course in Seattle last month. It is my plan to continue working through my various coaching licenses while still playing. I have been training hard individually. I have been working with a personal trainer weekly and I’m happy with the results I have been achieving. It has been great to spend time at home with my family and take time to enjoy the holidays. Now with less than a month until I depart on this new adventure, I will be looking to take my training to the next level and really push myself to be in the best condition possible for next month.

Although I haven’t updated the blog much lately, I will be looking to do much more regular updates when I get back to Europe. I hope that you will follow me on my latest travels.

Happy New Year!

Robbie.

Ocala Vs Tampa Highlights

Playoff-Bound!

The regular season came to an end last night, as we beat VSI Tampa Bay FC 2-1. It was a good night for me, as I scored in the first half to put us up 1-0. Tampa levelled the game just before half-time, which set up a nervy second half. We scored the winner in the 88' minute, with a good finish from Jack Bailey. Going into last night's game we already knew that we had reached the Conference playoffs. However we needed a win to put pressure on Panama City Beach, who are behind us by one point, with a game in hand. Panama plays their final game on Sunday against VSI Tampa Bay and if they lose or tie, we will be division champions; which also gives us a higher seed going into the playoffs. So we will watch that game on Sunday with interest. Either way, we will be travelling to Austin, Texas for the Conference Playoffs next week. Having played 3 games in the past 6 days to finish off the season we are having a much deserved break, with a couple of days off. It's hard to believe the regular season has already come to an end. We've played 14 league games in the PDL and the time here has flown by. I'm looking forward to some rest and recovery over the next couple of days, and to what lies ahead for us in the playoffs. 

2013 Highlights

 
Robbie Tice - 2013 from Robbie Tice on Vimeo.

Life in Florida

As well as enjoying my time on the field in Florida, things off the field have also been great. I'm very lucky to be surrounded by a great group of guys as my teammates on this team. There aren't very many locally based players, the roster contains players from all around the world; Scotland, England, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Columbia, USA and Canada. All the players come from different backgrounds and bring something unique to the team on and off the field, making for a great mix. The out of town players live together in an apartment complex close to our home stadium. We have three separate houses in the complex, side by side. As I'm sure you can imagine there is always a lot going on. Most of our time when not training is spent relaxing and recovering. There's also a lot of FIFA being played in the house regularly, which gets pretty competitive. We have two swimming pools, so we also spend a lot of time hanging out there. It gets pretty hot in Florida at this time of year, which has been one of the biggest adjustments for me playing here. To go from playing North of the Arctic Circle in Norway, to the extreme heat of Florida, has been tough. But I'm getting more and more used to it everyday. We have run one soccer summer camp for kids so far this season and the second week of camps start tomorrow. The camps are a unique way to get to know the kids in the community and pass on our knowledge to kids looking to improve their game. One of the most enjoyable days in Florida so far, was a few weeks back when we had the chance to go to the owner of the clubs lake house. We spent time on the boats, tubing and jet skiing, all day. Overall its been a great summer in Florida so far and fantastic experience all around. I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the summer brings. 

Update

Things in Ocala are going well at the moment. We've passed the halfway mark in the season after a tough stretch of away games and a total of four games in the past nine days. We currently sit top of the Southeast Division in the PDL, with six games remaining in the regular season. There is still a lot of work to be done, but things are looking positive going into the final six games. Our next game is against second place team Orlando City U23's, which is a massive game for us. We only have one more away game remaining this year, which is always helpful. Luckily for us, we were able to get our toughest away games out of the way early in the season. After a tough nine days filled with games, we've been enjoying having the day completely off today and will also have the day off training tomorrow.