August 16, 2004 We are now at Hotel Centro in Turku, Finland. Our day started off with a tour of the Naantali Finnish ringette club's training facilities. Ringette is the most popular sport in Naantali with approximately 250 players out of a population of around 20 000. The league consists of 9 teams which draws an average crowd of around 400 to 500 people each game. The Naantali players are considered to be professional athletes with living expenses covered and a trip at the end of each season. We then had a short walking tour of the 'old town' of Naantali. Team White played the Naantali team and lost by one goal in an intense game. We ate supper at the Player's Pub and then continued on to Turku for the second game which was held in a bomb shelter, circa WWII. The facility was converted into a dual arena in 1985. Team Red played the Turku B team and were defeated 4-2 (no Canadian refs were present). We were all exhausted and headed back to the hotel. Only 6 more days in Europe. Tracy & Cassandra PS - picture 001 shows Team White with their opponent Naantali

Picture 002 - Team Red with their opponent Turku in the bomb shelter arena