Australia Trip Journal

October 5-15, 2008 - Roger Lipe

Sunday October 5 – I was up early this morning after having conducted the wedding ceremony for former Saluki Baseball player, Nathan Emrick, and former Saluki Softball player, Krystal Stein, the previous afternoon and evening. I stayed the night at the Ramada Inn North at I-270 and Lindberg Road in St. Louis so I could take advantage of their parking and shuttle service.
I drove to Fairview Heights, IL for church at Christ UMC where my friend, Shane Bishop, is the pastor. He graciously introduced me to the congregation and prayed for my trip. After church I picked up some lunch and ate it in my hotel room. I prepared my bags for travel and watched some NFL pre-game shows, then met the shuttle at 12:50 to go to the airport. I checked in very early and waited while watching 3 different NFL games on the gate’s TV monitors.
We boarded the plane to LAX on time, arrived on time and I then made my way through the airport and aboard another shuttle to the Quantas Airlines gate and waited to depart. The flight to Melbourne was very good with excellent food, lots of snacks and refreshments, video on demand, a great CD collection, and more. I took my Advil PM and slept all of 8 hours. I awoke to more good food for breakfast and a beautiful view of Sydney and the Opera House. We had a clear view of Canberra as well and soon touched down in Melbourne.

Tuesday October 7 – (You’ll notice there is no Monday. It disappeared at the International Date Line.) Once on the ground the whole process slowed down. Immigration was easy, but it took a good while to get my bags and then there was a line at customs which must have had 500 people in it. Once through there I began looking for Gary Speckman who was to pick me up. I didn’t see him so I had him paged. I bumped into Terry who is a chaplain for a life saving club along the Gold Coast of Australia. We talked for a bit and he called Gary who was just arriving. We gathered two more chaplains from other parts of Australia and then loaded the car for the hotel. When we got to the hotel, we jumped right into the conference session already underway on suicide awareness.
We had lunch together and I met a lot of new people. I then did my first presentation at 2:15, introducing “Transforming Lives in Sport” and discussing Relationships. It was very well received. After the afternoon session, I showered, shaved and prepared for the evening.
The Sports Chaplaincy Australia Chaplain of the Year Award banquet was held in the evening and included a number of donors, athletes and others who support and are served by SCA. I served on a panel for discussion with Rodrigo Vargas, a professional soccer player and Dave Swarz, a retired Aussie Rules Footballer and present radio/TV announcer. Dinner was great and the program was fine as well. After the program was over I turned in. I roomed with Cameron Butler, SCA’s CEO for the last 3 years.

Wednesday October 8 – I was up in time for the 7:30 am breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I ate with a couple of motor racing chaplains and we compared notes re: their racing circuits, NASCAR and Indy car racing. At 9:15 I did my second presentation, this time on Attitude and Presence. It was also well received and the discussion was quite good. My having dropped photos of Australian sports into my PowerPoint presentation helped them connect in a tremendous way. After lunch we heard from other speakers for the conference and then visited the Victoria Institute of Sport in downtown Melbourne. It was in the middle of one of their sporting districts right by the Rod Laver Tennis Center. It was a very nice training facility and we had a meeting with the people who run their athlete development program called “ACE.” I was impressed by their holistic approach to sport and their hearty acceptance of the role of chaplains in their athletes’ development. We also took a walk to the training facility for the Richmond Football Club, which is no better than most high school facilities in my area. While there we heard from the head coach of the club and had a meeting with a former AFL footballer who is now an administrator for the AFL Players Association. I was impressed at the amount of services they offer their players, both during and after their playing careers.
After these meetings we had a dinner of pizza outside the Richmond Footie Club and then returned to the hotel for an evening of fun and relaxation. We played an Aussie Sports Trivia game which paired chaplains from various sports vs. other pairs of chaplains. After this was completed I went straight to bed.

Thursday October 9 – I was awake early this morning, showered and prepared for the day. Cameron and I had a very good talk about the future of sports chaplaincy globally and how we could each be influential in its development. He and I met two motor sports chaplains for breakfast and then moved to our meeting room. At 9:15 I did my third presentation, this one re: Strategies, Methods and Resources for Sports Chaplaincy. At the end of my talk, they presented me with some gifts: an Aussie Rules Football, a scarf from the Melbourne Football Club, some puzzle/post cards and a jar of vegemite. I was thrilled with each of them.
After my talk and a break we heard a presentation re: Adrenalin and Stress. Later we heard from Motor Racing Legend – Peter Brock’s widow. We asked her questions about ministry with high profile sports figures and their families. It was quite enlightening. Cam gave her a copy of “Heart of a Champion” and had me autograph it. After we wrapped up the conference, I rode with Jeremy (SCA State Director for Victoria) to his home where we had dinner and soon hit the sack.

Friday October 10 – I was up early and went to the dining room table to read and to have breakfast. A little later, Ruth, Isaac and I went to a nearby mall to exchange US $ to AU $ and so I could buy some souvenirs. It took me a long while to find what I was looking for, but found most all of it at the Australian Geographic store. $1.00 US traded for $1.46 Australian. After we finished that task we met Jeremy at the church, I downloaded email and sent out my weekly Sport Chaplain / Sport Mentor notes as well as updating my blog and the www.teamchaplains.org site. Then we went to a small bakery for lunch. I had a meat pie and lemonade. We then drove up into the mountains near Melbourne and looked at the panoramic view down onto the city. While there we enjoyed good coffee and Isaac had an ice cream bar all over his face.
After we returned home, I went out for a 40 minute workout, trying not to get lost. I then showered and prepared for the evening’s youth meeting. Jeremy and I drove to the church early, so I walked around the corner and had a boiled egg and lettuce sandwich on white bread with some potato chips and a Coke Zero. The youth meeting kicked off with some games and then I was interviewed on a number of subjects. Later we played more games and then we heard an interview with a young lady from Melbourne who competed in Table Tennis at the Paralympics in Beijing. She played table tennis with some of us while others ate ice cream and other snack foods. After the meeting broke up I went with the group’s leaders to the Pancake Palace for a late night snack and good conversation. We got home at midnight.

Saturday October 11 – I was up at 7:30 to read and for breakfast. I shortly loaded up my stuff and went with Ruth and Isaac to the Melbourne Cricket Ground so she could pick up info for tomorrow’s Melbourne Marathon in which she is running. We then took a long walk through downtown Melbourne to see the sights. We drove across town and met Cameron at his daughter, Holly’s, net ball game. We transferred my luggage to his car and then made the trip to his home. I met the family and settled into Holly’s room for the next several nights. A little later in the evening Cam, his son Lachie and I went to church together to see one of Cam’s footballers being baptized. We sat right beside Rodrigo Vargas the pro soccer player. He seemed thrilled that I would converse with him in Spanish. We sat right in the middle of the Latino section of the church congregation.
After church was over we went to dinner with Brad Miller, his wife and son. Brad was the player who was baptized during the service. He’s 23 years old and in the 5th year of his playing career. He has been reading “Heart of a Champion” for several months and loves it. We had a great conversation about sport, faith and fatherhood. After dinner was over we made our way home around 10:00 pm and I was soon in bed.

Sunday October 12 – I was up early to follow the Saluki Football game on Game Tracker on my computer. We won 60-7 and I also watched game progress for several of my friends in coaching around the country as well as the games for some of my chaplain friends. I had breakfast with the family. Cameron, his wife Merryl, son Lachie, daughter Holly and I all packed into the SUV and drove east of Melbourne into the bush. We went to a wildlife preserve which was much like a zoo, full of animals indigenous to various parts of Australia. I bought lunch for our crew in the bistro and we continued to see the animals.
After that we took a drive into the mountains, through a rain forest, across mountain peaks, through valleys full of vineyards while the kids slept most of the way. We played some of the icebreaker mind games which I have cluttering parts of my brain. On the way back into town we stopped for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. I enjoyed the food, which was unlike anything I had eaten before. We returned home, watched a movie on DVD and went to bed.

Monday October 13 – I was again up early to read, to send email (including my weekly devotion and notes to FCA huddle coaches) and to have breakfast with the family. We took the kids to school as we went to Cam’s office. I made three presentations to the SCA certificate training class over a three hour period bridging the morning and afternoon. At lunch I had a great conversation with one of the trainees. After the day wrapped up I returned home with Cam for dinner with the family and we watched “The Bourne Identity” on DVD. Upon its completion I went to bed.

Tuesday October 14 – I was up early to read and again had breakfast with the family. Cam and I took the girls to school, and then we took Lachie with us to another mall to shop for opal jewelry for my wife, Sharon. I finally found one at an antique jewelry store. We then drove to the Melbourne Football Club’s offices and training facility. Cam gave me a comprehensive tour and we talked with several people including some players and some of the coaching staff. We had lunch in a Melbourne Harbour downtown shop and then we went to the Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Center to meet the certificate trainees. We conversed with them over their lunch and then met with Pipper of the AFLPA for a discussion of sport, psychology and chaplaincy.
We then returned home for dinner with the family, cooked by Cam on the barby, and good conversation with another motor racing chaplain, Darryl. After dinner we watched an AFL video of great “Marks” and a recent game involving the Melbourne Football Club. I went to bed as soon as the game was over.

Wednesday October 15 – I was up this morning at 5:15, anticipating the day’s travel. Coach Darrell Wimberley from Marion High School called me asking if I could recommend a speaker for an upcoming event at their school. I read, had a cup of coffee and then said my goodbyes to Cam’s family. We were on the road by 8:00 and headed for the airport. We continued our conversation about sports chaplaincy around the world during the ride and then he dropped me at the terminal. I breezed through check in, customs and security and then waited for a good while. I was at the gate by 9:00 and we boarded at 10:40. While waiting I continued my reading of “Lincoln on Leadership.” I began reading “How Football Explains America” at the beginning of the trip and completed it a couple of days ago.
The flight from Melbourne to LAX was 14 hours and 50 minutes. I slept about 6 hours on this flight and watched a bunch of movies to occupy time. I also did some brainstorming and strategizing re: sports chaplaincy and my future in it during the early part of the flight. The food and service on Quantas was very good again.
Our flight arrived on time in LA and as soon as we touched the ground I called Sharon and Jason. It was good to hear their voices. I had already queued up a bunch of text messages which were sent upon our touching down. I walked through the maze to immigration, which was very simple and then I waited a good while for my bags. Once they were collected I waited in line for customs which was also very easy. I rechecked my bag to STL and walked outside to change terminals. I stood in a very long line to go through security yet again. Once through that process I walked to my gate and had some Burger King breakfast. I made some calls and sent some text messages to friends while I waited and then heard that our gate had changed from 46B to 40, so I trooped down there to wait to board.
The plane boarded a little late and the flight was an easy 3 hours to St. Louis. My bags arrived shortly and I was on the phone to the hotel for the shuttle. I waited outside for 40 minutes and the shuttle finally arrived. The shuttle driver took me to my car and then I bought some gasoline, got some McDonald’s to go and headed for Carbondale. 28 hours after I left Cam’s house, I arrived at home, showered, shaved and collapsed in bed.

This was a most productive trip with the highlights being the investments we were able to make in the sports chaplains across Australia in every type of sport. At several points along the last 10 days I have been aware of the tremendous privilege I have been given to serve our Lord in this way and with such people.