This IS the trophy we came here for
Gallery coming soon.
6:30pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon and i’m finding myself standing in front of 40 people giving a speech. Since 2pm on Friday i had been ’switched off’ from the world and was enjoying a great weekend of ultimate and at no point did i expect or think i’d be standing there at the end of the weekend collecting the trophy. 30 seconds after the speech i remembered all the things that i could have said which included the famous Skunks speech of “This isn’t the trophy we came here for. We were beaten by the seedings”. But then again, this was the trophy we came here for.
And the weekend started as it eventually carried on really. After being able to get away reasonably early we made our way West to Exmouth and ahead of all the traffic we made it there in enough time to put the tents up and explore a bit. Compulsory fish and chips on the sea front later and we were in a pub demonstrating how bad some of us could be at pool.
The first game on the Saturday was at 9am and with it came new kit which looked great. As the day went by we found ourselves either winning really well or loosing really well – nothing in the middle. The one thing that was consistent was how much fun we had. I don’t know why this tournament was any different but the teams here just seemed to be a lot more fun – even the ones that beat us. We had a good banter going with each of them any many ended up supporting us as the days went on. Interwoven with games of haccy, volleyball, and mini golf ( i was rubbish ) the day was so relaxing as the sun beat down. We then went to get some beers ready for after our last game and after two of us being ID’d ( ! ) we made the process more complicated than we needed too. It was worth it however because after the last game we were forced to wait for the cricket to finish while sitting in the sun beer in hand with the team, talking through the days events. Relaxing.
Saturday night was all about us and i think was the differentiator for the trophy. We found the local Weatherspoons type pub, found some food, and then setup shop in the corner of the bar. I couldn’t believe how time went and was even more surprised when the tournament director was basically leading the rest of the ‘party’ out to join us, rather than the other way round. A few drinks later, and a few games later ( das ist gud ) we were the last out of the pub in what had turned out to be a great evening.
Not playing until 11:15 the next day meant we had time to get some breakfast and take the tents down. Winning two games out of 3 on the Sunday meant we finished 5th but the result didn’t matter. I can honestly say that this had been one of the most fun, most relaxing and most enjoyable tournaments i had been to in a long time. And it obviously rubbed of on the teams we played. As i’m playing i can hear cheers of “rawhyde” from the lines. As i go fully horrizontal to catch a stray pass i hear the crowd go wild and regardless of how my body feels, it feels great.
It was the icing on the cake to win the Spirit trophy, especially as for me its the most important trophy. It shows what our club is about and it makes for a much better tournament. I’m feeling a bit broken this week but for all of the above, and for so many other reasons it was all worth it.