A tournament report by Lynn

Whitsun isn’t that long ago. And haste makes waste. So here’s our U14 girls‘ tournament report! Great thing about it: For the first time an article on rotationhockey.de is bilingual! Here you can read it in English and there in German (link)! But let’s begin with the first: From June 3. to 5. 2017, we (as in the MAs and MBs, the U14 and U12) went to the Whitsun tournament in Mannheim. Both teams did a fantastic job and had a lot of fun even though the weather wasn’t the best we could’ve hoped for, we didn’t let it get us down and both came in third place! 

We met at our platform on Saturday, at 6 am. Despite being extremely tired our anticipation for the first game was bigger … We arrived without problems in Mannheim. However the weather was not very good, it was hot and humid, which isn’t a good mix if you’ve got a lot of baggage to carry!

Our first game was against the host, TSV Mannheim. They weren’t bad and we were basically on the same level, which is why there weren’t many scoring chances. But, following a pass from Siri over to the left side we scored a goal! Shortly after the goal the game was stopped because a thunder cloud was rolling in. We stayed in the gym, talked tactics and after a short while we were able to finish the game. Luckily, the score stayed like that and we won 1–0! After the game we setup the tents.

Our next opponent was Blau-Weiß from Cologne. In this game we tried to implement all of the things our trainer Paul told us we could improve in the next game. This only worked partly, we couldn’t reach our full potential and walked out of the game with the score being 0–0. In the afternoon, we went on a field trip to the Mannheimer HC, where the u16 four nations tournament was being held. We watched the first two halves of Germany against Belgium, a very exciting game if you ask me! ;-)

Back at the TSV compound the sky was getting darker and darker and it wasn’t long before it was storming. The hockey games were paused, I mean you can’t really play on a hockey field that is underwater. After eating dinner we watched the Champions League Final (Real vs. Juventus).

On Whit Sunday the weather didn’t get better and some of our players couldn’t play because they had a cold or nausea. Still we were determined to win against our opponent, Klipper THC. It wasn’t a bad game, though Amanda (sadly like last year) and others injured themselves and the score stayed 0–0. After lunch we played against Braunschweig, who we should have played against the day before but the rain got in our way. Sadly, the opposite team scored a goal. Even if we lost we fought till the end, played well and even blocked out the chanting from the Braunschweiger boys.

Meanwhile the weather was getting better and we were ready to play our last game in the group game. Against the Düsseldorfer SC. We played better than in the last games but it still wasn’t enough for a goal on both sides.

In the late afternoon, we were going to play against Mannheim once again, with the weather now being hot and dry. After a „lob goal“ from Hannah V. we conquered Mannheim 1–0 and were now the semifinals. Against Braunschweig, again …

The second game was much better than the first and we had hope. Suddenly our opponent got a corner and scored a beautiful, well placed goal. Sadly, it stayed 0–1, so on Monday we were going to play for third place.

Later that night the legendary coaches‘ tournament was taking place! Paul at first didn’t want to play but we convinced him and Theresa (MB’s assistant coach) to play. Paul even scored an „tomahawk goal“! Of course we were the people who cheered the most.

The next morning we ate a nice breakfast and right after that we had our game for third place vs. Blau-Weiß of Cologne. It was a very good game and after a nice goal from Hannah V., set up by Kira, we won third !

We had lots of fun, ate a lot of fries, and evolved along the way. We were all on the same level which is why no game was won higher than 1:0. But what I still don’t understand how some people think Rotation is a land!

Thanks to the MA’s: Emma, Leo, Ella, Livi, Siri, Kira, Hannah P., Maite, Yaara (TW), Amanda, Danbi, Matti, Charlie (TW), Lotta,
Hannah V., Inge, Lynn und Doro als treuer Fan

Thanks to our Trainer: Paul. And special thanks to our custodian: Dong-In