Post - competition

The national champs for canoe polo was just over yesterday, and I still can't stop thinking of it every hour. I think it is rather strange really, that people spend so much time, money, and effort on sports like these, playing for a mere medal piece with no monetary value whatsoever. But somehow, the piece of metal I have with me now stirs up strong emotions in me still.

My team prepared for the competition as per usual - frequent absentees suddenly turned up for trainings, we got a few friendly games going, and training sessions focuses on game play and tactics rather than skills. During trainings, we couldn't beat the girls' team by more than 2 goals, and I thought we will get the same results as all other competitions, with nothing to show.

We got off to a slow start, losing our first match even when we rained so many shots on their goal frame. We eked out a win with some miraculous goals in the second match, and we told ourselves we must whack the last team, which we did with a 4-2 win. We went into the semis!

First match against Red Tide 2, and it was a glorious game. We defended so well that they had no chance to get a shot away, and gave them no turnover chances at all with superb passing and control of the offense. Again, we rained shots at them, and was unlucky to lost to 2 powerful long shots and a deflected shot. RT2 eventually won the gold, while we got the bronze in the 3rd-4th playoffs, making me a bitter man.

I still got lots more to improve - in the important matches, I was afraid of fumbling catches, and whenever I thought of shooting I cautioned myself with the consequences of a turnover attack should the shot get blocked. Every competition makes me feel the need to improve further.

But finally, I see a team worth playing with, and realistic goals worth striving for.