Well from the start there was a huge amount of hype, and the presentation of the entry form suggested to us that this was a tournament worth entering. With the deposit paid we started to train, Stu H (go-one) our coach put us back to basics with shooting practices etc at LPS indoor arena. We (team zone) started to make progress within the M25 league, our first tournaments. Our training was getting better so we started to train with more experienced teams, Tigers Am & UK Marshall¡¦s for their knowledge and get their feed back so we could improve our game even more.
So this was it, of to Bournemouth we went. Upon entering the complex where the tournament was being held I was greeted by Astro Turf. I hate this stuff like you would not believe, but on closer inspection it was new and very very soft, so even with the overcast sky and the obvious rain that was forecast things were still on the up and up.
Registration time, one Chris ¡¥SYD¡¦ Pelling sitting behind the table envelope in hand with my teams name on it, I was directed to the camping area and told of the staging area too.
The Fields themselves were the RPS, Smartparts and The Angel field all three set up well, netted dead zones and well (? bit low !!) netted areas around all fields to allow viewing of the games. The staging area was individual rooms for teams and a key to lock the room up between games and over night, this in its self was great as there was not a lot of room in my tent with half my team and our kit.
Day 1
Rain, but hey, first game and a win, no burnt out trousers and by the third game, all fields were either on time or in front ( of time ). I do not have a lot of tournament experience, but the ones I have been to have always been so far behind this was great. Our day was finished on 1st place in Division B. As this was a self seeding tournament this meant Division 1 for the show down. (Expand, mention a few more games, credit to blitz !)
Day 2
First game Ecstasy, The BIG BOYS, we played well but did lose. The rest of our day was hard balling, the teams we faced were very experienced so we learnt a lot, but can hold our heads high that we took it to everyone. All in all by the end of the day we was placed 6th in Div 1 (of 8) having won 2 and lost 3. But 6th in Div 1 is still Div 1 !!!!!
Team Zone would like to thank¡K¡K¡K¡K..Doa Zealots for an amazing game in our first game against you, and for such a superb tournament. To Tigers its 1 all and you had 1.2 secs left on hanging that flag, (good job it wasn¡¦t sheriff running it in ƒº). And all the marshals, including Sam, I will open my eyes up more to where the tape line is and watch marshals arm signals.
