Cnote from today, 9/9/19 With the bi-annual World Hardcourt Championships coming up this Sunday, 9/15 thru 9/22, in Cordoba, Argentina, I will go ahead and post this late brief of my favorite tournament. Facebook users can find links to live stream video coverage from Argentina at https://www.facebook.com/WHBPC/. Turducken One One, Tournament in brief: On November 10 and 11, in Church Hill, Richmond, we took it to the courts (some of us for the eleventh consecutive year,) with our 60 best friends/ competitors hailing from Boise, ID, Brooklyn, NY, Toronto, Can., Madison, WI, Providence, RI, Athens, GA, Philadelphia, PA, Memphis, TN, Raleigh and Asheville, NC, Washington D.C., Norfolk and Richmond. On Saturday, 17 three-to-five player teams completed 6 rounds of round robin play before the sun went down. We modified two tennis courts into two bike polo courts. Knifes (captain D.C.,) Whysk (capt. NY,) The Means (capt. RVA,) and Sh** Prism (capt. Norfolk, they really made us think,) led the day for points. Whysk and Clutch Touch (all-female, NY led,) Slam Drunk (capt. Asheville,) Shadynasty (of Raleigh,) and Sh** Prism led for wins with 6, 5, 5, 5, 5 respectively. Many familiar faces and some new, and most teams a new combination of players from, really, all over the country who just get together on the weekends. Other teams, like the Means and Shadynasty, put up the same front every year. Raleigh’s Shadynasty made their IV appearance in Turducken. Good-natured competition brought out the best in all of us. Low-ranking teams held off scores against the best, and crowd-members cheered “anything could happen!” However, the experienced teams did, as they often do, prove their endurance and skill as the allotted ten minutes rolled by. Players balanced competitive valor with camaraderie and fun. Occasional skylarking was generally permitted in the self-refed games. As Liam of NY put it, “I didn’t love it, but it’s a goal. It’s Turducken!” One instant mix team even held a spot in the bracket, which kept the proceedings lively, but was eliminated for Sunday. On Sunday, fun became more pointed and purposeful, games were lengthened to 12 minutes, and in the double elimination bracket, Whysk (Nate of Brooklyn, Erica and Tony of Madison,) defeated ratpeasants, (Jimmy and Zach of Brooklyn, Rob of Philadelphia, and Sean of Richmond,) and won first place. Competition was close in the final rounds. A sudden death “golden goal” point determined the winner of a semi and the final match after clocks expired with tied 5-5 scores. In the final, Tony scored a short-range point from the left side after making a direct drive from his own goal with the ball, blowing out the tournament like a candle. According to Nate, “The final game was really fun! It coulda gone either way and Jimmy played a great game stopping so many of our shots.” Jimmy has “only been at this 1.5 years!” and for him, competing in the final game was a “confidence booster.” Ratpeasants defeated Slam Drunk (Salem of Asheville, Scott of Raleigh and Cody of Idaho,) in extra points to proceed to the final, bolstered by a full-court ace from Sean and a strong scoring second half led by Zach. Defending Turducken champs, the Means, came in 4th place. Some players, like Shelley, NY, see Turducken as a memorable ending to a year of rigorous competition across the country. She, along with about ten of the weekend’s other participants, qualified and competed at the National Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships in late September, Miluakee, WI. One of them, Alias, was the most recent President of hardcourt bike polo’s national organization. Check out national and world bike polo news at http://www.nahardcourt.com/. Many agree that Turducken is a tournament they’ll always come back to. I'll add that during my three years participating in competitive tournaments, most of them end in a tie-breaker. The game is competitive and there are plenty of talented players, but I think we also all have so much fun, that no one really wants to see a tournament end. Thanks: To players, to good weather (a beautiful weekend Pologna Sandwiched between downpours,) a wonderful dinner created and brought to us by Zach, owner of Lamplighter Coffee houses in Richmond. Photos of my team, The Sugar Gliders, with Shonie, me, Ryan and Jacq (Kira missed the picture,) and one of our last games with Dave, Zach and Matt. Maybe don't exercise in a wool sweater? Definitely play bike polo!
0 Comments
|
AuthorWe are Kieran and Michelle, two 32-year-old William & Mary grads living in Virginia. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|