I won the game!
I am sorry to report the Hamilton field hockey team did not have as much luck as I did today. The Continentals fell in overtime to Skidmore 3-2 in OT in the Liberty League Championship. I followed the game on Skidmore’s website using their little game tracker and as far as I can tell the Continentals played a great second half to get out of a 2-0 hole but lost on a heartbreaker in OT. Quel dommage.
I had my second petit tournoi de rugby today and although it was cold and windy, it was great! Practices have been getting a little boring lately so I’m glad we finally had another match. It isn’t very fun to plaquer your own teammates over and over again week after week. I am trying to be friends with these girls after all…..Although we only had six girls today, it wasn’t a problem. We play 7v7 rugby (the kind that was just added to the Olympics) but the other teams were short on players too so we just played 6v6 instead. A lot of our players were either gone for the weekend or still on vacation. I’m not sure if the girls on my team live in Paris full time or if they go home on weekends. One of my host brothers goes to school during the week in Rouen but comes back to Paris on weekends. That sounds really bizarre from an American point of view but it’s fairly common over here. I found out today that our team captain lives in Toulouse, which is kind of far for going home every weekend. She wasn’t here today so I wonder if she was gone because it was the weekend or because it is their vacation week. The tournament today was small, only four girls teams and a four boys teams (including Le Porcelets, our corresponding guys team) but boy was it festive. There were mascots and even les pom-poms (cheerleaders). Le météo called for low 40s and rain so I bundled up and was prepared for the worst but luckily the rain held off and I had my underarmour long sleeve shirt so I was set. I couldn’t take a lot of pictures but I hope the one attached to this post gives you an idea of what the field looked like. Le terrain was in the 13ieme arrondissement, Stade Carpentier, just barely in Paris (la péripherique was right next to the complex, behind me in the picture). The boys in pink are Les Porcs.
So, now for the play by play recap of le final. After winning our first match easily, it was time for le final. The first team we played were beginners and hadn’t played a match yet so we scored every time we touched the ball so it wasn’t much of a game. The second team on the other hand was fierce. They had black jerseys and their supporters were yelling for them to beat les salopes (our team, in not so polite language) and yelling for them to be méchante (mean). Because of field time restriction, we only played a 5 minute match but with only six girls and the cold weather, c’était pas grave (not a big deal). The five minutes sure made the match exciting though! Les Gorettes (my team) played stellar defense and made some key stops when the other team (not sure who they were, didn’t play long enough to figure it out) was on our half of the field. In the last minute of play, my teammate Maud was still on her feet with le ballon around midfield but several opposing players were quickly descending, two girls were already trying to bring her down (she’s a toughy). I knew what I had to do. Maud saw me and read the play brilliantly. I went barreling up the middle through a hole and Maud was able to get me the ball when I was already mid stride and gaining momentum. They couldn’t stop me. I protected le ballon and did the whole Heisman pose and I was home free. It felt good. After the game, the team sang a little song with my name in it (no idea what they were saying, but Bay-ki was in it somehow) and les mecs (the guys) serenaded us with a victory song after our triumph. Pretty good for only playing 5 minutes, eh? We probably would have lost if the match was any longer. That was really the basis of our bonheur, the fact that we were able to squeak out a win. Despite the fact that I only played two really short matches, I am still wiped and am expecting to be a little sore when I wake up tomorrow.Today will probably turn out to be le point culminant (the highlight) of my very short rugby career so I'll take it.
Bonne nuit
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