It's been almost 3
weeks since I came back from Geneva where I took part in the 4th edition of
Hells Belles European all female bike polo tournament and all this time I have
been dreading the moment I will finally have to sit down and try to word my experience.
How do you give justice to the best tournament you have been to and probably
one of the best weekends of your life??!!
It was Friday late evening when my team mate Vicky, Gabriela (teams official cheerleader!) and I arrived at the airport in Geneva. Our initial feel of luck to see our bikes intact after forgetting to deflate the tires has been dismissed by the endless round trips dragging the bike bags around the airport, waiting on trains that mysteriously don't depart and looking for phantom bus stops. Drained and hungry we eventually arrived at our hosts flat in Vernier. Tina and her boyfriend were most gracious about the fact we dropped on them like a bomb so late at night and fed us delicious soup with hazelnut bread! At about 2 am we finally settled for sleep.. our bikes half built, bags half packed, route directions half remembered and us - half dead. But we were TEAM DEATH PROOF and nothing could lower our excitement for the next days games of some polo with the coolest ladies in Europe!
It was Friday late evening when my team mate Vicky, Gabriela (teams official cheerleader!) and I arrived at the airport in Geneva. Our initial feel of luck to see our bikes intact after forgetting to deflate the tires has been dismissed by the endless round trips dragging the bike bags around the airport, waiting on trains that mysteriously don't depart and looking for phantom bus stops. Drained and hungry we eventually arrived at our hosts flat in Vernier. Tina and her boyfriend were most gracious about the fact we dropped on them like a bomb so late at night and fed us delicious soup with hazelnut bread! At about 2 am we finally settled for sleep.. our bikes half built, bags half packed, route directions half remembered and us - half dead. But we were TEAM DEATH PROOF and nothing could lower our excitement for the next days games of some polo with the coolest ladies in Europe!
8 am (it would be a faux pas to be late in Switzerland!) we
were at the courts, united with our 3rd team mate Lizzy, we signed our forms, got
the bikes checked, received goody bags from the organizers, and got a free
coffee and croissant for breakfast from the bar. There.. was.. a bar. This was
getting better by the minute. The courts
looked good. Shared space with a skate park sheltered under the motorway where
no rain could get to us seemed like a
perfect location to hold the tournament. It slowly started to fill up with
bikes and everyone we met seemed to be as excited to be there as we were. It
felt like the right place to be.
The games came as a rush..butterflies in the stomach despite
playing for over 2 years and this probably being the 15th tournament I've done
so far. I don't remember the scores, don't know how many times we lost or won.
At the end it didn't matter. We were there to have fun and it seemed like we
hit the jackpot. Relaxed, friendly and just pure awesome the atmosphere
couldn't get any better! Our original plan
was to see a bit of the city after our morning session games but we just
couldn't stay away from watching the rest of the competition! Besides it was
raining.. so we stayed and savoured the vibe.
After the games have finished the
party and throw-ins commenced while the organizers focused on the scores and
bracket placement for the next day. A couple of beers later and I really put
our team name to the test by smacking my face hard on the concrete going for a
joust. Sat on a side thankfully with no concussion and Arnica being applied to
my cheek bone (thank you Elodie!) I got told that our team actually managed to
get into the winners bracket! After receiving mixed signals my brain finally
concluded that the pounding headache and a blooming black eye was not important
and it was time to celebrate! And celebrate we did. Few hours of dancing,
laughter, beers and other 'medicinal' supplements later we decided it's time
for a classy kebab then bed.
Sunday morning was a haze. 10 am start only sounded
reasonable in theory. We needed adjustment period and coffee.. a lot of coffee.
We played our best but at the end we dropped out to eventually end up 8th out
of 16. There were some pretty damn good teams out there and being in a winners
bracket meant we got to hassle for the ball with them. My goal for the
tournament was reached - play with the best, at their best. Later on in the day 'you win or you're out'
single elimination format of the games bred some nervousness on the court and
you could feel it. With each team dropping out stakes were getting higher and the
crowd of spectators fuelled by beers and music was getting louder reaching the
zenith when the well deserved winners of the 4th Hell's Belles title came to
the team Sisters! All joy, mallets thrown in the air, bikes dropped to the
side, hugs, congrats and what nots we all joined the celebrations! It was a
long weekend of games and we were all finally ready to put our guards down..
literally. Then came the prizes, thanks
and free beer! We stayed at the courts for few more hours drinking, dancing, admiring
what a cracking job organizers did putting the event together, rehashing the
games and making drunken promises to come to local tournaments around Europe and
talking how we all love polo for being this kind of a crazy sport that turns
absolute strangers into best friends. We were all winners.
Kegs of beer finished, bar cleared, equipment being put away
it was time to hit the town for the big party! We set off on our bikes howling
like mad people through Geneva's city centre stopping at another classy kebab
place. 2 hours and 30 fed people later we headed for the club! Even more beers
and even more dancing it was a great night with great people and I don't think
I could shake the drunken smile off till I finally crashed at 4am.
We had a
flight back to Manchester in the early afternoon.
What a weekend. What a tournament. What a place. I love to
compete, in any sport really, but it's the passion and energy of the people
that play this badass game that keeps me coming back for more.
Sylwia
