Our Men’s team of Ko, Robin, Jawad, Jens, Rosario, Sandino, Joao, Cedric and Chris and our long-time member of the women’s team Catz left Boston on a sunny Friday afternoon on their way to the funniest tournament of the season in Montreal. We were looking forward to a fun weekend where we indulge in the cities’ culture and play good handball. Handball teams from Quebec are very good at team handball (very disciplined), and as we knew from past years, have strong and skilled players.
Despite having a formidable team, we were only 9 players, and had to play 5 games in 36 hours in addition to having a fun weekend in the city of Montreal. The first evening on Boulevard Saint Laurent was great. We started making some friends in the city and we all got together in our fantastic AirB&B next to HEC Montreal. The wake-up call was difficult at 9AM, but we made our way to the gym and a miracle happened: Rosario found us a new player to play with our team!
We started the first two games against the two best teams of the tournament. We actually competed really well, thanks to the great moves in attack of Ko, Jawad and Jens paired with a strong defense from Jens, Joao and Robin. Unfortunately, Chris got injured, which meant our joker Danny had to show his miraculous handball skills. In the second half, we played some great team plays in attack, plus Robin shoots a fantastic goal from the wing—and so we are back in the game with only two goals difference. However, the physically superior opponents spoiled our hopes of winning the game in the end.
The 2nd night in Montreal city was very fun too, we ended up staying all night at a non-disclosed establishment. The next day, After four long games and down to 8 players we managed the first game on Sunday well, but we unfortunately had to cancel the last one. On our way back home, some of the players stopped in Vermont to check out the wonderful lakes while others took time to see the historical sites of Montreal.
Thanks to all the players that made the trip, it was a fantastic memory for BTH
Cédric Mertes