Page 38 - QARANC Vol 14 No 11 2015

36 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Female Festival of Sports
The UK North Female Festival of Sports was held down at ATC Harrogate on 17th and 18th June 15. It was an organised to get females from all Northern units to come together and play a series of 6 sports over a two-day period these sports being: Football, Netball, Volleyball, Swimming Gala, Volleyball and Basketball. The team sent from DMG North were lead to believe it was an event organised as an introduction to sport rather than the fierce competitions the army delivers over the rest of the year; we were soon to learn that the other units who participated in the event didn’t get the same memo as us. The unit sent a team of 8 personnel from all departments across the unit to represent DMG North in the event.
Day One: It was an early start for all the team as the transport to Harrogate was leaving from the block at 0645hrs despite this everyone was in high spirits and looking forward to playing new and various sports over the next two days. On arriving in the gym ATC Harrogate we soon realised we were the smallest team only having 8 players, including myself who was unable to contribute until the swimming gala. The other attending teams had equally as many subs as they did minimum players for each event.
The first event of the day was 7-a-side football, 5 games at 15 minute fixtures. The girls were all eager to get on the pitch and give it their best shot. We soon realised we were out of our depth as an amateur team as the other teams had brought along experienced players. Although we did not win any of the 5 matches the girls gave a great effort. Pte Millington shone as a good goal keeper and an even better striker scoring 4 of our goals; also Pte Ibbotson had a good right foot and scored 2 goals for the team.
The second event of the day was 7 a-side Netball again 5 games at 15 minute fixtures. Although we did not win any of the football the girls didn’t let this dampen their spirits and looked forward to playing Netball a game most of the felt was more ‘their kind of sport’. The girls played 5 very strong matches, however when it came to playing 3 back to back matches with no subs the tiredness was starting to show and the opposition used this against us. Cpl Butterfield was Goal Attack for all 5 games and did a fantastic effort and scored multiple goals for the team.
The third event of the day was 7 aside hockey again 5 games at 15 minute fixtures. Unfortunately for the team we had to forfeit all 5 of our games due to equipment issues. Although it was disappointing that we could not play in this event I think all the girls will have been secretly relieved as it meant they got a long deserved rest after the previous matches. We still managed to gain 5 points from the event even though we didn’t play!
Day Two: The team managed to recruit 2 extra players for today’s events; this had an immediate effect on team morale! however after yesterdays disappointing start of not winning any matches everyone was feeling very anxious about the day ahead.
The first event of the day was the swimming gala. This varied from single races 25m – 100m to 4x 50m relays, swimming: crawl, breast stroke, back stroke and butterfly. We only lost 2 of the 14 races. With each race we were pulling back the points we lost yesterday and morale was increasing on each race! Cpl Lalor, who only joined our team today, put in an amazing effort and came 2nd in all of her races swimming Butterfly for all of them! Overall we came 3rd in the swimming with 11 points only 4 behind the leading team.
The second event of the day was 6 aside Volleyball same as yesterday 5 games at 15 minute fixtures and the last 3 games were back to back. The girls played 5 very strong matches and had 3 subs that rotated in on every game. Along with high morale with the success we had at the swimming this was a great boost to the team and all the games played really well! There was no specific position played by each team member as they were rotated round the pitch during the game. Although we gave each team a run for their money we didn’t win any of the individual games we became known as the crazy team due to the amount of morale everyone had and we weren’t taking it as serious as some of the other teams who at times looked and played like professionals.
The third event of the day and final event of the 2 days was basketball, again 5 games at 15 minute fixtures, last 3 games back to back. The first game was a bit anxious as no one had really played before. We soon learnt it was a pretty fierce game and from the side line it looked like a massive brawl. The second game, the girls gave as good as they got, upped the tempo and gave AFC Harrogate Ladies a run for their money. However, we didn’t win either of these to games. On the final 3 games the girls gave a fantastic effort, lost all their anxieties and left all stress on the court. We managed to win all 3 final games. Cpl Jack, Cpl Waghorn and Pte Ibbotson were the fierce members of the team and weren’t afraid to get in and tackle the biggest players. Cpl Butterfield transferred her netball shooting skills into the game and scored a lot of our nets closely followed by Cpl Powell who also showed off her shooting skills.
Overall it was a good 2 days, enjoyed by all. It was a good time to socialise not only with other unit members we don’t often see but also with other units from UK North and it was great to be able to play different sports that we don’t often get to do in the unit. Also we have found from this that the unit may not have the best ball players, but it is full of fish!
Cpl Rusk
QARANC, DMG North
Race
Position
Swimmer
25m Front crawl
3rd
Pte Millington
25m Breast stroke
6th
Cpl Rusk
25m Backstroke
6th
Cpl Waghorn
25m Butterfly
2nd
Cpl Lalor
50m Front crawl
2nd
Cpl Jack
50m Breast stroke
4th
Cpl Widdowson
50m Backstroke
4th
Cpl Rusk
50m Butterfly
2nd
Cpl Lalor
100m Front crawl
4th
Cpl Butterfield
100m Breast stroke
5th
Pte Cassel
100m Backstroke
5th
Cpl Powell
100m IM
2nd
Cpl Lalor
4 x 50m Front crawl Relay
4th
Cpl Jack
Cpl Butterfield Cpl Powell Pte Cassel
4 x 50m IM Relay
2nd
Cpl Rusk - Back
Cpl Widdowson - Breast Cpl Lalor - Butterfly
Cpl Jack - Crawl