Page 163 - AGC_Journal 2018(FINAL)_Neat

AGC JOURNAL 2018

The Exin Masters Army Basketball

Hockey World Cup

By Lieutenant Colonel Paula Nicholas MBE (Warriors) Tour Of

The Exin Masters Hockey World Cup took place In Greece
Terrassa, Spain over the period 27 July 2018 to 5
August 2018. By Sergeant Jevon Broomes

The aim of the tour was to reward current players for their dedication and
commitment to Army sport, to enhance team cohesion, and also develop
The Tournament
individual skill levels whilst promoting Army Basketball at a high level.
The tournament consisted of 11 separate competitions at the following age groups for both Men and Women: O35s,
O40s, O45s, O50s and O55s in addition to the O60s for Women only. A total of nine military personnel were selected
to represent various countries and age groups at the World Cup including Brigadier Alex Taylor and myself in the
England O45s teams. After which we had a team dinner at the hotels’ restaurant. We
then took a walk through the local town before retiring for the
night.
Tournament Format Basketball Tournament
POOL A POOL B
The tournament took place across four The Tournament began the following day on 17th June 2018.
locations in Terrassa boasting a total of seven Australia Argentina Our female team played against Panathinaikos female team.
Astro pitches. The Women’s O45s tournament We lost by fi ve points in a very competitive game. The male
consisted of 12 teams which was split into 2 Netherlands USA army team then played the second game of the evening
pools: against Panathinaikos male team. We also lost by two points.
New Zealand England We were exhausted after game one, as we were still adjusting
The format of the tournament was a round The Army to the extremely hot weather.
robin pool competition with the top two teams Ireland Spain Basketball
team
from each pool proceeding to semi fi nals Game Two
followed by a fi nal and the remaining teams Scotland Russia
from each pool taking part in a 5th to 8th Game two saw a better result for both teams, as we cruised
competition and 9th to 12th competition. France Wales away with a victory against AEK Basketball Club. Although the
games were competitive, we were beginning to develop our
rhythm.
The Pool Matches Final Game
Despite temperatures in excess of 35 degrees every With our fi nal game the male and female teams played
day, the England team comfortably won all their pool at diff erent locations. The female team went off to play in
matches to fi nish top of the pool, only conceding one Athens, whilst the male team played locally in Loutraki. Our
goal: opponents, Ilysiakos Basketball Club, represented themselves
well, drawing huge support from the local fans. This also was
Semi Finals a close and exciting game, resulting with the fi nal score 78 – 69
The team in favour of us. The female team also brought home the victory
The semi fi nals took place on pitch 1 at Club Egara in action with a score of 51 – 45.
and were streamed over the internet for supporters
to watch live across the world. In a very tight fi rst A Day in Athens
semi fi nal the Netherland eventually beat Russia 2 – 0
having been held to 0 - 0 until the fi nal fi ve minutes To Greece On 20th June 2018, we spent a day in Athens. We visited the
of the match. The 2nd semi fi nal saw England take Acropolis, Olympian Zeus and Parthenon temples in Athens
on Australia in the last match of the evening in front After a smooth and comfortable fl ight, we arrived safely at and the Syntagma Square. The temples were breath-taking and
of a packed stand. Despite Australia going 1 - 0 in Athens International Airport, where we proceeded to board our we learned a great deal about the history of the country. At the
the fi rst quarter, the England team did not panic Brigadier Alex Taylor and Lieutenant Colonel Paula personal coach leading us to the second leg of our journey. We Syntagma Square, we visited a few cafes and the central plaza,
and eventually won 3 - 1 to set up a fi nal against the Nicholas. Brigadier Alex Taylor’s men’s team won headed to Hotel Barbara in Loutraki, Greece which was about where we were also able to do some shopping.
Netherlands. bronze after beating France 4 - 1 in the third place one hour away from the airport. Hotel Barbara was pleasantly
play off accommodating. However, several hotels in the Loutraki area Endnote
Finals Day had been heavily aff ected by the 2014 recession in Greece. This
showed with the low attendance of tourist at the hotels. Our tour of Greece was a success. As a result of the games
After a rest day, the third and fourth play off and fi nal Endnote played against professional teams, our basketball skills, both
took place at Club Egara. Russia took the bronze First Night from a team and individual perspective has signifi cantly
medal beating Australia 2 - 1 on penalty shuffl es It was an excellent event with 135 teams participating increased. I look forward to the next tournament to come. On
after the match had fi nished 1 - 1 in normal time. from 25 countries. Huge thanks go to all in the On our fi rst night in Greece we assembled at the lobby at 7 behalf of the team I would like to thank Colonel Martin Toney,
In the scorching midday heat, despite a very even Adjutant General’s Corps, Army and United Kingdom p.m. where we received a tour brief from Colonel Martin Toney. who was in charge of the tour for making all this possible.
match with both teams creating several chances, the Armed Forces Hockey Associations for supporting and
Netherlands beat England 1 - 0 to win the gold medal. actively encouraging attendance at the World Cup.

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