With the �first-ever� Women�s London Savage behind us it is time to reflect and reminisce on a fun and adrenalin filled day.
With Friday and Sunday gloriously sunny and calm it was only fitting that the day of SAVAGE offer us 8 hours of continuous rain and wind. It was not quite the marinade we were after � but the assorted meats were out there anyway, giving their flesh to the mud and their limbs to the sky.
The hat teams were announced at a frightfully early 9am and teams chewed over their bizarre names: �Pork Patties�, �Chicken Legs�, �Tender Loin�, �Lamp Chops�, �Hot Dogs�, �Prime Ribs�, �Bacon Bits�, and �Turkey Breast.�
Where the outer-pitch became known for boomerang style passes thanks to the wind, the stadium pitch offered a magnificent spectacle, with some of the most controlled and dynamic women�s ultimate you could hope to find in Europe. As Kathryn Gould (winner of the tournament MVP) pointed out the tournament did manage to live up to its name thanks to these conditions. �I�ve not been covered in so mud in ages� she told me - and I wondered whether I should be feeling proud, or perhaps a little bad for what I had helped create� Aura, pass me a whiskey!
During a rare moment of peace I caught site of Shane Barba captain of the Tender Loins and quizzed her on how the day was going: �We�re just amazing. I dunno, we just jelled straight away!� It was a hat-tournament dream, a team that understood each other and could work it out instantaneously on pitch. For others the rewards were harder to reach and days ended with cramp, and for some an inevitable few days in bed with the flu.
Bringing the experienced players together with the inexperienced and the local with the foreign was all designed to add to the fun. When UK veterans looked around at their team and only knew one other player they could not help acknowledge that this was certainly �mixed meat� whether they liked it or not.
By the end of the day, with only 2 super-subs remaining to call on for emergencies, the players did an amazing job of pushing through all four 45 minute long games. I trust that every player felt used within their team, that every player learnt and grew from the experience, and ideally gained a new affection for vegetarians.
The sponsors really helped warm our players � I�m talking hearts and minds (thanks Lucozade) and physically too (Betfair.com gave away fleeces, caps and umbrellas). And as a last minute addition VC provided full kit packs for our MVPs � which were perhaps a wee bit sportier than the hip-flasks we had pre-prepared.
Finally, the �Welcome to the Meat Market� party beautifully came to fruition � despite a last minute venue change to Bar 101, Centrepoint. Special mentions have to go out to Griet Peeters from Belgium who asked her butcher if she could �borrow an outfit� and to Kate Schwarz from Germany for making a meat-packers outfit, well� make meat look tasty.
The final results were:
Winner: Turkey Breast
Tessel Hillenius (capt), Louise Kittow, Wendy Wiseman, Nan DeRosa, Jess Thomas, Ruth Carleton, Sally Fraser
2nd place: Tender Loin
Shane Barba (capt), Anna Bardos, Mel Zloch, Jillian Hastings, Gail Sheridan, Maaike Langeveld, Jen Glass
Spirit: Pork Patties
Sue Pioli (capt), Michelle Lam, Claerwen Snell, Ikram Hammouch, Gitta Zaschke, Fiona Sawers, Jo Drury (Alia Ayub, super sub)
MVP: Kathryn Gould, Prime Ribs
And here�s where it gets personal:
A huge thank you has to be given to my right hand man Simon Norris. Not only does Simon know how to manage the London Savage Seven event inside out, but he also has a knack for the behind the scenes stuff: the insurance; the first aid; the venue co-ordination. He�s a project manager by trade � and you can tell!
Charmeyne � you pulled through with everything! Not an easy task, but you�re a chic that knows how to deliver the goods! Thank you for being so supportive and for getting so cold with me on the day!
Diane � your creativity is endless and gave the event an inspired touch. Long may Meat reign!
Amanda � you were an amazing sound booth manager. Are you considering a career change?
Special thanks to the late-ring-in entries (thank god for the waiting list) and super-subs (without whom we wouldn�t have had an event!):
Hannah Easter
Amy Kaye
Diane Davis
Claida Holmes
Sally Quigg
Vicky Payne
Lauren Cappell
The players that hosted the foreign players: Vicky Payne Charmeyne McCollin Claida Anuar Aura McKenzie Diane Davis And the many many others that offered!
Thanks Lindsay for taking care of the water, Jo for your bit in securing the venue, and Natalie for the �yellow brick road�.
And lastly, thank you captains - for taking on the job.
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Just two special last requests:
- If you have any photos from the day we are working on an online gallery at present so please send them in!
- if you would like to see things done differently next year please tell us!! Some ideas on what we NEED feedback on
- hat versus teams
- one day versus two (to have more time in the stadium)
- if it was 2 days would you like to play the mens savage on the one day and yours on the other day?
- pitch quality
- general venue quality
- do you appreciate playing in a stadium or do you not care?
- time of year (we think mid-october is better)
- this years registration process
- this years seeding
- this years schedule
Many thanks! A toast to BST and many more sparkles in the future!
Kiwi Kate
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Surf the net and talk on the phone with Xtra Jetstream @ http://www.xtra.co.nz/products/0,,5803,00.html !
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