August 29, 2010
Great success in the World Games
Great success for the Polish National Team at the World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester!
We would like to invite you to read an exhaustive summary of the biggest lacrosse event ever: the World Championships in Manchester.
Every single Polish National Team player was waiting impatiently for the 7th of July 2010. Every one of them had marked this date in his calendar as the date of departure to the championships. Our coach was leaving for England from Wroclaw’s bus station where players from Poznan and Warsaw were already waiting.
We left at 9 PM local time. The journey was long and exhausting but knowing the destination and the reason kept us in high spirits, which gave us strength. We arrived at the Wilmslow Hotel, where we spent the first two nights, at 10 PM English time. That was the time when we first met players from the States and Canada. Everyone was wondering how good are they at lacrosse, what kind of people are they and how big is their commitment towards Polish lacrosse. Several days later we knew the answer: outstanding lacrosse players, great people and committed from beginning to end to the Polish cause! Another extremely pleasant thing that happened this evening was a gift for every player: a Team Poland equipment bag with a custom made helmet, gloves, game jerseys and shorts (white and red) and training penny with shorts. It felt like Christmas came early this year ;). However, the 26 hour ride was extremely exhausting so everyone went to bed early to gather strength for the next exciting day: three two -hour long practice sessions!
The next couple of days were all about the training. Coach Z (Christian Zwickert – PNT first coach) took care of every detail. In the beginning we focused on the basics such as ground balls, catching and throwing. As the time and practices went by, Coach Z introduced us to new plays and helped us master the rest of the lacrosse skills (man up, man down, face-offs, clearing etc.). The whole practice schedule was created in a way that was going to prepare us 100% for the first game against Bermuda!
After the first two days of practice, on the 11th of July, we played our first scrimmage against Brooklands Lacrosse; a local lacrosse team. The game was really evenly matched. Coach was testing players and was looking for the best sets. Final score was 12:11 for the English team. Fortunately, the score isn’t the most important thing in scrimmages.
The next day, aside from regular practice sessions, we played Team France! Before the game, everyone felt nervous and had high adrenaline levels. Despite that it was only a scrimmage; everyone was prepared like it was our last battle. The fact that we could scrimmage against the best players from another country was extremely motivating. The Polish National Team had control of the game in every quarter. The score that day proved the PNT was a better team. We won 8:4!
Another day, another challenge… Team Poland vs team Switzerland! After our victory over France we knew the taste of winning and every one of us wanted to feel it again! During the 80 minutes of this scrimmage nobody surrendered, everyone did their best, everybody fought to bring victory to their country. The final score was 8:7 for Team Poland. We were ready!
The 14th of July was a sad day for us. Our coach, Christian Zwickert, had to leave England and to go to his family in the States. His wife was pregnant and a new child was to arrive in this world very soon. We accepted his decision with understanding. A few days later Patrick Cameron Zwickert was born – congratulations Coach! Sean Chamberlain, normally working with the Long Island Lizards, became head coach of the PNT.
