tournamental 2k19

​Is there anything better than beating another university in the best sport there is? Yes, indeed there is; beating 5 teams in one go! Tournamental this year was not only a hockey success with us winning the trophy back from the old boys but also a huge success in terms of raising money for the club and building new bridges with other hockey clubs (although spanking them all may have compromised this). On the weekend of 9/10thof March, the mixed hockey teams of Reading University, Surrey University, Nottingham Trent University and Coventry University as well as our old boys came to Warwick for a weekend filled with fun, costumes, alcohol and even some hockey. 
As tradition dictates, our guests arrived on the Saturday for a night out at Kasbah in Coventry. This years’ theme for the night was ‘musicals’ with some great High School Musical, Lion King and The Wizard of Oz costumes. Warwick’s theme was Beauty and the Beast although most of us looked more like beasts than beauties. Shout-out to Nottingham Trent for their amazing Little Mermaid costumes, we will have to raise our costume bar next year to match your efforts! The night started in a private area upstairs in Kasbah which gave all of us a great opportunity to mingle and to scout for potential mating opportunities. We then progressed to the main part of Kasbah to cut some filthy shapes and to enjoy the ‘pleasures’ Kasbah has to offer. I would love to give you some juicy gossip from the night, or at least some details, but frankly, I have no recollection of anything past 10pm so secrets will stay secrets I guess. What I do remember is that eventually Dappy showed up for some sort of show; previous to the night I had asked “What is a Dappy” so I’m not really qualified to discuss this part of the night either really. Let’s move on to the parts I do remember...
After a short night for most of us, the long-awaited hockey tournament began on our water-based pitch. To get all those poor hungover souls started easily we limited the initial group stage to half pitch matches. The group results were as follows:
Group 1
Reading : Warwick – 0 : 3
Nottingham Trent : Warwick – 1 : 2
Nottingham Trent : Reading – 4 : 2
Group 2
Surrey : Coventry – 2 : 5
Old Boys : Coventry – 1 : 4
Old Boys : Surrey – 7 : 5
We then proceeded to full pitch matches in which the 3rds, 2nds and winners of the two groups played each other. Surrey beat Reading 2 : 0 in the match of the 3rds and Nottingham Trent won against the Old Boys 2 : 1 in a tight match of the 2nds. Finally, it was time for the finale – Warwick against Coventry. Using our superior intellect we won;  solid 2 : 0 win #varsity2.0 #teamwarwick 
It should be noted that the match was cut short by about 10 minutes because the pizza arrived early and we just couldn’t be bothered to watch Coventry struggle any longer- they struggle enough with their degrees it just felt like bullying at this point. Really, not much was going to change in those 10 minutes.
All teams played really well and the atmosphere of the tournament was friendly and chilled (most of us weren’t able to really do any competitive hockey due to the previous nights’ shenanigans) which was exactly what we were going for. Afterall, Tournamental is about strengthening those inter-university bonds and not about winning a trophy (though winning does make it more fun, can’t lie about that). Thank you to everyone who attended, especially those who travelled far to join and those who took the brave step to attend for the first time! It has been a pleasure organising the event and spending the weekend with all of you! Hopefully see you all next year ♡
Now, for the last time ever,
Peace, hugs and lots of tournaments love xx
Sara
#TournamentsSecOut