Cremas Sizzle at Pajarita Ice
2 FEBRUARY 2014, by María Vergara
Friday evening the Cremas met at Plaza Espanya to set out, with backpacks full of excitement, for the Pajarita Ice tournament. Forecast: cold, cold, cold and really looking forward to practicing all that we've learned these last few months.
It was already clear that it was going to be a great weekend. We arrived late to Huesca but found the apartments without much problem. And we still had enough energy to hit the Welcome Party and to see many familiar faces as, in the end, Frisbee is like a big family. We didn't stay too long, except of course for the members of the Cremas Party Commitee --- I don't even know what time they got back.
The next morning the disc awaited us. First suprise: the size of the fields had shrunk!!! Interesting tournament format with various round robins. 9 teams competing on long narrow fields of dirt and grass. Okay... First challenge: Who will be the first one to layout in the dirt??
The first games were against newer teams with several pick ups and a strong deisre to learn. This allowed us to practice our plays, get a good flow between the handlers, make clean cuts and make clear the role of the short-field position. We even daringly threw some long passes with success. Relatively easy games where the Cremas' experience was apparent. Good catches from everyone! (And everyone with some drops as well, especially on Sunday). In general, many Bravas plays!
Fatigue and the lack of concentration worked against us in the third game, which turned out to be the most important one for being able to go to the top pool. The fact of having across from us the Prianyas, our friends we know well from Barcelona, relaxed us. Lacking concentration and energy, suddenly no one was calling our end-zone play and we kept losing the disc. It's dangerous to play easy matches before playing an important game. The Piranyas had just lost against the Dulcineas and they had learned from that loss.
After losing to the Piranyes we went into a lower pool, competing for places 4, 5, and 6. The last match of the day against the women of Bilbao was marked by an infernal wind, some calls and the desire to finish the day. The night was waiting for us... homemade lentils! Ms. Susie whipped up lentils with a coconut sauce in an oriental style for the whole team. Mind blowing. A night of laughs and fun with the 10 challenges of Angelix and Olartus. Let's all speak to them in French from now on.
Sunday's first match was at 8:30, lacking sleep but overflowing with motivation and desire. The loss of the previous day reminded us that we needed all our neruons awake and our focus at the max. We again started playing like a team with the will to win and never stopped fighting for the disc. A very satisfying match. The last game of the day was against Tramuntanas...our neigbors from Girona, who we beat after defining clear lines of offense and defense and showing how to play with three handlers on the pitch.
Cremas finished FOURTH at Parjarita Ice, kept out of the top three by one point in the only loss of the weekend (against Piranyas).
