Lets Celebrate Hockey!
Hello Elms College Field Hockey Friends and Family!
Today was our final full day in Holland; it is true that all
good things must come to an end.
Therefore, we started our day bright and early at around 9 a.m.; we then
were en route to the world cup for another thrilling day of watching amazing
hockey. We munched on bagels in the vans
and found ourselves fully energized to start our 12-hour day outside.
We arrived at the World Cup at around 10:30 a.m. which was
when the first game of the day started.
This was a women’s hockey game featuring Belgium versus Australia. This
was a very intense game and it seemed like most of the crowd was cheering for
Belgium (at least the people behind us). The final score was 3-2 Australia, a very
close game and even match up. After the
game, most people were hungry and ventured out to find food and also to shop
for any World Cup apparel and trinkets.
We made our way to the marketplace with a wide variety of delicious
food. There were many options to choose
from and it seemed like the homemade pizza was a favorite for everyone. As we were finishing up our lunch, a storm
(monsoon) began and it started down pouring but luckily we all hung out under
the tent—thank goodness! Luckily, the
rain did not slow down our day one bit. The
storm passed over and was finished as quickly as it started and was gone about
20 minutes later. With the rain behind us we continued on to the next game of
the day!
The second game of the day was the men’s teams Malaysia and
England. This game was definitely more eventful than the first game of the
morning. During the first 5 minutes of
this game a Malaysian player was injured because the England goalie came out to
make a save and tackled the player in the meantime. Unfortunately, the player was removed from
the field on a stretcher and was unable to finish the must-anticipated game.
Hopefully the athlete was okay! The English men scored two goals during the
game while the Malaysians were unable to put one in the net. The final score of the game was 2-0 in
England’s favor.
After the game ended we found our way over to the smaller Greenfields
Stadium across the way to watch the women’s game between Korea and Japan. Luckily during the game the weather started
to clear up and the sky was picturesque (blue skies and sun). The final score
to the game was a tie between Korea and Japan.
Next was yet another game! Can you believe it?! It was now another time for a Men’s game
between Belgium and Australia. The
Australins followed in the women’s footsteps and came out on top in this
match. The final score of this game was
3-1 Australia.
After this everyone took a little break from watching
games. Many people walked around the
arena and have a little bite to eat (we are all extremely obsessed with the
fries and mayo)! We also found a nice
area to sit outside and to enjoy the weather as it was warming up around mid
afternoon.
The final game of the day was the game that everyone was so
excited for! The Netherlands versus New
Zealand! The stadium was filled at the start of this game and most of the crowd
was wearing some sort of orange apparel. There were countless fans with crazy
outfits and hair do’s and the cheering and excitement carried throughout the
entire stadium. During many parts of the
game the entire crowd participated in the wave, which was amazing to see! When
The Netherlands first scored on a penalty corner the crowd went crazy! It was
amazing to be at the World Cup with thousands of people supporting the
Netherlands. The Netherlands then scored
another goal in the second half of the game.
The final score of the game was 2-0 in favor of the Netherlands. After
the game the team even walked around the stadium throwing memorabilia to all
the fans. Fortunately, we were lucky
enough to have the Dutch women toss a water bottle into our section. The unfortunate part is that Abby dove for
the water bottle and fell directly backwards into the seat while screaming the
entire time. This is just one example of how it is hard to take our team out in
public because we are always falling and making a scene. In the end, Marie
ended up picking the water bottle up off the ground and Abby’s efforts were in
vain.
It is hard to believe that 10 days have come to an end; it
seems like we arrived at the airport yesterday! Our days were jam packed with
amazing memories that will last a lifetime! A shout out to Coach’s for all of
their hard work, this trip would not have been possible without you. We are beyond thankful to everyone that
helped us along the way and although the blog entries will stop within the next
few days the memories will never fade.
The girls with the World Cup mascot Stockey!
Panorama of the main stadium.
New Zealand and the Netherlands lining up for their respective national anthems.
ECFH posing for a picture during the match between the Netherlands and New Zealand!
Sending all our love from Holland,
Hannah and Imogen
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