FemmeRemix

Last weekend I was in Sheffield with Cambridge Huskies, playing in the BUIHA Non-Checking Tier 1 Nationals. Spoiler: we won. It was a lovely weekend, full of hockey and team and hard work and silliness. Also full of small reunions with hockey friends in other teams. I am so glad I got to go. I am so glad we won, especially for the people who are leaving soon. I love this team very much.

Friday:

• picked up 9-seater van mid-afternoon, packed it full of kit and passengers at the rink, drove to Sheffield and our airbnb
• went out in Sheffield, joined the BUIHA social involving white tshirts and sharpies
• skipped the clubbing, sat up late chatting and watching teammates playing pool in the airbnb instead

Saturday:

• team brunch, kit van to the rink, shopping at Puckstop
• three group-stage games at roughly 3pm, 6pm and midnight. We won one, lost one, went out to dinner and strategised, redid the lines, went back and won the third
• post-game maccies and then more pool back at the house

Sunday:

• packing up and getting out of the house by 11
• IKEA brunch for some of us
• two more group-stage games at roughly 2pm and 7pm (I had the most amazing nap in between thanks to a teammate with a room in the hotel next to the rink) - we won them both
• gold semi final at ~10pm and final at ~midnight
• celebrations on the ice and in the changing room, and then eventually the mundanity of packing kit and people back into the van and the assorted cars

Monday:

• drove back to Cambridge in the small hours, dropped people off as near as I could get to their colleges, got home about 04:30
• woke up at 7 as usual to do the morning school run, moved the van to my friend's street without residents parking restrictions (easier than trying to get it into my off-road parking space), went back to sleep for a few hours
• took the van back to the rink, met captain to unload all the remaining kit into the club storage, returned the van to the hire place, went back home and let the post-event drop hit me

Post-game interview on Facebook for the game against Invicta on Sunday (we lost 10-1). Favourite comment from a friend: "you both pulled such funny faces when the other one was speaking".

My feedback on the Hull camp shared (with permission) on their Facebook page: "I've enjoyed all the camps so far and I think they're good value for money. I think they're helping me improve as a player, and I've definitely seen other players level up in skill and confidence after attending. I'm very much looking forward to three whole days in July. I also really value the friendships I've been building with players from other teams, who I met because of these camps, and the mutual support we've been able to give each other over this past season."

Upcoming: BUIHA will live stream Nationals this weekend on YouTube, my games that will definitely be on it are:

• Sat 15:15 Cambridge Huskies v Leeds Gryphons B
• Sat 18:18 Cambridge Huskies v Nottingham Mavericks C
• Sun 14:20 Birmingham Lions B v Cambridge Huskies
• Sun 19:25 Oxford Women's Blues v Cambridge Huskies

(There's one more group-stage game that will be played on the other ice pad and not streamed, and then depending on how we do in group, we'll be assigned to the semi finals for either Bronze, Silver or Gold finals so we'll have up to two more games on Sunday.)