Evaluating the championship

Last week we had the Europeans in Istanbul, and the least I can say was that is was an interesting experience.

Regardless of our results as Belgian team, I just wanted to give my personal opinion on how it went.

1. It was clear that the Turks wanted all teams to feel comfortable and secure. Every team got their own guide that helped them with translations, there was constantly police present and a lot of staff. A wifi-internet was installed so everybody could keep in touch with the home front. When Scott left his bag unattended for 20 minutes, someone of the organization had actually picked it up and stored it away safely.
2. The puck was the same as in Bari, the Italian puck. Personally I prefer the one we played with in Sheffield, a feeling shared by the majority of my team mates.
3. The game shedule was fixed from the beginning and no changes were made, what sometimes happens at these types of tournaments. Everything went relatively smoothly.
4. A lot of time was put in the preparation of the fields and at a first glance it looked really nice. The problem was the execution. The floor was made out of some sort of plastic parket: the same type used to make exterior ceilings. The puck moved relatively good, but didn't move any futher after the pass. Where it landed, was exactly where it stayed.
During the competition, some of the parts started moving and there were gaps in between the different units. This was extremely dangerous. Several players had cuts from playing and the majority of trainers complained. The problem were the walls that were not fixed all that well. Additional waits needed to be placed and this was done according to Turkish standards, meaning it took them a while before they actually got there.
5. The goals on one field were real death traps. We decided to stop our game against the Netherlands after one of the Dutch players had a serious cut at his hand. It was just way too dangerous to continue the game and we moved it to the second field. During our last game against Italy, one of my players cut his knee and needed stitches. Unacceptable in my opinion. The organization should assure the safety of the players at all times.
6. The camera system was very good. They used the regular undewatercamera's for the corners, and one of those "all round" security camera's for the actions on the field. Additionally one field had the same camera from the top view, making extremely good images for game analyses etc.
7. The refs came from several countries, and I appreciate their presence, as well as the time and effort they put into it. The problem was (just as in a lot of competitions) that some of the refs had no idea what they were doing, or were simply not capable of keeping up with the game. The French refs did the best job in my opinion, although they were very eager in sending players into the sin bin.Typical French thing, which sometimes completely messes up the game and almost makes the advantage rule obsolete.
Other refs were just too inexperienced, especially at this level. The Czech ref did his best, but there was a lot he missed, and one of the GB refs (Tony if I am not mistaken) is absolutely clueless about what exactly an obstruction is.
I guess this reff problem is just the inevitable result of this rediculous split in our lovely sport, fueled by the childish behaviour of the main actors. How else can one explain to have both tournaments at exactly the same time...
8. Turkey became European championship in the men's division. In my opinion they, for sure, didn't bring the nicest form of hockey. Rather physical, but they were in great shape and had an impressive bottom time. I guess nobody will disagree on that. They had an impressive amount of fans in the stands during the finals. The rest of the teams present supported the GB squad as their fan-base was significantly smaller. Something not that much appreciated by the Turks, but ok. One thing I do blame the Turkish supporters, is lack of sportsmanship. During the medal ceremony they only clapped for the Turkish teams.

The final party was bit of a rip off. 20euros to get into a club, get one beer and no food in sight is something I haven't seen so far, and I have done my fair share of clubbing in Europe. The location was good though, and so was the music. The drinks were at club rates, which is maybe a bit high for a uwh-party.

Those were my two cents. Overall it was fun, especially to see Portugal participate for the first time. Always a real pleasure to see a new hockey nation stand up. The Portuguese are a bunch of great guys and I would advise everybody to go by them and play some hockey.
The rest of the hockey was at a decent level and created some interesting games.
A special kudos to the GB women who were undefeated and gave us the most boring final ever to watch. 16-1 is not much of a score for a finals in my opinion. But than again, a medal well deserved.

Hope we get some insight on how it was in Durban.
Fred

Fred
I believe an excellent resume with some excellent views .all being taken on Board and hopefully will produce an even better world games.This was the Turkish federation first ever championship of any kind and they did try their best .Thanks go to all referees and players and organisers .
Antoine

Good work Fred. Good summary, thanks.

You forgot to mention the great location and the great company of all the other teams though.

Special mention to the Serbian Women's team, who put up a stirling effort against the Turks, and everybody else for that matter. A few big hurdles for them to jump. Also good to see the Czech girls improving so much, and the Belgian girls: most impressive team play. Well done. The Spanish are also a lot better than even a year ago, which is good to see. Pity the French sent such a young team as they were not much competition, but very glad that they got exposure to a higher level of hockey.

From a girl's point of view, the pool water was also fantastic on the skin. I love pools with no chlorine!

and check .Mac Web Gallery out for some amazing photos