Photos courtesy of Geoff White
Full set of Gameday photos http://www.gw-images.com/final-gb-v-finland/4590228511
The dust has now settled on a fantastically successful Women’s European Championships.
Great Britain,
having been the only team to qualify for the inaugural tournament, held in Granada, Spain, went from an unranked
placing to silver medal winners and official second best European team
classification, not bad for less than 2 years in the 11 a-side game, and now,
whilst most of the players and staff are still on Cloud 9 – and rightly so – we
asked a few of the gang to look back at some of their more memorable (and
indeed sobering) moments for your delectation:
Oli Davies, RB #7
(Hertfordshire Tornadoes)
My tournament highs were when we went a touchdown up against
Germany just before half-time (…with just seconds on the clock…) and I just
knew from there that we were going to win; the training sessions before Sweden
and Finland, just feeling good and ready and like we were a team in every
single way and I’ve got to mention singing “We are the Champions” after the
final, feeling like we really were and with all the other countries joining in
too. Away from football, on our one day
off, swimming pool races kept morale (and competition) high whilst frequent,
uncontrollable giggles with my room-mates were definitely of note. The only
lows for me were not being able to get my teeth in to the Sweden game and,
after such a great adventure with a great bunch of people, having to come home!
We’re in the 4th quarter against Germany, we'd driven all
the way down the field and its 40 degrees! We manage to punch it in and I get
straight to the pitch-side tents for some water. During kick-off Jo Mann
recovers a fumble, I remember I’d just taken my helmet off before everyone was
screaming “OFFENSE you’re back on the field.” Back on goes the lid but after
that next drive I come off and just fall to the floor. Before I knew it I’m
shivering, and all I remember was being covered in ice towels with my feet
above my head. I had to be carried on to the field for handshakes. I didn't
know heat could do that. On a more positive note, and it’s an odd one, but
swapping T-shirts and team gear with the other teams really broke up a long,
tense day as we waited to play the final in the evening of the last day. I
found myself laughing and making lots of new friends, I got some awesome
souvenirs and found out just how much the players from other teams respected
what we had achieved.
I loved performing the Macarena at the end of the tournament
with all the other teams and players as it was like this whole sense of
togetherness overcame everyone, which was a great way to sign-off this amazing
experience. Personally too, I loved dishing out a big crack block hit in the
game against Germany. After such a great week together It was so hard to get on
two different planes (one going North, one South) to return home to the UK.
The moment of the Championships I think for me has to be playing Germany in the opening game of the tournament. On paper we shouldn’t have won, we probably shouldn’t have got anywhere near them, but we dogged it out, and on both sides of the ball, we were just relentless. To know that we sent shockwaves through Europe too with that singularly united display was a pretty momentous feeling and being part of an awesome team just magnified that experience. On a bum note, getting a bout of heat exhaustion half way-through the trip threatened, but fortunately - thanks to the care of the team’s medical staff and my team-mates – never materialised in to anything beyond a 24hr time-out.
Being around an awesome group of women and being taught by
the best coaches in the country made this great experience in to an amazing
one. The support from back home, from family and friends and from our own
teams, and clubs from all around the country, was incredible and really
humbling and that sticks out for me, along with winning the silver medal of
course. The fact that post-match celebrations were cut well-short was a shame
as I had dislocated my shoulder in the Finland game, which was beyond painful,
but I got my hands on the medal before I left for hospital and that was the
main thing.
The several high-points for me which really defined the
experience, from the medal ceremony and singing “We are the Champions” with the
other teams, to stash swapping before the final, getting to know the other
teams to seeing the stadium for the first time. Being named as one of the
captains was also an incredible honour which will stay with me for a long time.
Lows? Wow, well definitely tiredness and also some stressing before the Sweden
game; from a less than high priority being restricted to the amount of pool and
sun-bathing time was understandable but seemed a bit hard to get used to in
such glorious weather!
Highlights of our week in Spain were the excitement of
watching each team play their first game and seeing the playing level, as we
had no idea how everyone would compare; Our first high, which was beating the
German team, that was amazing. The night of playing Finland is one that I will
never forget as it sunk in that we had won second place from being unseeded.
That was a huge mountain to climb but we achieved it with all the hard work
from the players, coaches, staff, supporters, BAFA and everyone else that's
been involved since the beginning. It was all for that moment. Also, when we
lifted our trophy, and later when we were singing 'We are the Champions' with
the other teams, these were all just the most incredible moments. It’s fair to
say we all rode an emotional, physical and mental roller-coaster at times
throughout the tour, from the huge game against Germany (Sunday), swiftly
followed by Sweden (Tuesday) and then that final high on Saturday in the game
against Finland. We prepared so well for all of that but nothing can prepare
you for that week after: You go away and surround yourself with your team, in a
fully-scheduled environment, playing the sport you love for nine days and you
are in a kind of state of euphoria, so there is somewhat of a withdrawal phase
when you come home. Obviously everything returns to normal eventually, but
still it’s hard to immediately fill the void that being with your
football-sisters 24/7 brings; Well, except for more football, of course, that
can definitely fill the void! With that in mind I can't wait to see what new
talent joins the sport in 2016.
Elaine Vassie, Social Media & Marketing Campaign Lead
Gosh lots of highs: introducing and getting the
“Roar4GB" hashtag trending was pretty great which, in part, helped our
BAFA Women Facebook profile garner over 240 new likes in one week alone. Plenty
of local articles generated and coordinated also helped bring good exposure to
our sport and clubs across the country. Personally, as I wasn’t able to attend
the Championships due to illness – which was a massive low in itself - being
able to watch the games and listen to the entertaining commentary was a huge
plus, as I know it was for literally thousands of other people.
