Kim Ewanovich Blog#11

Hello,
this past week has been very busy, Tord's parents came here for a visit so we drove to Nice on Thursday to pick them up and then showed them around and took them out for supper. Friday we went into Toulon to do some last minute Christmas shopping. It was very nice weather this whole week and we spent a lot of the day walking around outside (plus 18 weather). Friday night we had practice and Santa (the coach) showed up and handed out gifts to all of the players which was really nice.
Our game vs the 4th place team was at 8:30pm on saturday and about 5 hrs away so we met up at the gym at 12pm to get on the bus. The game started out great and after 20 min we were up by 6 goals, this was surprising for everybody on our team because we went to the game with 2 goalies and 8 players (2 of the players were from the clubs 2nd team, and one of those players only played defence). Fatigue started to kick in and at half time we were down by 1. The game ended with us loosing by 7, everybody was disappointed because we lost but were happy with how "we could play" together if we had a little more depth on the team.
We got home from the game at 4 in the morning and i went straight to bed, after 2 hrs of sleep i was up again to take Tord's parents to the airport in Nice (1.5 hrs away), needless to say i was very tiered after all of this and to top it off i started of this week with a bad cold so that didn't help. I spent the rest of Sunday in bed :)
Today i had practice, came home and i'm now in the middle of packing.
I leave for Montreal (from Nice) tomorrow at 7:45 in the morning so i will be leaving my house around 4am for the drive. I will be in Montreal having a national team handball camp and playing 2 games vs USA, one in Montreal and one in New York.
I land in Edmonton the 24th and will be home for a few weeks before i head back to France.
I hope everybody has a great Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#10

This week started off with some good news for me. I received a call from the Toulon coach and he was telling me both his goalies were not going to be around for the next few weeks one because she was picked up to play with the France national team for Euro 2010 Championships and the other goalie had to go back to Brazil for a few weeks because her mom is in the hospital. He continued telling me that Toulon had previously arranged an exhibition game with Plan De Cuques (club in D2) on thursday and was wondering if i could go on the trip with them and play in the game. He had already called and got the go ahead from the president and coach of my club so he just needed an answer from me, and without hesitation i said yes.

So thursday night i met at the stadium to travel with some of the girls for the 1.5 hr drive to Plan De Cuques. The game started off really bad for me and i let in some "WHY KIM" goals, and after the first 10 min we were down 6-2. After a time out (and a slap on the back of my head) i got back into the game and ended the half letting in only 3 goals in the last 20 min. This momentum carried on in the second half for me and the players and we ending up winning the game 29-14.

I'm not sure if this could mean anything for me and this club in the future but it's good to have friends in high places.

My game vs La Garde (1st place team) didn't have such a happy ending, we found out about an hr before the game that one of our players (a starter) woke up with a swollen ankle and our physio told her she must sit out this game. Sooo for the hardest game of the season and on home court we were going to be playing with 8 out players and 2 goalies. The two subs on our team were from the 2nd team of La Crau and play at a pre-national level, so before the game even started the girls had their heads down and we lost by 9. I played the first 15 min of each half and didn't play very good.

Big haller goes out to the --best mom ever-- who celebrated her birthday this past week!! Love you <3

Bisous

Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#9

Hello,


I know i start off most blogs by saying nothing really happened this week but it has never been more true then now. We didn't have a game this weekend (and because we won our last game) the coach gave us most of the week off. Tord and i worked out twice this week then i had handball practice just on friday.
For the weekend we didn't have much planned so saturday we drove a little over an hr away to Cannes to watch Ajaccio play Cannes in a top division volleyball game. Last year when we played in Ajaccio we were friends with a lot of the volleyball players and none of them knew we were coming so it was nice to see their reactions, and it was good to see them again. In driving to Cannes i saw my first snow fall of the season and now i am excited to come home, having Christmas just around the corner and not seeing snow doesn't seem right to me.
This weekend we play La Garde, they are first in the league and their club is located in the city next to us. I have been told there has always been a big rivalry between the two clubs and if there is one team the coaches and players want to beat the most, it would be this team.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#8

Hello,
I just wanted to start of this blog saying that i experienced a little Canadian winter a few days ago here in France. An average the temperature here on a good day is anywhere from 10-20 degrees, on the bad days you can expect about plus 5 with rain and lots of wind but a few days ago it hailed for about 5 min and it made me think of all of you at home. Haha CRAZY cold weather :)
You know how ppl always say things tend to get worse before they get better well my team was experiencing the worst this past week. Having lost a few players the last month some due to personal issues and some to injury, we finally started thinking that we could move forward and start to concentrate on handball again, and we were wrong. After a exhibition match on wednesday one of the players left the gym upset and crying but nobody really knew why, this player does not live in the town and is new this year (and very shy) so nobody really had anyway to find out why she was upset so at the start of fridays practice everybody had a lot of questions for the coach. Unfortunately he didn't have many answerers except that she had decided to quit for her own reasons (another one bites the dust!!).
Our game this week was on sunday and it was about 4 hrs away, so instead of taking a greyhound bus we decided on taking 2 mini vans to make the trip go a little faster. This seemed to work because we ended up winning the game 19-22. This was the first away game my team had won and it was very important to win because everybody in the town has heard about the players "dropping like flies" and they are all saying that the rest of the season will be very difficult without these players and chances are we wont win many games from here on out. So this was kind of a big "EFF YOU" to all the ppl out there that are talking bad about the girls team (and to the girls that have quit).
I played the whole game with a 53% saving average, and i also saved 2/9 penalties (not the greatest game from 7m but 9 penalties shots?!?!).
I had 3 practices with the Toulon D1 team this week so that was cool. But they are gone the next few weeks for away games so i wont be training with them for the next little while. Plus we don't have a game this weekend so the coaches have given us 3 days off so we wont train again till friday, so i have no clue what i'm going to do with all this time off (did somebody say christmas shopping!!!).
Other then that, nothing much is new, Tord and I bought a new washer machine (6 days after the other one broke down) so you will be happy to hear we are now wearing clean clothes again. :)
Hope your all enjoying the cold, only another month till i'm there enjoying it with you :)
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#7

this is the House I live in,
Hello,
So this last week has been kind of crazy. My team found out that out captain is 4 weeks pregnant and will no longer be playing for the rest of the season. As well as on of the girls on my team got into a car accident and is okay but will be spending sometime in the hospital to recover.
This past weekend we played a team in last place but struggled a lot. I played 1st half we were tied 14-14, i didn't start 2nd half but after 15 min we were down by three so the coach made a goalie change and i started to play decent and we ended up winning by 3 in the end, with the final score being 27-30. This game was a very important game to win because it was against the last place team and now that we have lost our right back (captain) games are going to get much more difficult from here on in.
Outside of handball things are good, after the game my team went to a little pub downtown for a pot luck dinner and some drinks. After that about 10 girls (from my team and the 2nd team) went out to the bar. I really enjoyed this because it was the first time i have hung out with my team outside of handball and everybody had a good time and i get along with all the girls (for the most part, hahaha).
This week i will start goalie training with Toulon again (after a two week break) so i'm very excited for that.
Other then that nothing else is new, hope everybody at home is enjoying the snow :)
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#6

Hello,
Not to much to say this week, things have kinda gone back to the way they were a few weeks ago. We have only 8 or 9 girls at practice as well as the motivation is not there at all.
We played an away game this weekend which meant another 7 hr bus ride which for our team usually means playing really bad and loosing really bad... And this weekend wasn't any different.
We played SANFLO MURAT HB they were in behind us in placing but by just one point. After the 7 hr bus ride (and getting lost) we found the gym and were very surprised at the condition of it. The court size was smaller then the normal 20-40m court, the floor was concrete with lines painted on it. The nets were directly against the back wall so to stop the ball from going to far when somebody missed the net the team puts up these foam mattresses (like the ones used for high jump) against the walls. The biggest problem with that was the plastic had been torn on them so there was foam chunks all over the court and when a player missed the net the ball would have foam pieces on it making the ball hard to play with. The president of our club found out that the president of SanFlo Murats club was also on the board of the France Federation of handball so they get away with having teams to play games in this "shit" gym. But shit gym or no shit gym we still lost against a shit team (excuse my french) and there was no reasons or excuses for it.
But that game is over, now we need to focus on next weekends games vs Pays Apt Handball they are in last place with 1 win and 5 losses. It is a home game so as long as we don't play like we did this past weekend we shouldn't have a problem winning (knock on wood).
Tord and i went to watch Toulon play a club from Romania for a game in the handball champions league yesterday and although they lost by a few goals it was a very exciting game. I will start training with Toulon again after next week because the team has been away on games the last week and will be gone again all this week.


Here is a picture of Toulon playing yesterday, we got there kind of late so after finding parking these were the only seats available (first come, first serve).
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#5

Here is what happened this week...
After the last few weeks of bad trainings and games, this week was a breath of fresh air. The two girls that quit a few weeks ago have decided to come back this week which is great cause we need the players. The coach decided to change up the trainings and do a lot more physical drills with competitions incorporated into them. This has proven to be successful in motivating the team to work harder at practice and in turn playing better during the game.
This past saturday we played in the second round of the France Cup. France Cup is set up kinda like a tournament that goes on all season long between all the team from N3 to D1. The games are played once every few months and once you loose a game you are out.
This past weekend we played against Plan De Cuque, they play in Div 2 which is 2 divisions higher then my club. The France Cup isn't really taken seriously for most teams and my coach went into the game with the plan to play everybody and to use the game as a practice match.
I started the game and played really well, with over 50% saving average, at half time we were tied 11-11. Although the coach said it was even playing time for all the players, i though i might stay in net because i was doing so well but i was wrong, and he changed goalies for the second half. My team started to get tiered and made a lot of turnovers and we ended up loosing the game by 8. The coach told me after the game he was very happy with my performance but he wanted to see how the other goalie would do against a higher level team.
The president of the club couldn't be at the game this weekend but he called me today and told me he heard from some spectators and the coach that i had played really well, so i was happy to hear that.
This past week was a holiday in France and the kids had the whole week off from school so my club held handball camps all week long. They asked Tord and i if we could run a goalie practice on thursday and we agreed. I was told what gym it was at and that it started at 2, but that was it. They didn't know how many goalies would come and they didn't tell me how long the practice should be. Tord and i arrived at the gym to find 4 goalies waiting, 2 boys and 2 girls from ages 14-17. We started out with some fun warm up drills, then hand eye coordination stuff, then into the goalie drills. After about an 1.5 hrs the goalies started to look tiered so we ended the practice, or at least we thought we did. They then told us that they were told that practice didn't end till 5, and that they wanted to keep going, so we did. Three hrs is a long practice when you only have 4 goalies and your doing all the shooting but it was a lot of fun and it seemed like the goalies all really liked it.
This weekend we play away against Sanflo Murat HB, they are currently in 8th place, and we are in 5th place but we sit with just one more point then they do. So again it's a very important game for us and i hope for it to be our first away victory.


Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#4

Haller,




This weekend we played against CS ANNECY LE VIEUX HB at home and won 26-20. This game was very important for us because the team has been very down since the last game when we lost away (and after 2 ppl quitting).

The first half of the game i played really well with above 70% saving average and we were +6 going into the second half. I started the second half but was subbed off after 10 min. The 2nd goalie played the next 10 min and after that the score was only +2. The coached subbed me back on and i played the last 10 min and the game ended with use winning +6. Overall i played well saving 1/1 on penalty shots as well as having about a 60% overall saving average.

After the game we had a mandatory meet up at a bar in La Crau where we hung out together and had a few drinks, as well as i brought some of my freshly made cookies for everybody to snack on. It was nice to hang out with the team together outside of a handball court as well enjoy a few beers. :)

This weekend coming up we have a home game against HANDBALL PLAN DE CUQUES in the France Cup. This will be a very difficult game because they are in D2 so they play 2 levels above my team. But in France for most teams the France Cup is not a big deal and its just extra games, and it's looked at the same way for our team. I'm hoping to play well so that if the chance comes up and they need a goalie for next season they might consider me (always thinking ahead!!).

My coach says our goal is not to win the game next weekend against the D2 team, but to prepare for our next league game November 6th against SANFLO MURAT HB currently in 8th place with 2 wins and 3 losses. And that preparation started tonight with a really good practice and with a full team (the 2 players that quit have decided to come back).

So things are starting to look up!!!




Bisous

Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#3

Bonjour,


Well this week was not a good one. My team had only 3 trainings this week and they didn't go very well. Monday was okay, we had some players from the 2nd team practice with us so it was nice to have a lot of girls training but at the same time they are at the pre-national level so playing with them was some times difficult for the out players. Wednesday didn't go as smooth, we play an exhibition match against the pre-national team. Two of our players who couldn't make it to the game this weekend so they played with the pre-national team, the coach also decided i would play with the pre-nat team so i could get harder shots. The result of the N2 team was not good, and they ended up loosing to the pre-nat (+ me and 2 other players) by 4. During the game a fight started between a player on the N2 team and the coach and the player walked out of practice and decided she would no longer play handball. This made the team even more down as well as my trainer very angry.
I went into fridays practice hoping things would be better but they weren't, everybody was still talking about what had happened the practice before and were also concerned about having to leave at 8 in the morning to take the bus to our game that didn't start until 8:45pm.
The game this weekend was very important to win, not only for the stats but to bring the moral of the team back up. But the bad streak continued and after a 10 hr bus ride we played against Blanzat Sport Montlucon and lost by 10. Our team didn't play well, having lots of missed shots, turn overs, poor defence and goaltending (me). The Blanzat team was not better or faster then us but they played like a team and we did not. We then showered and got back on the bus for another 10 hr bus ride back home, arriving in La Crau at 8 the next morning.
The only thing that kept me focused this week was training twice with the D1 Toulon team, i really enjoy the players and coach as well as the level of handball.
This week i have been asked to help train the goalies for the u 18 girls team so i will be doing that once or twice this week as well as training with my team and twice with the Toulon team. Next weekend we play at home against CS ANNECY LE VIEUX HB, they have won 1 of 4 games so i hope we can get a win and start to improve and play as a team.


Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewaonvich Blog#2

Hello,

Well this week was a slow one. The Toulon team played 2 away games, one on saturday and one on wednesday so the team didn't return home in between the two games so i didn't train with them this week. This left me with only had 3 trainings with my team and 2 weight lifting days.

The games this weekend went okay. Tord's team played at home before us and they won 27-22.

Our game turned out to be a little more difficult. The coach decided to take only one goalie for the game so he could dress 11 out players, so i was told on friday that i would be the only goalie dressing for the game. We played against Port De Bouc, the match was close the whole first half and the score was never more then a few goals apart, the half time score was 10-10. Entering into the 2nd half we started well with some fast breaks and good succession and gained a 4 goal lead. That didn't last very long and after some bad shots and turn overs (that resulted in fast breaks from the other team) we were all of a sudden even again. With only one minute left in the game we were down by 2, after a time out called by our coach we regrouped and ended up playing good defence and finally finishing on offence. The game ended with the other team taking a 9 m with no time left and missing the net, the game finished tied at 23-23.




I played well making a few important 6 m saves as well as saving 3/4 penalty shots.




Sunday, Tord and i went to watch Toulon vs Larvik (best women's club in Norway)in the first Champions league game this season. It was expected that Larvik would win very easily but Toulon played well and only lost by 3 in the end.




Like i said, this week was very slow. Haha




I hope everybody had a good thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed it with family and friends.




Bisous

Kimberley

Blog#1 (Kim Ewanovich)

Hello all,


Well my team didn't have a game this weekend so todays blog, being my first blog i will catch you up on what has happened since i got here.


I arrived in La Crau at the end of July and things started quickly. For my first two weeks here nobody touched a handball. We had practice 4 days a week but the practices were just testing. We spent the first hr of training outside on the track, doing mostly speed and endurance testing, including the beep teas (in 35 degree heat). The second half of practice was focused on core body training, sit ups, push ups, wall squats as well as medicine ball exercises.
After the two weeks of "hell" all the girls were looking forward to finally doing some handball drills. Our first game was for the France Cup on sept. 11th so we had a little over a month before our first real game. This time was spent learning a 3-2-1 defence (as the team usually played 6-0), offensive plays as well as playing at least one exhibition match per week against various clubs.
The first exhibition game was against a D2 club called La Motte-Servolex, with my club being in N2 we has our work cut out for us. And it showed with the final result of the game being 39-19 for La Motte. After the game everybody was really down on themselves but then we were reminded that this team trains 2 times a day as well as they are 2 levels above us in league.
The rest of our pre-season games went well playing clubs in N1, N2 and N3 and winning all of them, we started to play as a team and it was showing in the results. Unfortunately in playing these games we ended up with some injuries on the team, 5 to be exact. And when the time came for our first game we played away vs Bouc-Bel-Air with only 2 girls on the bench, one goalie and one out player. We fought throughout the whole match and won the game 26-23. Our next France Cup game will be played in the following weeks at home against a D2 team so it will be a difficult game to win but we will see what happends.
As for league games we have had 2, our first game was near Paris in a place called Saint Germain Blavozy and we lost 22-30. After getting off a 6.5 hr bus ride and only having an hr till game time the girls found it very difficult to get focused and never seemed to get fully into the game (including myself). My team received 8 two minutes as well as 2 red cards during the game and we also had many turnovers with a result of 13 fast break goals by the other team. So needless to say the 6.5 hr bus ride home was very quite.
Our second game (first home game) went alot smoother. Then mens team played before us and won so there was some pressure on the girls to do the same. Even with 2 girls still unable to play due to injury we finally started playing as a team and won the game 29-22 against a team call Val De Leysse in front of about 500 fans, very cool.
Even though we didn't have a game this past weekend, during the week i was very busy. There is a D1 team about 15 min away that has goalie training 2 times a week with a goalie coach who happeneds to be the first goalie for Tord's team. So twice a week i go into Toulon and train with their goalies for 45 min then with the team for 45 min. This past week one of the goalies for Toulon broke her nose (in 3 different places) playing soccer, so the coach of Toulon asked me to come train with them 5 times last week (in addition to my 4 trainings with my) so i did. It was a very long week and my body needed the weekend off but i really enjoy practicing with the Toulon girls and hope to keep improving so i may have the possibility to play at a higher level in the future.


This weekend we will play at home against CCS Handball Port De Bouc, they have also won one game and lost one game so it should be interesting.
I hope to get some pictures and video from the home games up soon for you guys to check out.


Thats about on my end of things.


Bisous :)
Kimberley

A Little about myself

I'm born and raised in Ardrossan, i have 2 sisters and one brother.
The first time i played handball was when Ardrossan had put a team in for the Alberta Winter Games when i was 14. I was put in net because i was the only girl crazy enough to go in voluntarily, but after that weekend of handball i was back to playing the normal school sports as well as playing soccer for the Sherwood Park Rangers.
It just so happened that Alexis Baltimore (Sickler) was the assistant coach of the Rangers and informed me she was starting to coach a handball team and she asked me if i would come out to a few practices to give it a shot. I showed up to my first practice wearing spandex pants, gloves, and a spiderman shirt, after being told to take of the gloves (thanks Mike) i had my first practice and fell in love with the sport.
After having to make a choice of commitment, i quit soccer and started concentrating on handball. Up until 2006 i had been playing 4 years with the Alberta and Canada team, competing in friendly tournaments and qualification matches. This gave me the opportunity to travel to USA, Brazil (4), Italy (2), Sweden, and Denmark (2). On my second trip to Denmark i was there with an Alberta team and we played against a club from Norway called Molde HK. After the match a meeting was set up between me and the president of the club, here they asked me if i would consider moving to Norway and playing for them.
After discussing the option with my family and friends (and having their support) i decided i would be crazy to pass up an opportunity like that. After telling the club i was going to play for them i had only a few weeks to pack up my things and say goodbye. I moved to Norway with the intention of being there just for one season, after enjoying it so much and meeting Tord i decided to play another 2 years.
After 3 years in Norway i was having a lot of trouble finding ways to get a visa so i could play another year. This is when Tord (my fiancée) and i moved to France and played a year in Ajaccio N3. The weather there was nice but the handball was not as serious as what i had hoped. So after the 2009/2010 season in Ajaccio we moved to a little town in the south of France called La Crau where i now play with a club in N2.
I hope this year is a good year because my friends back home told me (after my 2nd year in Norway) that i was only allowed to play another 3 years so it looks like my time in Europe is running out, but maybe if i ask nice they will give me an extension.
Have played Handball for 8 year.
2003- 2nd at Juvenile Nationals and first team all-star
2004- 1st at Juvenile Nationals and MVP, 2nd at Jr Nationals and first team all-star
2005- 1st at Jr Nationals and first team all-star
2006- 1st at Jr Nationals and 1st team all-star, 1st at Sr Nationals and first team all-star


2008- 1st at Sr Nationals and first team all-star
2009- 1st at Sr Nationals and MVP


With the National team


2003- Pan American Championships with Juvie team in Brazil
2004- Pan American Championships with Juvie team in Brazil, Pan American Championships with Jr. team in Edmonton (won best goalie in pan-america)
2005- Pan American Championships with Sr team in Brazil.
2006- USA Cup with Sr Team
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFmbhnbZ7QQ
That's me in a nutshell :)