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