Kim Ewanovich Blog#5

Hello,

These past few weeks have been interesting and it all started a few weekends ago when we had a game vs Metz on the 8th. Metz is in the North/East of France so we were told that we would fly there on saturday and then fly home on sunday. What i didn't realize till saturday morning is that we were flying into Belgium then renting cars and driving to Metz. Why you might ask… well our guess is that it was the cheapest way to get there, but after a 3 hr plane ride and 3 hr car ride we were in no shape to play a game.

This showed during the game with our missed 6m shots and our many turnovers. The half time score was 12-12 and we ended the game, loosing in the final seconds with a score of 21-22. We were all set up to win the game with the score tied and us having possession with 15 seconds left, but one of the girls passed the ball and it was intercepted and Metz came back scoring on a fastbreak with no time left. I played the whole game and had a decent saving percentage of 40 but again that means nothing if you loose.

We then went back to the hotel and most of us went straight to our rooms for the night. The next day we left the hotel at 12 and planned to drive back to Brussels and sightsee a little before going to the airport. Once in Brussels the front car (only one with gps) ran a yellow light leaving 2 other cars behind and not noticing. After a few other lights the car behind us disappeared and we were all lost. After driving around for an hr we decided to just go to the airport and meet everybody there. We got to the airport a few hrs before our flight and ate at pizza hut!!! I then enjoyed a starbucks, it reminded me of home (tear) and then it was back to Cannes, arriving at 10 pm sunday night.

Moral of the team after the game was very low and we were grilled not only by the coach but by the president of the club.

Our next game was vs Nimes at home and this game came with a lot of drama, not only did we have to win but the coach made a bold move and decided to only dress one goalie so he could take and extra out player. After telling the other goalie she would play with the 2nd team this weekend "poo" hit the fan. She has been with the club for 5 years and has never played on the 2nd team so she was not happy at all and voiced her opinion on Facebook (as did her friends and fans). I tried not to let it bother me coming in to the game but the pressure was definitely on for me to play well and for the team to win. The half time score was 18-9 and we ended up winning 38-22, i had my best game of the season so far with a 55% saving average.

I'm not sure if the other goalie was happy with the result as she left 15 min into the game. Monday she came to practice and said she was quitting but then showed up to training the rest of the week.

This weekend we didn't have a game so our next game is vs La Garde (n1) in the France cup on thursday, and then we will play them again the following weekend in the championship.

Thats about all the news i have for you over here in France, i hope the mens national team is doing well in Mexico and the boys are enjoying Japan.

Also i would like to say congrats to Alexis and Josh for their little baby girl.

Bisous

Kim Ewanovich Blog#4

Hello,
Sorry it has taken me so long to write this blog but the internet has been out for a few weeks (due to a fire at the resort) and we have been unable to connect with our 3G key card. But everything is up and working again so here is what has happened these last few weeks...
Three weekends ago we played our first league game away vs Pouzin it was only about a 4 hr drive away so we took the 2 mini-busses owned by the club. I started the game and played all but the last 10 min, after letting in a few weak goals i was pulled with the score +1 for us. With 2 min left in the game we were still at +1 and the other team drew 7m, i went in net and saved the penalty and we ended up winning the game 29-27. After the game the other team treated us to wine and spaghetti before we headed back on the road home.
I think everybody felt good about the first game... maybe too good because that following week we had 4 shitty practices and one brutal running practice which lead us into our first home game vs Achenheim Truchtersheim Handball (say that 5 times fast). I played the whole game with the half time score being 12-9 for us, but after a bad run from my team we only scored one time in 17 min. When we finally got our heads out of our (you know where) it was to late, we fell behind and lost the game by 2. For any team it sucks to loose the first home game but it makes it 100 times worse when the team you play is not very good and also when you have a goal of moving up for the next season. From here on out every game will count if we want a chance of moving up.
This past week the team has become focused again and we have had a solid week of training that included a running practice (yippiee) and 2 practices on friday with the first one being only for a handful of players (me included) to work more one on one.
Because my team went all the way to Corse to play in the first round of the France cup, the second round (this past weekend) we were exempted and didn't have to play. I don't get many weekends off so i took the opportunity to hop into my beat up old car and drive 1.5 hrs to visit the club i played for last season (to watch them play in the second round of the france cup). It was nice to see everybody again and they were also happy to see me because nobody knew i was coming and i have not seem most of them since June. Anyways they won the game by 2, and there is a big chance that my team (Cannes) will be playing against them in a few weeks for the 3rd round of the france cup!!!!
Next week we play Metz, which is in northern France (900km away) and to far for us to drive so we will be taking a plane on sat, play them (at 8pm) then spend the night in a hotel and return home on sunday. Metz is one of the teams in our league that has a first team in D1 so it is always a good thing if you can play well and show yourself in an N1 game incase someone is watching.
I would also like to announce i am an auntie to a beautiful baby girl and would like to congratulate my brother and his wife for there little bundle of joy.
Thats about it on my end
Bisous