Kim Ewanovich in France

Kim Ewanvich Blog#12

2012-02-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

Hello,
Soooooo everything that could have gone wrong these last two weeks did... We lost both of our games vs the same teams we lost to in the 1st half of the season. With these losses we have gone from 1st place to 3rd but amazingly with the league being so close and everybody losing to everybody, there is no front runner in the league. So my team still has a chance to finish 1st and move up this season! Impossible... no, but difficult yes. We now must win our next 8 of 8 games to be guaranteed the 1st place spot. If we lose any of our last 8 games then we depend on other teams in front of us to also lose and that is no way to get the job done.
Like always with any team that starts to fall apart everybody starts to blame everybody else but themselves. And my team is no exception, but i can honestly say that we have lost all of our games "as a team" where nobody plays well (including myself). This past week we had a team meeting with the president of the club where he tore us a new... ummm ya.. well you know.
Anyways, we now have 3 full weeks without a game and the coach has given us 5 days off from practice in hopes that we come back even stronger in training the next two weeks.
Tomorrow i will take a nice drive to La Crau to visit my old team and watch Tord play vs the mens team. It will be nice to catch up with my friends and old team mates i have not seen in a while.
Hope you all had a nice v-day
bisous
kimberley

Kim Ewanvich Blog#11

2012-02-02T09:29:00.001-08:00

Hello everybody,

Last weekend we played a home games vs Dijon and we won 32-29, i played well in the 1st half with the score being 13-9 for us at half time. I didn't have a very good second half and it was a bad game overall for the team but we pulled away in the last few min of the game for the win.
We have played each team once and are now starting the second half of our season with a win this past saturday vs Le Pouzin. After a very poor first half by my team (but mostly myself) we were down 16-15 i was taken out after the first 15 min of the game and i didn't expect to start the 2nd half. But the coach decided to start me and i played a good 2nd half, only letting in 8 goals and making 11 saves. My team also woke up in offence and we ended the game with a score of 33-24. I was also mentioned in the paper the next day for my performance (in the 2nd half only, haha). Now only if i can play a solid 60 min i will be happy.
My team remains in 1st place with a 2 point lead!

Kim Ewanovich Blog#10

2012-01-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

Hello,
I hope everybody has enjoyed their holidays, and like me ate way to much good food and chocolate :)
I spent Christmas in Norway this year and then came back to France to meet up with my parents who where here to visit for 2 weeks. We packed every day with tourist activities including spending a day in Italy. But my parents holiday ended way to fast and it was back to training for me.
We didn't play our first game until the 14th of Jan but we started our training on the 2nd, with a week consisting of 2 practices on the track and 4 handball practices (with two ending in running training) sooo needless to say we were all very tired by the time the weekend came. We then had an exhibition game on saturday vs a team in N2 and we won comfortably. Saturday night some girls from my team and i went to watch tord's team play vs a team in first place and they won, moving them up to first.
Sunday was spent recovering from the hard week of training and it started all over again on monday. But the training seemed to pay off because we won our away game this weekend vs Besancon and before the game they were tied with us for 1st play with 21 points so it was a very important game to win. We knew going into the game that we were a better team but we were worried because one of our top players wasn't playing with us because she was away playing with the national team of Senegal. But the hard work payed off and we won 29-26 (15-16 at half time). I played the whole game except the last 5 min in the 1st half.
This weekend we have a home game on sunday vs a team in the bottom half of the table, but that doesn't mean it will be an easy game because the "easy games" always seem to be the hardest to win.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#9

2011-12-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!!!

Hello all,
the last two weeks have been good we played an away game up in the north of France 2 weekends ago so we flew to Switzerland and then from there we rented cars and drove 3 hrs to our hotel. Don't ask why we did it that way but my guess is it was the cheapest. We played against a team in the middle of the table and we won 27-22 with the score being 10-8 for us at half. I played the whole game but the last minute, i had a great first half saving 14 out of 22 shots and an okay the second half saving 10 out of 24 shots. This win moved us into third place. After the game we went to a really nice restaurant and then to the hotel to sleep before driving back to Switzerland to fly out the next day.
The following week was very important to us, it was the last game of the championship before christmas and the game was against the team just ahead of us so it was a must win. I started out the game with a few big saves but after making a save (and the rebound going to the pivot) i "dove" trying to get to the other side of the net and hit my head on the floor (and she scored...... fail). I decided to stay in net and finished the half okay but my team was loosing 8-12. I didn't expect to be put back in net but the coach thought i was playing well so he had me start second half and i played the rest of the game. With less then 2min left in the game and with a score of 24-24 the other team had possession and ran down the clock hoping to get the last shot. After the refs raised their hand for a passive play they shot and i saved it and my team went on the attack with less then a min left and decided to do an alley-oop. We didn't score off the play but drew a 7m with 5 second left and we scored, winning the game 25-24 and moving us up into first place for christmas :)
We have a game this weekend for the France cup against a team in N2 (one div lower then us). We will play the away game on saturday and will arrive home around 2 am and i will have just enough time to sleep a few hrs before heading off to the airport to spend Christmas with Tord's family in Norway. Then i will be back in Nice on the 27th of December to meet up with my parents who are coming to visit for a few weeks. Sooo this will most likely be my last blog before Christmas so i wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, be safe and have fun!!! :)
Bisous

Kim Ewanovich Blog#8 From Cannes France

2011-11-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

Hello,
So it seems like my team is definitely a "home game" team. After beating the first place team by 15 three weeks ago, we lost to a (bad) team by 2 in an away game last week. This lost dropped us from first place all the way down to fifth. The championship is so tight that there are only 7 points (3 pts for a win, 2 for a tie and 1 for a loss) between the first place team and the last place team. Soooo this means that if we win the next two games we could easily be back up to first place.
This past weekend we had a France Cup game (round 5) against Nice who are currently in 2nd place in D2 (one level above us). We went into the game knowing we weren't expected to win and had nothing to loose. We surprised everybody (and ourselves) when we came out of the gates full force and were up at halftime 12-9. I played the whole game but the last 8 min, and i think i had a very good game (if i do say so myself). With 8 min left we were down by 1 and i was subbed off, after some back and forth goals my team scored with little time remaining and we ended the game 21-21. Because it is a France Cup game there must be a winner and we went straight into shootout. The coach told me that the other goalie would be in net for the penalty shots and said i would go in for the last shot if we need a save. The other team started the shootout and both teams scored the first 3 goals then a Nice player missed the net, we then scored and on the next shot our goalie made a huge save winning us the game 25-24. Both teams dedicated the game to fundraising money for orphanages in Senegal by selling game t-shirts and other things and after the game all the little "clubs kidlets" came up with books that had our picture and names in them and we all signed autographs, so over all it was a great day.
Our next game is this weekend, away vs a team in the north of France.
Bisous

Kim Ewanovich Blog#7 From Cannes France

2011-11-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I hope you are all enjoying the snow, i have heard it has started and has decided not to stop. Here the weather is about plus 18 and sunny most days so you're all welcome to come visit anytime :)

This week was a good week, we were a bit nervous because we had a home game vs the first place team, but when the time came we delivered. The papers said that so far Cannes is the best defending team in the league and that Bourg de Peage was the best offensive team so it was expected to be an interesting game.

The game started with us up 8-2 and we kept the lead throughout the whole game. The half time score was 20-8 for us and we ended the game 37-22. I played the first 40 min of the game and played well, with lots of help from my defenders. We are now in first place!! Yipppiiiieeee!!!!

This weekend we play vs a team in the middle of the charts but still they are not a team to be taking lightly.

Other then handball i have not been up to much because i have been sick these past few weeks and i'm slowly getting better.

Hope you are all staying warm and enjoying the christmas music :)

bisous

Kim Ewanovich Blog#6 From Cannes France

2011-11-07T15:03:00.001-08:00

Hello,

These last few weeks we had 2 games, one for the France cup and one for the championship. Both of these games were vs the same team La Garde (N1).
It's always nice to win the France cup game but when it comes down to it, it is the championship game that matters the most. To prepare for these games we had a long week with 2 trainings a day with me being the only goalie for the morning practices.
We used the 1st game vs La Garde as learning game to see what would work against them and to see how they played. We won France cup game 28-34 with a half time score of 10-18, i was the only goalie that dressed for this game and played a good first half but not such a great 2nd half.
Our second game was this past weekend at La Garde and it was very important for us to win if we wanted the dream of moving up to D2 to stay alive. The game started out great with us being up 10-4 after 15 min but like in past games we then went 10 min without scoring and La Garde caught up with the score being 10-9 around the 25 min mark. We ended the half up 14-11.
The second half was much like the first with ups and downs (including myself) with us ending the game with 3 points and the score of 26-25. We were happy for the win but knew that we were lucky to squeak by. After the game we received some good news because the 1st place team in our league had lost their game which puts us currently in second and we will play against the 1st place team next weekend (at home) and a win will put us in first place.
This past week due to the G20 being held in Cannes things here have been kinda crazy. 400++ cops moved in to the same resort as us from all over France to act as security for the world leaders that were about to arrive. To make things even more crazy, at random times of the day the police would close down main roads for anywhere from 10min to an hr when the world leaders were being moved from one place to another.
Once the craziness of the G20 started to slow down then the rain kicked in for 3 days straight causing many other problems. The rain here can only be compared to what i have experienced in Brazil. It rained hard for 3 days straight causing many main roads to be closed down, some roads were under more then 2m of water (see my fb video if you get a chance). Today it has been cloudy but no rain so hopefully things will start to get back to normal soon.
This week is all about preparing for our home game this weekend which is a must win for us.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#5

2011-10-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

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

Kim Ewanovich Blog#3

2011-09-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hey,
So these last few weeks have been really good my team has 2 exhibition games and one France cup game.
The 1st exhibition game was on monday vs Nice (D2) , and we tied them and i played the whole game. The cool thing about playing this team was that there starting goalie is Valerie Nicolas, she was one of the best goalies in the world and played for the France team and won the title of MVP at the 2003 World Championships when her team won.
Our second game on tuesday was vs Grass (N2) and i was told to warm up but that i would probably not play. Ten min into the game our goalie pulled herself because she was not playing well and i went into net. After about 5 min i was hit in the face by a winger and was told to come sit on the bench, and thats where i spent the rest of the game :( haha. We won that game by 15 goals.
Our first official game was on saturday and it was for the France Cup and we played against my old team (2009-2010 season), Ajaccio (N3). Due to it still being high tourist season we couldn't find cheap enough flights for our whole team soo we took the boat (ferry) to Ajaccio from Toulon. To get to Toulon we had to be up at 5 am sat morning to drive the 1.5 hrs to the ferry then take the 6.5 hr ferry to Ajaccio.
We arrived in Ajaccio and walked around for an hr or so then it was game time. It was nice to see some of the players again but i was a little sad because the mens handball and volleyball team were both playing "in France" and so i didn't get the chance to see any of my friends from those teams. The game went okay, with me splitting the playing time 30/30 with the other goalie. We won the game 39-14 and took a nice refreshing swim in the ocean after the game. It was then off to get onto the ferry again, which would now take and extra 2 hrs making the trip home 8.5 hrs to Toulon then another 1.5 hr drive to Cannes. My team decided to sleep in the "kids area" of the ferry so we slept in the coloured balls play pen, which is not as fun as it sounds. We arrived in Cannes at 8:30 sunday morning and it was off to bed for me.
This week we have normal practices in preparation for our first (very important) league game this weekend. My teams goal and ambition this season is to move up to D2 and all of the players are really feeling the pressure of this first game, hoping that winning the first game will set the pace for the whole season.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#2 in Cannes

2011-08-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hey,
Soo these last few weeks have been kinda crazy and with no internet it makes it hard to keep you all updated.
Up until now my team has been training 4-6 times a week with practices, games, and running (my favourite).
Last Wednesday my team went to a tournament about 4 hrs away. I started the trip off great misreading the french text message and arriving at the meeting point 45 min late!! Luckily i had brought some of my homemade cookies on the trip and soon all was forgotten :)
We arrived at our first game (vs a D1 team, 2 levels above ours) and i was told that the first 2 games would be a half each for the goalies and that i would start the first game. The game went okay seeing as how we were playing a team way above our level and i did okay as well.
We woke up at 8 the next morning, ate breakfast then were off to practice. Right now in the south of France it can be as hot at 40++ degrees outside, so playing inside at anytime of the day is very very hot and sweaty.
The second game was much like the first, i played 2nd half and we lost but again we were playing against a D1 team and had little chance of winning and our goal was just to learn how to play with each other.
Friday morning was the same as the day before, wake up, eat, then practice. That night we played vs a D2 team that had placed 3rd last season, our team was starting to show signs of fatigue but come game time it didn't matter. My team tied the D2 team 26-26 and i played in net the whole game and played well (even if i do say so myself).
On Saturday we played 30 min vs a N1 team and 3 min vs a D2 team because one team dropped out due to too many injuries.
I was told that we will play the N1 team early in our league season so the coach would not play against them in the tournament because the game was not important and he wanted to "save" me so that they wouldn't play against me before the league game. I then played the last 30 min vs the D2 team and we lost but my coach sat 2 of our starters due to injuries. So over all it was a very good, but tiering week.
My coach gave us monday off so we all had some well needed time to rest our bodies. Other then that it's 3 handball practices and 1 running practice this week.
September 10 is our first game and its for the France Cup so we will play against Ajaccio in N3 (the first team i played for when i came to France). The game will be played in Ajaccio so i'm very excited to see some of the players and friends that will come watch the game.
I was told i will be moved into my new apartment (across from the beach) on the 1st so i should have internet after that and will no longer have to go to McDonalds and steal their internet :)
Thats about all for now.
Bisous

Kim Ewanovich Blog#1 in Cannes

2011-08-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hello
I thought i would just update you a little on how my first few days have gone.
I got to Nice wed night and somebody from tords team was there to pick me up (because my team was training about 30 min away) and he took me to my appartment that i will be staying in for the next month (untill i move into my perma place) and i dropped off my things and he took me to show me where i will be staying next month. After that he took me to the gym to pick up my car, but it wouldnt start and just then 2 mini busses with the girls from my team showed up and pushed my car trying to get it started but with no luck. So the guys from tords team took me back to my place.
Thursday i got up at 11 and walked around a little till i found a supermarket and i bought some food and water, came back home, ate then took a nap. At 530 a girl from my team picked me up and we went to practice (about 30 min away). Practice was really good, we had 20 very good players there and it was a very hard training. After practice all the girls went to a players house and had some drinks and got to know eachother. I havent quite figured out who are the new players but everybody seems to get along well.
Today after sitting up in bed and having every inch of my body hurt i decided to get up and go for a jog hoping it would help. Well i got lost and ened up stopping at a tourist place, she gave me a map and i got lost some more. I wanted to stop and ask for dircetions a little more but its so hot and humid here that i was a sweaty mess.
I eventually found a street name i reconized and after 1.5 hrs of jogging i kinda just ran up to my appartment :)
So now im home about to make something to eat.
I hope everything at home is good.
Congrats on the bronze!! Good job girls :)

Kim

Kim Ewanovich Blog#24

2011-05-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody,

I would like to start off by saying i have officially found a team for next season!!! I will be playing the Cannes, who are currently in 3rd place at the N1 level (one level higher then what i am playing now). They made a goal last season to move up to D2 in the next 2 years so last year they brought in 7 new players, and this season they will be bringing in another 4 players (including myself) and a new, very good coach. I practiced with them last thursday and all the girls were really nice, i am very excited for next season and i have a really good feeling about going there.
Telling my team that i wouldn't be back next season was difficult but they understood why i was going to Cannes and thought it was a good decision to make. On saturday we went out to celebrate my birthday with the girls and guys teams and i really had a good time.
These last two games are extremely important to win but my team does not seem to care very much as my practice tonight was cancelled due to lack of players who could make it (for different reasons). We also had our captain (not the one that got pregnant but the one who took over for her) fall and twist her knee last friday at practice so she will be unable to play in the last two games.
This team has had the worst luck with injuries and players quitting this season, that it will make winning these last two games almost impossible but we will see what happens.
The count down till i come home begins 29 more days!!!
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#23

2011-04-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Bonjour,

This week was a hard one because we were playing against the 1st place team who happen to be the clubs neighbourhood rivals. This game wasn't like any normal game because of the bad history between the clubs and some stuff said by the other team on facebook (oh high school drama!!). Anyways my team came to the game prepared to fight till the end, and we did just that. The half time score was 10-9 for the other team, and like i said this team was in first place (and us close to last place) so people we expecting the score to be a little different then what it was.
We stayed with them all though second half until about 10 min left when we were tied with them and our assistant coach said something to the refs and they got mad and gave him a 2 min, making us play with one less player. The score was 19-19 before the 2 min and then 21-19 for them after the 2 min, and we ended the game down by 2 with the final score 22-20. I'm not saying it was the coaches fault, but the 2 min didn't exactly help the situation...
I probably had one of my best games of the season, saving 22 shots giving me a 50% saving average. Lots of ppl came up to me after the game to say how well i played, but it's hard to be happy about it when your team still lost the game.
Thats about it from this week.
News soon to come about next season, but i can't say much until a contract is finalized.
We now have the next 2 weeks off from games for easter break, my team will only train on friday so i hope to get some extra practices in with the Toulon team.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#22

2011-04-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hello,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnB_S16a2oM

So this last week has had it's ups and downs. For our game this past weekend we brought up 4 players from our 2nd team because they didn't have a game and had them train with us all week. It was nice to have 2 full lines at practice so we could run game like situations with a full offence and defence (although i was still the only goalie).
The trainings seemed to help us in the game because we started off really strong ending the half down two (9-7) with 3 of their 9 goals being from 7m penalty shots. I saved one 7m shot with my face, you can see the save on my fb page or click on the link above. In the 2nd half we got tiered and slopping on offence giving the team fast breaks and easy scoring opportunities and our offence was missing open shots and caused a lot of turnovers. The final score was 14-21, i had a decent game but not good enough...

So the season is winding down to a close, just 3 more games to go and it is very important for my team to win at least one of the next 3 games or we stand a chance of moving down to N3 next season. This will be difficult as our last three games are all against very high ranked teams but we hope to get lucky and win one more game so the team can stay in N2 the next season.

The next season for me is still in the air, i have some clubs interested and we are just now trying to work out the details, so i hope to sign something in the next few weeks.

Weather wise things here are starting to heat up so in between trainings and work out i try to get outside tan a little
Hope everything is good back home.
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#21

2011-04-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Bonjour,

This blog will cover the last two weeks as i was unable to write a blog last week.

Last week, my friend AC (from Quebec) came to visit me for a few days which was a great change in pace for me. We went shopping, she practiced with my team, we watched a few intense handball games (2 games ending in a fight, one game ended with players fighting and the other with parents fighting in the stands), after that we went out for a night on the town and met up with a few ppl from the girls and guys team.
Training started again on monday with the goal of preparing the team for our game this past saturday vs Pays d'Apt. In showing up to practice i, (and the rest of the team found out) that our right back slipped in the shower (or something along those lines) and stretched some ligaments in her knee and would be unable to play this coming weekend. Our left back was also unable to play because she had just received scoping on her knee a week earlier. Sooo that left us with 7 players and me, due to our 2nd team and u18 team also having games that day we were unable to pick up any players and we would be going to the away game with 8 players in total.
We lost the game 30-23, i played an okay (not great) game, but just like previous games the fast breaks and 6m shots were what killed us in the end. Shortly after the 2nd half started one of our player went to take a shot and had her arm "ripped off" and she fell screaming of pain in her shoulder and wrist. She came to practice today with her wrist in a brace and her arm in a sling, turns out after she was hit she landed on her wrist (possibly fracturing it) as well as she has a dislocated shoulder. We will know more about the extent of her injuries in the following days but it's safe (and sad) to say she will be out for the next 3-5 weeks. There was also another injury to a player on my team in the last 5 min, so we ended the game with one man less on the court because we had no subs to put on for the hurt players. The 2nd girl that got hurt did not practice today but should be okay to play in the home game this weekend.
This team has had a lot of bad luck this season, and it may not be over. We need to win 2 of the last 4 games to be "safe" from moving down. If this does not happen, and our bad luck continues there is a possibility that we could move down next season.
On the happier side of things, i have a tryout in a few weeks with a D2 team. I will keep you posted with how that goes.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#20

2011-03-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Zurich airport!!!

So i spent this week visiting where i first started playing in Europe. I moved to Molde, Norway in 2006 and played for the club there for three years. Tord and i arrived in Molde on Monday evening after a day of flying and spent a nice quiet night at home with his family.

The next few days were spent training with my old club and visiting friends. The trainings were good and it was nice to see some of my friends again. We decided to take advantage of the nice Molde weather and go cross country skiing, i wouldn't say i'm a horrible skier but i'm no expert. After about the first hr i was going down a hill (with my skies in the man made grove) the path curved to the right and i tried to slow down but couldn't. The path for my outside left ski faded and my ski slipped off the path and i started falling, my right ski stayed in the grove and in turn i twisted my knee (the one i had surgery on 4 years ago). Sooooo that put a big damper on the whole trip and my training with Molde. :(

I knew after twisting my knee that i had not done any real damage to it (cause lets face it, i'm an expert at it now) so i was not so worried but still took the rest of the week off handball in hopes to start training with my club again tonight.

I had a chance to watch my old team, and the guys team play their games on sunday. In both the girls and the guys games Molde won, scoring over 45 goals in each game and not letting the other team score more then 25.

A week might seem like a long time to visit and catch up with friends but it really wasn't, i didn't get a chance to see some people i would have liked to see but overall i really enjoyed the trip.

AC is coming to visit my starting on friday, so that's what i'm now looking forward to. For those of you that don't know who AC is, she is a good friend on mine that plays on the national team and is currently going to school in Spain. She will be staying with me till tuesday. :)

I don't have a game this weekend but we will start training again tonight to prepare for the game in 2 weeks.

Bisous

Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#19

2011-03-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This week we had a very important (must win) away game on sunday so the club decided that we would stay in a hotel saturday so that we would not have to wake up at 6am sunday to make it to the game sunday night. This proved insufficient because we lost the game by 9 (17-26 against a bad team). We were goal to goal with the team until all the turnovers and missed shots caught up with us with about 20 min left giving the other team the chance to pull away.
I played okay in the game but left the court feeling worse then ever, i may have played okay but i really felt like my team let me down. There had to have been more then 15 fast breaks though out the game, and even more 6m shots, many girls just gave up.
To make matters more stressful i had the president and coach of a D2 club come to scout me (and i knew they were going to be there) so i really tried to play 130% the whole game, but after so many 6m shots and your team giving up, it's really hard to stay positive for the whole 60 min.
After the game i went straight for the showers, i needed time to cool down after the game and then i decided what ever happens happens. The coach and president stayed behind to talk to me and they said they saw potential in me and wanted me for next season (but were still going to talk to another goalie in a few days). They needed to make sure their more needed positions were filled before they could come at me with an money offer. They said i should hear from them in the next few weeks.
After the loss we headed back to La Crau and i got home at about 11pm sunday night, i ate, packed, and had a few hrs of sleep then Tord and i were off to Nice to catch the plane to Norway.
After a long few days with little sleep i'm very tired but excited to be back in Molde for a week (city of my old handball club from 2 years ago). I hope to train a few times with the molde girls and catch up with some friends i have not seen in almost 2 years.
Hope everybody has a good week.
Bisous

Kim Ewanovich Blog#18

2011-03-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hello all,
Not to much to say for this week as we didn't have a game, but practices were good. Because of my back not getting better i was asked by my coach to only train with La Crau this week, i told him i would think about it. But after thinking a little about it, when it comes down to it, i need to practice with the Toulon team. Their intensity and speed help me so much as a goalie that i couldn't pass up training with them and even picked up an extra practice with them this past week.
The search for a new club is going okay, i have received a few e-mails and calls of interested coaches. Some offers are very interesting for me but not so interesting for Tord, and vice versa, so the search continues.
These next few weeks are going to be busy for me. My team plays a game on sunday but we will leave saturday afternoon and spend the night in a hotel, in hopes of being able to sleep in on sunday instead of leaving super early to make it to the game on sunday night. I will then get home around 3 in the morning on monday and have only a few hrs to sleep (or pack) because Tord and i are going to Norway for a week and will leave from Nice at 7:30 in the morning. We will have to be at the airport around 6:30, and its about an 1.5 hrs of driving to the airport so we will be leaving our place around 5 in the morning. After spending a week in Norway and visiting with friends, (soon to be) family and old teammates, we will head back to France where we will have a few days to catch up on some sleep before my friend (AC, who is going to school in Spain) comes to visit for the weekend.
In March, my club only has a game on the 13th so it gives me the chance to do a little sightseeing and visiting :) if i'm lucky (with the weather) i can start hitting the beach again really soon and get my tan on!!
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog live from France week#17

2011-02-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hello,
Highlight Video from a game

This past week has been very hard for me. After the game 2 weeks ago i have been having some problems with my back, nothing to serious but it's very stiff and sore in the mornings. I saw the team physio and he adjusted my back and told me it would be best to take a few days off so my muscles could adjust, but with the teams other goalie not showing up i had no choice but to practice. Nobody really knows why she has not been showing up but they say she is having personal family problems so i was the only goalie at all the practices last week. Normally i love the fact that i am the only goalie because i get all the shots and drills to myself but with the back problems i was hoping to take it a bit easier but couldn't.
Come game day i wasn't feeling any better but i had to suck it up and handball suit up!! Again, i'm not sure the details of the other goalies problems but she didn't show up for the game and i was the only goalie dressing.
This proved to be a bad decision because i had one of my "off" games (as did the rest of the team) and we lost by 2 at home. I left the gym very angry and upset at myself about the game and how i played. When i got home i had a "lets talk about it" session with Tord and i told him how i felt and he told me his thoughts on the game. Although i was against it at the time (because i was still upset) Tord uploaded the game onto the computer and we went though and looked at what i had done that was good and bad and what to do to make myself a better player for next game.
Watching myself play usually makes me frustrated to see the goals i let in (especially after a bad game) but i actually felt better after watching the game because i saw that even for the goals i let in i was in good position and doing what i should have been doing (for the most part). And even though i had a bad game i ended up with a saving percent of 38. So watching the video actually made me feel better.
This weekend we don't have a game but will practice like normal for our game coming up on the 13th.
Bisous
Kimberley

This past week has been very hard for me. After the game 2 weeks ago i have been having some problems with my back, nothing to serious but it's very stiff and sore in the mornings. I saw the team physio and he adjusted my back and told me it would be best to take a few days off so my muscles could adjust, but with the teams other goalie not showing up i had no choice but to practice. Nobody really knows why she has not been showing up but they say she is having personal family problems so i was the only goalie at all the practices last week. Normally i love the fact that i am the only goalie because i get all the shots and drills to myself but with the back problems i was hoping to take it a bit easier but couldn't.
Come game day i wasn't feeling any better but i had to suck it up and handball suit up!! Again, i'm not sure the details of the other goalies problems but she didn't show up for the game and i was the only goalie dressing.
This proved to be a bad decision because i had one of my "off" games (as did the rest of the team) and we lost by 2 at home. I left the gym very angry and upset at myself about the game and how i played. When i got home i had a "lets talk about it" session with Tord and i told him how i felt and he told me his thoughts on the game. Although i was against it at the time (because i was still upset) Tord uploaded the game onto the computer and we went though and looked at what i had done that was good and bad and what to do to make myself a better player for next game.
Watching myself play usually makes me frustrated to see the goals i let in (especially after a bad game) but i actually felt better after watching the game because i saw that even for the goals i let in i was in good position and doing what i should have been doing (for the most part). And even though i had a bad game i ended up with a saving percent of 38. So watching the video actually made me feel better.
This weekend we don't have a game but will practice like normal for our game coming up on the 13th.
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#16

2011-02-23T11:44:00.001-08:00

Hello,
This week we played a home game against a team that we lost to by 10 last time we played them so there was a lot of pressure this past weekend to do well. We ended up playing really well and with 10 seconds left in the game we were down by one and our little centre back shot over top scored between the goalies legs making it a tie game in the end. I was kind of disappointed with the tie, although i had played a really good game and made some big saves i also let in 2 really bad ones with about 10 min left that i should have saved. But the coaches were happy with the result from the team and myself, so overall it was a good weekend.
A player from our team that had been hurt (knee injury) in the pre-season finally got the go ahead to start playing again after 6 months so this past weekend was her first game back. Unfortunately 6 months (without surgery and just physio) was not long enough because in the 2nd half she went one on one and twisted her knee again and now she will most likely be getting surgery and be done playing handball for the rest of the season. :(
I have got the sad go ahead from the president of my club to start looking for a new club for next season. He hopes that i stay in La Crau but understands that i want to play at a higher level and wants to give me the chance to do so. So the search is on!!!!
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#15

2011-02-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hello,

This weekend we played an away game vs Port De Bouc, when we played them at home we tied 24-24. The car ride was only about 1.5 hrs which was a nice change to the 7 or 8 hr away games that we usually have.

I had a little blast back to the past when i walked into the gym because it was then i remembered this was the same gym i tore my ACL in the year before. It shook me just for a second when i replayed what had happened in my head, but then i was back to game mode.

We were told before the game that their top scorer was no longer playing on their team, everybody was excited for that but i took a look around and remember that we were also missing 2 of our top scorers. This definitely showed with us loosing the game and the final score being 21-18.

At the beginning of the season when our team was at full strength we were scoring 25-35 goals a game but now we are struggling a lot to score.

I didn't have a good first half and was pulled after 15 min, and 5 goals and the other goalie went in and played about 8 min then they pulled her and put me in for the rest of the half where i had only let in one goal. So i had a better 2nd part of the first half and a decent 2nd half. When looking at the stats i made 15 saves (including a 7m) which isn't great but it's okay.

The most shocking part about the stats was in our offence. The goalie on the other team only made 4 saves in the whole game (meaning we only shot 22 times in 60 min) and we had a total of 27 turnovers… YES 27!!! So thats what killed us the most, we were just handing the ball to the other team for them to come back and shoot the fast break.

I do have some kinda good news, the coach from Toulon took me aside and asked if i wanted his help in finding a new club for next season (in D2 or N1). He knows a lot of coaches and teams and i'm very excited to see what he can find for me. Before he can do that i need to sit down with my coach and president of the club and get "permission" from them to start looking for a new club. I'm not sure if i need it but it's more done out of respect, so that will be done sometime this week.

I'm not sure where i will be next year, i could end up playing for La Crau again, or another club in France, or even end up back in Norway, but i do know that i would like to start looking now so i don't have to stress about it this summer when i'm back in Canada.

Bisous

Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#14

2011-02-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hello,
This past week was busy but very good for me.
Both goalies from Toulon were sick so the coach asked me if i could have 2 additional practices with his team, i of course said yes. So monday i had practice with my club, tuesday i had 2 trainings with Toulon, wednesday i had one practice with Toulon and one with my club, thursday i had one training with Toulon and friday one training with my club. Needless to say i was very sore at the end of the week, and to top it off i got a charlie horse on monday during the warm up of one of my practices so my leg was hurting most of the week but i couldn't not go to the extra practices. The thursday practice for Toulon was mostly position shooting for the players with different situations (from 9m, with/without a block, going to the outside/inside, stemshot) which was great for me until i got smoked in the face from the left back at 6m. It was not really her fault because i fell into it and i got right back up but with her average shot being about 70km/hr i spent the rest of the night with a major headache laying in bed. :)
The highlight of this week came on saturday when we played an away game vs Val De Leysse. Although i didn't enjoy the 6 hr bus ride to get there i did enjoy the 20-13 victory.
This game was especially hard for the team because due to some events that happened last week, another girl (very good player in offence and defence) from our team quit.
The game started off slow with us struggling a lot on offence and ending the 1st half with a score of 6-5 for us, luckily we ended the game stronger then we had started.
Our stats guy came up to me after the game and showed me that the other team shot 33 times and 13 of those shots went in, meaning i saved 20 shots (where my team gained possession after) as well as i saved 2/2 in penalty shots.
I don't hear what other ppl say about our team but i guess "fans" have been talking about all the problems we are having with girls quitting and how our team is falling apart, and so this win was not only important for us in the stats but also to show to everybody that even with girls quitting and only one sub on the bench we can still win handball games.
The president of our club has a daughter who plays in Div 2 in France and she is dating Xavier Barachet, a left handed right back who plays for Chambery (Div 1, best team in France). He also plays for the France National team and now has the title of being a Handball World Champion. Anyways, he happened to be watching our game on saturday so after the game (although i felt like a huge dork) i went and asked for a picture with him for the intent of putting it up on this blog (I'm a dork).
Sunday was a day of sleeping in and doing nothing because i didn't get home from the game till 5am sunday morning.
I hope everybody enjoyed the Superbowl, the game started at half past midnight here in France and i stayed up for the (very disappointing) half time show at 2am then went to bed.
Congrats to Gummersbach Jr Women and Pax Jr Men for winning Jr league.

Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#13

2011-02-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

Hello,
This week was a slow week in handball but not in drama. Because we had no game this past weekend we played in an exhibition game on friday against a team in N3 (a division below us). We have played this team many times and have always won and fridays game was no exception. Although i wont go into details we had 2 girls from my team walk out on the game very unhappy with the team (specific players) and coach. So when we arrived at practice today (monday) i was interested in seeing who was going to show up. Luckily for the team both players were there and we had a team meeting after practice to sort things out. I understood what was going on during the meeting but kept my mouth shut for the most part because none of it involved me directly. Oh the joys of a woman's team!!!
Tord had a game about 15 min away on saturday so i went and watched the guys team play and they won by 10. After the game it was the 20th birthday of a guy on tord's team so we went to the "team pub" for drinks and a surprise for the birthday boy. I thought when they said surprise they were meaning cake and some gifts but that was not the case. There was a stripper waiting for him and i don't mean one that just dances around, she was a full on party time stripper. She got completely naked and did a dance routine with this guy, in a room with about 25 guys and 10 other girls. It was kinda awkward for me but it was all just for fun and games and the guys really seemed to enjoy themselves.
Sunday Tord and i went to watch Toulon play then made it home for the 2nd half (and overtime) of the final for the World Championship in Handball with France vs Denmark. It was a very exciting game but France ended up winning by 2 in overtime.
This following week i will be training at least one extra practice with Toulon because one of their goalies is sick. As well as the second goalie on my team burnt her arm cooking so i will be the only goalie this whole week at my trainings. :)
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#12

2011-01-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

Hello,
This week was a very busy but good week for me because i started training with Toulon again. It seems the practices, work outs, running and goalie training with the Toulon team have finally paid off. I feel like saturday was the best game i have played i have in a long time. And with the help of my team also coming to play the full game (as we are known to stop playing with 20 min left) we won a very important match 25-21 against a team in 3rd place dropping them to 5th and giving us 3 points. Since my team had been on a loosing streak the last few games we took full advantage of the win and had a girls night out to celebrate.
This week we will have practices and a exhibition match, because we don't play a game this weekend we are training hard and focusing on the next important game in 2 weeks.
Seems like i brought a little bit of Canada back with me because it snowed here this week and the people here were saying it was the most snow they had seen in La Crau for 10 years. It was kinda funny to see cars driving 5km per hr because there was 1/2 cm of snow on the ground and players from the club amazed at how much snow there was and both Tord and i just sat there and laughed at them. Then they blamed us for the snow saying we brought it back with us after Christmas. haha
Bisous
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#11

2011-01-17T15:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!
Hello everybody, i hope santa treated you all well and you enjoyed the holidays and mild weather while it lasted.
As most of you know the national team played two games vs USA just before Christmas, one game was held in Lake Placid and the other in Montreal. The first game we won by 5 and the second we lost by 5 but because USA had scored more goals against us when they won then they qualified for the Pan Am Games. There is still another chance that Canada can qualify but we would need to go to another tournament in the next few months and play against some other teams. I'm not sure if that is what CTHF has decided we will do, or if we will just concentrate on the next Pan Am Games told be held in Toronto in 2015 (i think).
After Montreal i went home for 2 week to see family and friends and had a crazy two weeks with little sleep. Between meeting with friends and trying to plan my wedding i was very busy but i enjoyed every minuet of it. I also had a chance to drop into a youth woman's practice to see upcoming AB talent and i was impressed. I still find it weird not to know everybody playing handball in AB anymore but i'm glad to see the program growing with so much young talent.
My flights back to France were kinda short but my layovers were long, with 8 hrs in Montreal and 7 hrs in Zurich i was very excited to get home and lay in a bed. I only trained with my club this week because my car was broken and i had no way to get into Toulon (long story) but with jet leg and everything else my body still felt tiered by game day.
Saturday we played against a team at home that was just under us by 3 points. The game started off strong with us up 4-1 but they came back with the half time score being 8-7 for us. Second half we came out fighting and we gained a good lead of 12-7 but the lead was not good enough because with 10 min left the score was tied 12-12. We ended up loosing the game 14-19. I saved 2 out of 4 penalty shots as well as i had about a 50% saving average. The coach told me in the 2nd half alone they had 11 fast break opportunities, 8 of which they scored on. So it was a really hard game for me to play so well in and only have them score 19 goals (8 from fast breaks) but we still loose by 5 because we couldn't score, kept hitting the post, and turning over the ball.
These next few weeks for us will be very difficult as we are still waiting for 2 important players to return from injuries. They are not yet sure when they can start playing again but the whole team hopes that it will be soon.
This week i will start practicing again with the Toulon team so i'm looking forward to that. :)
Kimberley

Kim Ewanovich Blog#11

2010-12-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-22T11:33:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-09T09:22:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-10-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

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 :)