Team Switzerland rides again!

Or rather three of us did and joined forces with five London Ladies to have a really good time and finish Not Last at the Bud Pig Tournament in České Budějovice. Kudos to the Czechs for running quite possibly the only tournament I've ever played in where the schedule and the clock remained reliably synchronous throughout the day, particularly given the number of games played. In two playing areas, fifteen teams played at least nine games each. And let me just say, "Phew!" I got my Korunas' worth. But if anyone feared they mightn't, we had also been made welcome to participate in the Underwater Rugby tournament going on at the same time in the diving pit.

The three Swiss showed up at the pool wearing similar vintage t-shirts, so the team was sub-titled Club Fred. Very few people had any idea what it was about. It breaks my heart to say it, but the legendary Uncle Terry is rapidly passing into the realm of half-forgotten myth. The kids these days...

Speaking of children, the facilities were just great for hockey players, starting with the water-slide (from which we were never ejected!) next to a warmish jacuzzi, continuing to a steam room, and the first Room of Warm Breezes (my term) I've ever encountered. Something like a three-sided shower room with hot-air vents instead. Toasty.

So, on to the party! Dinner was neatly-planned, even with a vegetarian option - a real stunner in those lands where salads are often meat-based, prepaid with tickets sorted for entree, main, and drinks. Strudel arrived in reasonable time, meaning before retiring old lady me was ready to call it a night. The three-person live band was very good, playing a rollicking variety from the Village People to the Beatles, and settling into a long line of requests for Czech pop songs. The crowd was drinking - the Original Budweiser on the site of its original brewery - and bouncing and doing the conga and generally making everyone feel welcome.

The three "Swissies": Mollysue, Craig and Martin

Martin, Mollysue and Craig with the GB Women's Masters

The Bud Pig. Or at least, it's little brother

Report by mollysue

Martin Reed