“A chi vuole, non mancano modi” is Italian for Where there is a will, there is a way.
This is precisely what Northern Lights set out to do on the 11th of February 2019. The evening started off with the usual banter of Musa saying, “Eish. But that Psychiatry test was hard.” Pieter talking about university residence laundry practices that would scare most people and the rest of us just laughing at one another’s jokes.
Upon arriving at the match fields though, everything changed as we know it. Herman greeted everyone with some lovely upwind push passes, Hanno sharpened his backhands (#NoHateOnCoach) and Sofia just proved why she is on this amazing team as usual. The rest of us basically just sat down and put on our cleats.
Match conditions were fairly typical with the wind gusting down upon us forcing several turned over discs during one of coach Hanno’s famous practice drills.
Here is where the lengthy news report gets interesting; after much anticipation owing to Salusa 45 needing to waiting for females arrive to allow for a gender equal team. The game was on.
From the very first pull, the game was set to be intense. Several teammates took a blow in order to elevate the team’s morale. Lycia who was the unknowing recipient of a pull to the face and Orielle (#LayoutLover) who winded himself by laying out on the field too hard.
There was an omnipresent atmosphere of despair and self-deprecation as time went on. My self-included in this normative statement. However, through amazing sideline motivation from Pierce (recovering from jet lag as he returned from New Zealand), Anita, Herman’s confidence-boosting nature and Hanno’s sweets (editor’s note – 😦 these sweet were clearly not universally shared). We rallied on in pursuit of victory.
Several players proved themselves on the field that night, be it Sofia who was awarded the spirit pants by Salusa 45, be it Tatenda with his outstanding chasing marks and overall cutting choices or Orielle and Musa whose skills in catching up with the offence while on D will always be on point.
The match concluded with Northern Lights scoring 15 to Salusa’s 7. All in all, the game enhanced our ability to react to sudden formation calls, allowed some players to understand the role of wing better such as myself and showcased how vital team spirit and communication is in the outcome of a game.
P.S. Special shout-out to Jess who also proved to everyone that her forehand is not something to be contested with and getting an awesome run-through D.
Author: Nathon Weber
| Home: Salusa 45 | Away: Northern Lights | |||
| Assist | Score | Assist | Score | |
| Sam F | Taryn | Herman | Sofia | |
| Trenton | Ross | 2 | Hanno | Sofia |
| Dylan | Dumo | 3 | Hanno | Nathon |
| Craig | Sam T | 4 | Pieter | Tatenda |
| Taryn | Jaco | 5 | Herman | Lycia |
| Ross | Taryn | 6 | Siya | Tatenda |
| Sam F | Sam T | 7 | Siya | Lycia |
| 8 | Herman | Bongumusa | ||
| 9 | Bongumusa | Lycia | ||
| 10 | Orielle | Hanno | ||
| 11 | Bongumusa | Sophia | ||
| 12 | Pieter | Bongumusa | ||
| 13 | Pieter | Lycia | ||
| 14 | Hanno | Tatenda | ||
| 15 | Hanno | Edme | ||
| Team | Spirit score | Spirit pants |
| Salusa 45 | 11 (+1 rules, +1 communication -1 body contact) | Dylan |
| Northern Lights | 11 (+1 communication) | Sofia |
Northern Lights Ultimate 