2018/CW20 Tournament Gif-sur-Yvette WO

After lots of intense training sessions around Switzerland, the Women's Open team were excited to participate at the GIF tournament in Paris. It was the first time as a team, to play opposed matches and we weren't disappointed with the competition. We came up against some very strong English teams which really tested our fitness levels and French teams who played with their hearts on their sleeves.   

We were very fortunate to have our coach, Ben Powell, there providing us with support and touch skills and knowledge. It had been predetermined that we would use this weekend primarily as our biggest training opportunity yet and we took full advantage to try out as many offensive and defensive strategies as possible. Our defence was consistently solid and we kept a great intensity and spirit throughout. One example of such defensive dedication was displayed by our captain - Jen - who sprinted like a maniac to get back in line after having run into a rugby post and knocked herself over! During attack, we focussed on trying to communicate clearly and look at the play in front of us to see where scoring opportunities would open up. Unfortunately, we did not score as much as we would have liked, but we did make GIF history in one match with a 0-0 draw.   

Sunday began with another day of beautiful, sunny weather and we used the facilities to train intensively throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. Everybody enjoyed playing and we had a lovely team spirit throughout the weekend. Even two injured players made the trip from Switzerland to cheer us on, take photographs and listen and watch the coaching sessions. We have come away with several key areas to continue improving on and are collectively excited about going to the Euros as a team!

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