FrogFest Report 2010

The day before Easter weekend and Armies of Frogs are preparing for what can only be described as the biggest event of the season - Tour!

As the buses rolled up to the Chateau, dispensing vast numbers of hockey players, the gentle banter started building up among the teams hinting that victors’ bragging rights would be wrestled from start to finish.

For the first few hours, the Chateau was blurred vision of green as the FrogFest Army set up camp, devoured a cow’s worth of beef burgers and celebrated the first night of tour in style. The festival really kicked off at exactly 7PM when the all-inclusive bar opened allowing all the FrogFesters to dive right into that Pond Package we’d all been dreaming of. The evening, of course, led to the ever popular beer funnel activities providing the other European teams with the chance to sample, first hand, some of the finest British hockey traditions. The FrogFest DJ, affectionately known as DJ Toad, knew exactly how to keep the Frogs bouncing off the walls until the crack of dawn.

As sunlight hit the Chateau, teams started surfacing from their half pegged tents, making their way to breakfast in last night’s outfit and re-fuelling for the first day of hockey. Universal embarrassment filled the breakfast room as the first night’s indiscretions revealed themselves, allowing people to bond over the previous night’s antics and left little time to be shy around the fellow FrogFest teams.

Even though last night’s activities had taken its toll over a few, the majority of the group were on form and already creating a not so orderly queue at the Hockey Pitch Bar. Homemade French wine was a huge hit at only 6 Euros a bottle, leaving every FrogFester with a new found love for the French way of life. Even though the afternoon bought patches of rain over the FrogFest Hockey tournament, it didn’t dampen spirits and teams played on until departure time where all Frogs revealed whole new identities. Cheerleaders, Clowns, American Footballers, Cave Men, Nuns and Cardinals, even the odd Tooth Brush was present to see the night through the FrogFest Hip-Hop Dance Off, Inter-team funnel races and the mass games of “I Have Never” (remember...what goes on tour, stays on tour).

All prayers were answered when the late night restaurant opened, offering stone baked pizzas to satisfying the midnight munchies before heading back to camp to catch some Z’s.

The morning of the final hockey games was a tense affair. The FrogFest Army knew they had to put their game face on to prepare for the battle that was ahead of them. Gum shields firmly in place, hockey sticks at the ready and Squidy faithfully waiting on the pitch sideline, ready to quench the thirst of young hockey heroes in the midst of war. Each team kept their focus and sporting ambition to ensure they stayed within the chase until the very last match of the tournament. Mother Nature worked her magic and furnished us with sunny rays for the semi-final between West Herts, Les Anciens, Les Chouillards, and Scaldis Hockey.

The finals were a Brit free zone as we saw Les Anciens (French) and Scalids Hockey (Belgium) go head to head in Le Grand Final. The Belgian’s were swiftly adopted by all UK teams and the support shown around the pitch was electric.With the sound of hockey balls whooshing past the French Goalie time and time again, the crowd went into a frenzy of excitement. Hooliganism got the better of a certain Surrey University Old Boy leading him to “Adam and Eve” it across the hockey pitch each time the ball hit the back of the Les Anciens’ goal, while the rest of the crowd chanted encouraging and motivational songs aiding the Scaldis team with a victory of 4-2.

Everyone crowded round the prize giving table to see teams collect their rightful trophies. Gifts of French wine and chocolate were handed out to each team leaders and special trophies were presented to the two only female teams for showing true tour spirit and holding their own against the boys. Bournemouth University successfully obtained the “Bar Award” (no explanation needed there), while the semi-finalists all walked away with their own trophy. The FrogFest Plate went to Les Anciens Hockey club who proved to be worthy runners up and the Mac Daddy of all FrogFest Trophies was rightfully rewarded to the Scaldis Hockey Team for their immense ball skills on the hockey pitch. With the FrogFest Trophy full to the brim, each of the champions took their turn to claim the taste of sweet victory before everyone headed back to the Chateau for the final night of tour.

Once back at the Chateau, the votes for the Tour Awards were calculated and prizes were prepared, whilst all the teams enjoyed the final BBQ of the festival. At the stroke of midnight, all teams were gathered together to announce the winners for “Man of the Tour”, “Lady of the Tour” and “Team of the Tour”. Congratulations to the following...

Man of the Tour: Vaughan Barwood (Bournemouth University) Runners Up: George Maybanks (West Herts) and Chris Davis (Kiss the Lucky Egg) Lady of the Tour: Emily-Jo Stovold (Aston Unicorns)  Runners Up: Claire Maton (Bournemouth University) and Sherradan Lee (Cardinal Sinners) Team of the Tour: Surrey University Old Boys  Runners Up: West Herts and Scaldis Hockey

From all the FrogFest Staff and everyone at Teamlink, we would like to say a huge thank you to all attendees at the first ever FrogFest Hockey Festival and we’re pleased to announce that next year’s event will be held from the 22nd -25th April. So, what are you waiting for? Spread the word, sign yourselves up and let’s make sure that 2011 sees the Champion’s title awarded to a British Team. Up for the challenge?

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