Lamasitas versus The Cup 2020

On the 18th & 19th of January, the Lamasitas took part in a two-day indoor tournament in Tilburg. The Cup 2020, the 5th edition was organised by the North America Select Team and Tilburg Lacrosse to bring lacrosse in the Netherlands to a higher level.

For many of us, this was the first time playing a tournament indoors. An exciting and valuable experience! The first day started with a very early departure from Maastricht: at six in the morning, the team came together at Maastricht Central Station to make sure we were on time for our first game against Wageningen 1.

The tournament took place at the university sport’s centre (USC) of Tilburg, where there were two indoor fields available. When we were not playing games ourselves, there was the opportunity to watch the other teams play, to relax, to eat or drink something or chat with other teams. The atmosphere was great, and we were able to make contact with some other teams, to arrange some games in the future.

On the first day of the tournament, the team was joined by Tamara Schirra from Aachen Lacrosse as our goalie. We’re very grateful that was she was able to join us, as she is a great goalie and saved us from many goals against our team.

Other games that day were played against Oud is Goud, Weredi (Tilburg), and Victorious Secret. While we fought hard, we didn’t win any games. Nevertheless, we were able to learn a lot and score quite a few goals ourselves! (Although two team members (read: NOT the goalie) managed to score a goal in our own goal - oops).

The organisers of the cup had arranged for each team to be coached by an American coach during one match. A great experience to learn more! We were coached during our third game of the day, which we played against Weredi. Coach Brian taught us a new offense technique and complimented us on our defence and crashing of the attack of our opponents. While it was our first tournament playing indoors, he said that we have potential to be great next year!

After this fun, but tiring day it was sadly time to say goodbye to Tamara. So, after packing up all our stuff, the team went for a well-deserved dinner in Tilburg. We stayed overnight at Het Wapen van Tilburg, so we could be well-rested for the next day.

On Sunday, our first game started a little later than previous day, which gave us the time to have a nice breakfast and a morning walk back to the USC of Tilburg. We played one game against Wageningen 2, during which we were assisted by a goalie from Weredi (Tilburg). Unfortunately, we lost this game as well, and ended the tournament at 10th (&last) place. After this game, Elisa and Berrit assisted Brussel’s in their final match, which ended with Brussel’s in 8th place.

The team did not go unrecognized however, thanks to our coach and teammate Elisa. She was awarded MVP of the tournament and got to take home a nice price. The tournament was won by Wageningen 1, followed by Victorious Secret and Rotterdam.

Overall, we’re very grateful for this learning experience and really enjoyed participating. A special thanks goes out to the organization of The Cup 2020. We’re looking forward to participating next year! (and maybe winning a few games).

Author: Annabelle Verkerk