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Diaries |
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| December 12, 2011 | |||||||||||||
Today ends our participation in the XX Women’s Handball World Championship. Tomorrow we all head to various destinations; hence this will be our last 2011 WC Diary Notes. The Women’s Team certainly had done the best it could within the great constraints it had to face; and that is all we could ask it to do. There had been improvement in the Aussies’ participation and no doubt the valuable experience the individual players and the team as a whole is something they would build on. The game against Argentina was tough and physical; throughout the match there were falls on both sides. Nevertheless once off the court, the players who are bonded by their love for the sport, warmly interacted. There were even a few who exchanged uniforms after the match. as part of their memento of the competition. These included Mary Kelly and Luciana Mendoza of Argentina, both were player no. 9.
After dinner, a Team Meeting was convened by Head Coach Katsu Kinoshita and Assistant Coach Vernon Cheung. Veronica Kelly also attended the meeting through Skype. A few of the family members also attended the meeting. Katsu acknowledged the players individually for their contribution to the success of the campaign and at the same time also highlighted what should not have occurred and to be improved on. He praised the leadership of the experienced players brought into the team, in particular Cathy Kent [as Team Captain], Allira Hudson-Gofers, Mary Kelly, Rosa Boyd, Jemima Harbort and Kim Tennant. He also thanked Daniela Cook for making arrangements for the camp and thanked her for her performance which contributed much to the success of their participation. He also acknowledged the eagerness and willingness of the younger ones to learn from the experienced players. He stated that if he had to pick the player of the campaign, it would be Madeleine McCafee who had put her body on the line for her dynamic and fearless play. Katsu also expressed his optimism that the younger players would continue to improve and form the future team which would be stronger ie Madeleine, Victoria Fletcher, Clare Murray and Melissa Condon.
Katsu also thanked individually the members of the Team Management for their valuable help to him and the players. He also acknowledged the great support provided by the family and friends both those who are based locally and those who travelled long distances, including those back home. Cathy Kent and Rosa Boyd expressed the players appreciation and presented tokens of their gratitude for the guidance and caring the team management had provided them.
At the close of the team meeting, the other talent of Head Coach Katsu was shared with the team. He responded to my request to repeat his rendition of the Italian song “Non T'amo Piu” [by Tosti] which he performed in 2007. Everyone was amazed by Katsu’s voice and touching rendition of the song and thanked Katsu for obliging my request.
So another memorable participation at a world championship draws to a close. On behalf of the players and the officials, I wish to express the appreciation for all the support. Thanks to our Webmaster for his help for us to share our world championship experience. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Obrigado! Feliz Natal e um Feliz Ano Novo
Violi Calvert |
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