Heathrow was the place to be on the morning of Friday 2nd April 2004 as Homenetmen London (players and supporters alike) gathered at the group check-in desk ready to hit Amsterdam with a bang. All was well, even with the delay of an hour, as the various groups toddled off to sample the shopping delights of Terminal 4 - and it was with a sense of relief to the old Euros burning in our pockets that we started to board the plane. No sooner had we figured out where to sit, had sampled the apple crumble that tasted like cardboard and had completed every crossword imaginable, we arrived in the Dam.
On arrival at the Hotel Schiphol we were immediately struck by the grandiose nature of the hotel as well as the 'Yerakouin' hovering alongside the hotel's own flag, just outside the entrance. After the initial room-share 'issues' were sorted, our stomachs led us to the city centre to start exploring the town. The organisers had liaised with various Armenian restaurants in town to sponsor a coach for those of us intending to do some sightseeing, and one such restaurant 'The Hollandais Pot', where a few of us ventured, allowed us to sample some authentic Dutch food; heavy, meaty and yummy. The evening certainly didn't end there, and with a great sense of daring, many people strolled along the canal and various "unique attractions" to get a real sense of the Dam way of life.
It was a dreary morning on arrival to the 'Kennemer Sportcenter' on Saturday and as ever it was Homenetmen London who projected the first sense of enthusiasm into the impending proceedings. The coach journey had been tiring to say the least, and we were all concerned that Fanny had reached reception well.
While the men's team went to get suited and booted for their first match, the girls led an impromptu warm-up routine encompassing 'shoorch bar' and aerobic exercise, and much like the All Blacks striking fear and rhythm into the hearts of their competition.
Ronnie projected his own sense of vigour for Homenetmen London with a rather fetching yellow and purple striped ensemble that caught the eye of many a passing stranger.
As the men's football team began warming up for their match, looking dapper in their navy blue Homenetmen shirts, one was rather taken aback with the 'hockey style' goal posts that were to be used during the competition.
The first football match was up against FC Sassoun the Lugano team from Switzerland. The starting Homenetmen team showed a fierce presence in the first half, missing out on two potential penalties. It was with beautiful teamwork from Serge and Edwin that the first goal was scored with cries of 'discipline' from the watching team. Our shining yellow beacon of a goalie also managed to save two very good shots on target.
The final score however was 1 all, as a final attempt from FC Sassoun Lugano created an opportunity to shoot at the last minute and level the scoring.
As the Ladies prepared for the match by posing for a team photo, one was taken aback by how far the team has come over the years, and that now they were here to defend their title as Champions.
The first match was against Nice (with a who's who and translation provided by our wonderful imports Laurence and Stephanie). With a great scoring start to the match by Ruth the team captain, it developed into a heated and fast-paced game - the excitement drew to a climax when our resident firecracker Phaedra was involved in a bit of a tussle with an over zealous 'Frenchie'... The important shots were being made in the first half, but the second half opened with a bit of a struggle. The team bound together to play an excellent team game and finish the scoring 8-5 despite a very annoying man with an air horn who had to be confiscated from the premises by the ever-vigilant Fanny.
Homenetmen London's men's team played their second match against the Nice team. With cries of 'Have it' support was all out for our boys in blue. The match was fast-paced and aggressive with many opportunities very nearly clinching a goal. The passing and teamwork of the team was undeniably great but a spell of bad luck and near misses crippled their chances, not to mention the numerous dubious decisions made by the 'referee'. Simon the leading defender and 'daddy' captain was also badly injured during the match after being aggressively tackled. Although by far the more polished side, the final whistle saw the scoring finish at 1-0 to the opposition.
With mounting pressure to win the final match to stay in the tournament, the final game was always going to be tough play. The guys gave a valiant effort against the Ararat Amsterdam home team but the final score was 2-0 - with special mention to the excellent goalkeeping that took place to prevent Amsterdam's strikers adding to their tally. Our men's team played well together, and discipline was definitely the order of the day - all our support goes to them as they'll definitely be coming home for the Homenetmen London Pan-European Games taking place this Summer.
Despite a great start to the day for the ladies team, a long wait and eventual postponing of their 2nd match to the next day was a little disheartening to say the least.
That night there was a buffet dinner that was very lavishly organised with a few moving speeches made by the organising committee and 'Hayrsurp' Datev Muradian.
It was only afterwards when the adjoining area to the hall was opened that the party really kicked off, and many of the team (and indeed the supporters) after their tough day, relaxed on the comfortable seats or let loose on the dance floor. It was a great night of Armenian music by the 'Talin Band', coupled with a few old-time classics and all in all everyone seemed to have a great time.
The Sunday, however saw a refreshed side after a good night's rest overseen by night warden/coach Sevan.
The first match was against A.G.B.U. Paris and with a loud team cheer of 'Ho-men-et-men.' all the excesses of the night before seemed far away. The start of the game was rather shaky however, with scoring proving difficult until a foul shot from Taline put Homenetmen London on the scoring board. A.G.B.U. Paris proved to be a competitive side and egged on by their early scoring it wasn't until Aliac's two awesome foul shots that London began to pick up the pace - none more so than Nancy who scored an amazing 3 pointer to take the score to 6-4 to us.
The first half finished as 9-4 and with Ruth's shot taking our scoring into double figures the teamwork and passion of the side saw them to an easy victory of 18-9.
Ladies Basketball Final:
With an anticipated and climactic final approaching, the ladies team were in a jubilant mood as Alenoosh and Rebecca led the team in another unconventional warm-up. 'You're the one that I want!' they sang as hopeful men looked around to see if they in fact had been singled out by the pink ladies.
It was to be an all London final - playing against A.S.A. London. A foul shot at the beginning of the game from Nancy started the scoring but it proved a very tough start, with the ladies simply unlucky with so many of the baskets.
2 beautiful 'swoosh' foul shots taken by Nancy again gave the side some encouragement and as the viewing team all stood on the bench to tell Nancy 'oh how they loved her' there was a definite edge to the game. As more foul shots were awarded to Homenetmen London, the more violent the game became, even the most mild-mannered of our team (basically Anoushka) became equally fired up. After a beautiful lay-up by Phaedra, a bloody nose grounded the game as A.S.A tended to their injured player.
The second half saw the scoring gap widen with a 17-2 advantage to us. Unfortunately the injuries continued with our shining star Nancy being taken off with a knee injury.
The team banded together and with a sense of enviable ease they sailed to the final whistle with an awe-inspiring win of 46-7. And for the 2nd year running Homenetmen London ladies basketball came, saw, and most definitely conquered.
The closing ceremony followed with winners cups and medals being awarded.
The dinner and dance organised that evening was quite a formal affair, but it may well have been the Moet supplied for the ladies by smooth-operator Sevan that made it seem that way.
After a round of speeches, the music kicked off with 'Vartan', and what a singer he was! If ever a song was butchered, sorry I mean sung differently, then Vartan seemed to be the man to put that unique twist to it. We all enjoyed the toasts and more importantly each other's company before heading to the hotel bar to continue the partying and socialising. It was a mellow night with many 'genatzes' being made to old friends and new.
We woke the next day, with a few hours to kill after checkout, and took the opportunity to really enjoy Amsterdam in the sun, with all the hustle and bustle of a city with two very different identities by day and night.
Our accomplishments on the court with our fine teams and the enthusiasm of Homenetmen London off the court enabled us to look back on the weekend with a sense of accomplishment and pride. The flight back was a rather sombre affair, with people trying to muster energy for the following working day...and it was only until we were all saying goodbye to each other that the full impact of the trip really hit home.
Next stop: Pan European Games in London, where we'll have show them how it's done...
Written by supporter: Huby Saroukhanoff
Team Lists:
Men's Football Team
Coach: Klauss Celadon
Captain: Simon Aldous
Narbeh Assadoorian
John-Ara Banian
Serge Chirkinian
Alex Katsouris
Oshin Mehrabi
Ronnie Sarkisian
Hagop Tchaparian
Edwin Tellme
Ladies Basketball Team
Coach: Sevan Artin
Captain: Ruth Tchaparian
Alenoosh Avanesian
Taline Dadourian
Aliac Jojaghaian
Laurence Manessian
Talar Ozkaya
Nancy Revi
Anoushka Sarkisian
Stephanie Tavitian
Rebecca Tchaparian
Phaedra Vassiliou
Supporters
Ani Banian
Meline Jacob
Huby Saroukhanoff
Serjik Apelian
Razmik Keheyian
Raffi Keheyian
Christina Avakian
Hagop Avakian
Alex Derhakopian
Rafy Kouyoumjian
Greg Vartoukian
Aldo Fleri
Kevork Ohanian
Edmond Abrahamian
