Me, John Banian and Raffi Keheyian set off from London Waterloo at 6am in high spirits and ready to support the Homenetmen ladies basketball team and cheer them to victory once again! We checked in to the Eurostar to Lille in the north of France where we changed trains and moved on to Lyon. In Lyon we rented a car and drove to Geneva. We arrived at the hotel around mid afternoon, checked in to our room and relaxed a little, taking a quick tour of the hotel to view the facilities on offer.
In the evening we made our way to the airport to welcome the ladies team and the rest of the supporters. The airport was situated right next to the hotel, which was very handy. On arriving at the airport we welcomed the group and helped them load their luggage into the shuttle buses running to the hotel. Spirits were high and everyone was looking forward to the tournament.
On arriving at the hotel everyone checked in and relaxed. Our Team was registered in the tournament, the groups were drawn up, and there were six teams with two groups of three. In Homenetmen London's group there would be Lugano and Vienna. As everybody was quite tired, a few of the players went and got a McDonalds takeaway and dinner was taken in the hotel. After dinner there was a salsa night organised in the bar of the hotel, we all met in the bar, took in the salsa dancing which was cool and had a few drinks, mingling, after which we were all left counting our Swiss francs!
The next morning, the team and supporters were at the hall at 9am for the start of the games. Homenetmen's first game was against Ararat Vienna. Homenetmen, led by coach Sevan Artin and captain Ruth Tchaparian and cheered on by great support, with good performances from the whole team won 29-8. After a break for sandwiches and refreshments Homenetmen played Lugano and won 27-8 and so would progress to the semi finals to play U.A.S. (Union Arménienne de Suisse) Geneva.
After watching some of the other games including the men's basketball and football, mid afternoon we made our way back to the hotel. Everybody relaxed for the afternoon, doing their own thing, chilling out, getting ready for the disco in the evening. A few of us went into town to get a taste of what Geneva had to offer.
We all went to the dinner and disco in the evening which was very enjoyable, we all celebrated our successes of the day. Victory made the whiskies taste that much sweeter. The highlight of the night was definitely Raffi's break dancing which lit up the dance floor!
The next morning saw Homenetmen London come up against UAS Geneva in the semi final which saw us win through easily and set up a final with Lugano later on in the day. The Final proved to be the closest and toughest game for Homenetmen London, We threatened to stretch our lead on various occasions but Lugano kept it to around 4 or 5 points. In the end we came through 30-21 to win the cup again.
After Homenetmen's victory, the team and supporters all watched the men's basketball final between Los Angeles and Nice which LA won handsomely living up to their 'dream team' status!
The closing ceremony followed the basketball final. There were speeches by the organisers and a very nice Armenian dance, it was very colourful. The cups were handed out to the winners.
The weekend came to an end with the traditional dinner and dance on the last night, which saw Homenetmen London celebrate the success of their title! The next morning the team and supporters left for London with slightly heavy heads and great memories of another successful trip! Roll on the next tournament!
Written by supporter Alex Katsouris
Photographs by supporter Ed Terakopian