Homenetmen London goes to Paris...
It was a warm summer evening in June when the Homenetmen London men's basketball team plus a few supporters met at Heathrow airport's terminal 4. The purpose of this meeting was to fly to Paris; the objective of the weekend was to win the Souren Mouradian Inter-Community games.
As usual the banter between the players was rife. Raffi Keheyian's new hair-do was not only the talk of the team, but of the whole terminal. Kevork Ohanian showed the team his special skills in always showing up late but somehow always making his way to the front of the queue. He was to perfect this skill even on the continental stage this coming weekend.
After approximately 50 minutes in the air, and 50 minutes of every single passenger on the BA flight discussing the volume of Kevork's voice, we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
Our French counterparts kindly transported us to our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Etap, which was in the suburb of Paris where the games were to be held the next day. It was in a good location with restaurants, cafes, and the stadium all within walking distance.
That evening the group parted ways, some went sightseeing, and others decided to try the exquisite French cuisine. The Keheyian brothers soon made their most influential contact for the weekend. If you couldn't find Raffi or Razmik at the hotel, you could find them eating either lasagne or a whole leg of pork at the local restaurant.
Saturday morning - the day the games were due to begin. The players showed up at the stadium ready for battle. The presence of all supporters was welcome and made a great difference to the atmosphere.
Throughout this tournament, Homenetmen London was to come up against Homenetmen France, ZAD Frankfurt and UAS Geneva. ZAD Frankfurt were running high on confidence after an overwhelming tournament win in Geneva just months before, but the home team also fancied their chances. UAS Geneva had chopped and changed their squad since the last tournament and didn't look like they were in the sorry state we left them in out in their own back yard two months ago. Homenetmen London's confidence was high after putting some good moves together in practice, the few weeks prior to the competition. The games took place in a stadium perfect for a European tournament of this nature; the fans were well catered for, as were the players. The only drawback was that the heat on and off the court was exhausting for both fans and players alike. Perhaps we should have travelled earlier to acclimatise!
After the opening day of the tournament, and much mingling with Armenians from across Europe, we retired to the hotel to relax and prepare for Saturday night in Paris. Andre Dadayan's French contacts came in useful and some of the team went to a superb restaurant where the Swiss and Germans had also decided to gather. Others hit the town to savour Paris by night.
Sunday morning - the Homenetmen London team, supporters and reporters woke up early to play their final match. Breakfast was taken in the hotel and then everyone made their way to the gym where the tournament was being held. Homenetmen London's final game was against U.A.S Geneva. Having lost our previous two games a great deal of pride was at stake. But despite a valiant effort by the team and several good performances it wasn't enough and Homenetmen London lost.
Afterwards lunch was taken in the grounds and everyone gathered to watch the final between ZAD from Germany and U.A.S Geneva from Switzerland. In an exciting game ZAD ran out winners. The tournament culminated in the closing ceremony straight after the final where the trophies were presented and good performances rewarded. After the closing ceremony the Homenetmen London team and their supporters made their way back to the hotel to prepare for the dinner and dance.
The dinner and dance was very enjoyable with excellent Armenian music. There was good spirit among all the different teams as they mingled freely with each other.
Monday morning - the group woke up with heavy heads and prepared for departure back to London. Everyone did some duty free shopping before getting on the flight. The flight lasted approximately an hour and Homenetmen London arrived back on their home ground by mid afternoon.
Written by reporters: Janara Banian and Alex Katsouris