Last weekend, Will participated in a 2-day baseball tournament. Ho-hum I hear you say, but it was not not just any baseball tournament..this is where the poetic license begins...c'etait Le Tournoi, an international (poetic license again) U12s baseball tournament - Montpellier v regional France and SPAIN! It was a fantastic experience, that will form one of our (or mine at least) fondest memories of our time in Montpellier.
We chose baseball as our extra-curricula sport for our time here, not because the boys were particularly keen (soccer was certainly top of mind when we first arrived), but simply because it was more convenient, being the only recreational sport we could find where Will and Sam could train together at the same venue and time, and that ironically, they weren't required to play on Saturdays.
What a lucky choice this has turned out to be - firstly, an American sport with alot of English spoken.. mind you, very little (if any) by the boys' fellow team members, but a strong second language of the coaches and administration of the Club. Quite a relief for our duo, particularly Sam.
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| Feeling nervous, but I think we' re going to love this sport! |
Secondly, baseball in Montpellier is only played at this Club, so alot of resources and opportunities are available for it's marketing, development and competition program. When the official season commences next March (yes, an incredibly long and fortuitous (for us) pre-season), Montpellier will compete against other clubs in the Languedoc Roussillon region, of which Montpellier is the capital. But in the meantime, Montpellier is able to organise and host events such as the tournament this past weekend.
The Knights of Beaucaire: Beaucaire is located on the right bank of the Rhone, and at the centre of a triangle formed by Nimes to the West (been there), Avignon in the NE (been there too!), and Arles in the South (next time perhaps?).
Les Rabbits de Clapiers: Clapiers is one of Montpellier's closest neighbours, and apparently owes its urbanisation to the growth of Montpellier in the 1960s, before which it was mainly rural. The first traces of habitats in the Clapiers region are agricultural Gallo-Roman villas, and there is evidence of a fortified village in the middle ages.
Des Grizzlys de Grenoble: Grenoble is located in the southeast of France, and forms part of the Rhone-Alpes region, together with Lyon and Saint-etienne. It's known history dates back to more than 2000 years ago. It is considered to be the intellectual and economic capital of the Alps, and a major European scientific centre…while not at all relevant to baseball (other than game strategy perhaps), it helps makes this blog more impressive and romantic, don't you think?
PACA: A team comprised of children from 3 different parts of France - Provence, the Alps and Cote d'Azur. It almost felt like the coming together of all our adventures and travels, both past and planned. Provence, including such wonderful cities as Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille; the Alps, our ski destination, and of course, recently visited and much loved Cote d'Azur.
Phenix baseball, Perpignan: Perpigan is considered as much Catalan as French. While situated in France, it is the 3rd largest Catalan city after Barcelona and Lleida in Spain, and yet only 150km from Montpellier. More Catalan was spoken at the closing presentation…not surprisingly, we still couldn't understand a word they were saying!
Sant Boi: Sant Boi is a municipality within the province of Barcelona, in Catelonia. I could find very little about the history of Sant Boi, except it was traditionally and still remains a significant farming region of this area of Spain…and as you read on, it also has a great U12 baseball team!
Barcelona: Well you know alot about this fabulous city. The enthusiasm and team spirit of their young players and coaches was evident from the outset. They seemed the team to beat!
Sasha, Sam and I stood in the stands or behind the team seats to cheer on Will and his team mates, as they played 3 matches on Saturday and 2 finals on Sunday. You could see and feel the team's camaraderie and love for this American sport in France (coincidentally on Saturday on the adjoining oval, training was being held for the local American Football team. A diverse sporting culture perhaps, but still so french!)
I know there are many high-fives and cheers at Will and Sam's hockey matches, and Sasha's netball matches back home, but there was just something so special about all this taking place in a foreign city, in a foreign country and in a foreign language!
As for our young Will's performance, he didn't disappoint and was as ever so keen, determined, happy, sad, anxious, enthusiastic..all rolled into one! He took his batting very seriously, and was more than happy to receive a few behind-pitch tips from a lovely father of one of his team-mates. An older gentleman, who spoke a little English, and was so proud of having visited Melbourne, to play baseball! He happened to be wearing a cap from a Melbourne baseball club on the Saturday, and proudly showed me a different one on the Sunday.
His main tip for Will (reading between the lines and accent)..this isn't cricket! It has taken Will a little while to adjust to the difference in batting between baseball and cricket, i.e.. when the ball falls below your knees, don't try and hit it for a 6! He got the hang of it as the tournament progressed, getting himself proudly onto 1st base on a couple of occasions.
The second tip for Will then was…slow down! As you know, he is a great runner, and during our time here will have been seen by many curious onlookers, around different parts of the UK, France and Barcelona, crouched in the starting blocks (in his mind at an Olympics perhaps), and sprinting to different points..in a park, on a beach, along the Promenade des Anglais, and in numerous historic squares. In this case, the slow down referred to the need to stop at the different bases, i.e, "Will, get back to the base!" A painful lesson was learnt, and after that, he did slow down!
As for his catching and throwing, with both he and Sam, you can pick the sporty Australian boys. As the Montpellier team is quite strong, and comprised players who have been with the Club for a while, it was fantastic watching Will firstly learn from them, then match them, and proudly take a couple of great catches on 1st base. Bravo Will!
At the end of a great 2 days, and achieving an honourable 4th out of 8 teams, the teams and their proud families and friends gathered together for the presentation…spoken in French and Catalan. Think I might be turning a corner, as I understood alot of the french!
The presentation table was adorned with 8 trophies for the 8 teams (albeit in different sizes). I don't know about you, but I have never seen that..where the opportunity to receive applause, praise and reward for effort was shared equally among all 8 teams. Each team got their chance to shine, joining together in the middle, hugging each other and holding their trophy aloft. While the cheers for Sant Boi (1st place) and Barcelona (2nd place) were perhaps slightly louder, I believe this was as much appreciation for their having travelled so far, as for finishing top 2…or might have had something to do with their wonderfully passionate Spanish parents and coaches!
I know I have been a touch 'romantic' again in this blog, but it truly was an emotional and heart-warming experience, albeit just a baseball match. I remember saying to people before we left Melbourne, that I really hoped the children would experience "a day in the life of a french child". Well the kids have certainly done that..and some!!
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