The Cup final

So it is tomorrow Sunday that we play Holte in the big arena in Odense. The Cup and what is stands for is a difficult thing to describe if you dont know it already, but I'll try anyways..:0)

Along side the regular tournament going from September to April deciding who will be the national champions, we play a single elimination tournament called the Cup. All teams from the best and 2nd best division are allowed to compete and it starts out with more than 20 teams going through 1/16 finals, 1/8 finals, 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals and then the final.

The final is the biggest single match event in our season being watched by more than 2.000 spectators and sometimes live TV as well. Being part of this match means a whole lot to players, coaches and clubs because it is a great chance to show off your sponsors, to test your team in a high intensity match and last but not least an experience not all players get to have because of the long way to the final in the single elimination.

This Sunday will be my 2nd final in a 4 year coaching carreer, and I feel blessed to get this 2nd chance already having lost my 1st final in a really tight match to, funny enough, my new team Fortuna Odense.
We come in to this final having lost 3 matches this season. 1 was lost 3-2 at the Nordic Championship to Somero(FIN) and 2 matches we have lost to Holte who will also be our opponent in the Cup Final on Sunday. Simular for all 3 losses has been our incapability to play to our full potential, when being under a high serving pressure and the lack of experience as a team has been our biggest weakness. A weakness that is being fixed slowly with every match we play and every practise we have, so we all have a lot of confidense that we are ready to finally do well when it matters the most.

As a coach one of the biggest fears coming in to the last week before the final is injuries... Will one of your players get hurt - on or off the court, what will you do in that case etc.. It may sound silly to anyone not a coach, but knowing the big effort the players put in to making it to these finals, and all the excitment we all feel as Sunday comes closer, you just don't want anyone to miss out and you obviously don't want to have your chances of winning reduced by an injury.

This week we have had great and intens practises and eventhough we have been careful we still have had 2 players twisting their ankles in a gamerelated situation, and the immidiate reaction from the player is tears. Maybe not due to the pain as much as the fear of not being able to play in the final. Fortunate for us both cases were only mild sprains, and both players will be up to the task of playing this Sunday.


Keeping your eyes on the prize..

Needless to say I haven't gotten a whole lot of sleep this week due to the above mentioned incidents, and adding to once lack of energy is the 100 things that needs to be made ready for this big event. Players having family come over, preparing the team, making all the arragements as the club that is hosting the big festival going on Saturday and Sunday before the Final with more than 1.000 players playing a tournament over 2 days, doing interviews with the local media etc. etc., but it is all worth it knowing what comes next.

1st of all I am SO excited for all the familymembers showing interest in this match. My own family is coming from Copenhagen, and players are having people coming in from USA just to watch this match. It gives us all those 5% extra knowing that other people care about what is going on.
2nd of all the local media interest is outstanding and their involvement is really a big part of the match being as hyped as it is. To both family, friends and media I would like to send out a BIG thanks.. You have all done yours to make this a final to remember, now we will try to do our part and win it on Sunday!

Mini


Bob Marley once said "Don't gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold..." ... NOT THIS SUNDAY ... ;0)