It may have been a typical Northern Irish
rainy day at Stormont yesterday (Thursday) but that certainly didn't dampen the spirits of our
sports teams or our volunteers.
Arriving at Stormont Estate I was greeted
by plenty of smiling faces and various sporting teams as the 5 a-side soccer
was sharing a venue with the cricket. Unfortunately the Dublin Fire Service had
to pull out of today's match against the PSNI but filling in at the last
minute, the Northern Ireland Combined Services pulled together a team.We even had a surprise visit from an
Australian team who had took a wrong turn on the way to their Shaws Bridge
venue, of course they took time to have a Guinness here before setting off
again, let's hope their sporting abilities are better than their map reading
abilities.
Waiting for the rain to ease off gave all
the competitors and volunteers time to get to know each other which was really
good fun, and certainly made sure this years games is living up to the title of
'The Friendliest Games Ever'.We were
even treated to some traditional Brazilian music from the Brazil Policia soccer
team who had brought their own drums.
As we finally got ready for a match to
begin at 2:00pm the sun decided to show its face and the teams wasted no time
getting the action started.Unfortunately I had to leave the event before the end of the game as I
had to go and speak on the Alan Simpson Show on BBC Radio Ulster live from the
opening ceremony but as I left the PSNI boys were in the lead.
The opening ceremony at the kings Hall
had the most amazing atmosphere when I arrived, there were hundreds of people
there to welcome our competitors and I took a sneak peak into the performers
rehearsal area and saw some cheer leaders and a rather large shark/fish like
model, so it's sure to be a great night for Belfast, and a great games for
everyone.
Arriving at
Queen’s Sport Upper Malone, more commonly known in local sporting circles as
‘The Dub’, I was not sure what to expect. Not being sporty at school, and this
characteristic continuing languidly into adulthood, I have never been involved
with any of the many soccer, Gaelic football, hockey and other teams that use
its facilities. These are worlds of wonder which I do not normally inhabit,
despite being a voracious armchair sports fan. My soccer viewing tends to be through
television, at arm’s length, where I can watch (and comment/rant/sulk/celebrate
as appropriate) in comfort and isolation.
The
opportunity, then, to watch some top class competitive soccer from the inside at
the world’s third largest international sports event was not to be missed. And
it was, in short, fun, inspiring and uplifting.
After I
gawped in awe at the facilities – Queen’s University has truly developed a
world-class sports venue for Northern Ireland – I headed into the pavilion. A
trickle of arriving competitors and volunteers became a rush, and with them
came a kaleidoscope of kit colours and a fascinating soundtrack of accents and
languages.
There were
many laughs and smiles among the sportspeople, but there were also a lot of business-like,
straight looks. Many players were clearly donning their game-faces. This was
serious sport. For while it is the experience of coming to the Games and taking
part that is paramount to many, for just as many others the primary objective is
winning. These amateur players hunger for victory just as much as any
professional. The matches were going to be good.
Despite
weather that could aptly be described as Northern Irish, coupled with the fact
that the Games were not yet officially open, a healthy contingent of spectators
had come along. Many were family and friends of competitors and coaches, but
many others were local people curious to find out about the Games and see some
real sport close up. They were not to be disappointed.
The morning
session saw six games played out, two in each of the two divisions of the men’s
tournament and two in the ladies’ competition. An intra-national match-up
between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Toronto Police looked on paper
like an intriguing battle, but in reality was a cake walk for the Toronto
ladies, who were 6-0 up after only 35 minutes. The goals included a quick-fire
hat trick from star striker Natalie Urbas, who had been kind enough to record a
short conversation with me before kick-off. The game ended 15-0, a demoralising
loss for the RCMP women, who were playing together for the first time. The
Toronto policewomen, in contrast, play frequently in a local league and the
chasm in class was evident.
There were
mixed results for the local sides. The two men’s teams were rampant, scoring
ten goals each – NI Fire and Rescue Service scoring theirs unanswered past Hong
Kong Police, while Police Service NI allowed their opponents, Gardanne Fire of
France, a charitable two goals. The Northern Ireland Combined ladies’ team,
however, were less successful, going down 4-1 to New South Wales Police.
The local
fire and police teams will meet each other in a keenly-anticipated match that
could decide the medals. That takes place on Monday at 11am and a sizeable
crowd is expected.
The other
two games in the men’s division 2 were hotly contested, with Policia Sao Paolo
edging Florida Fire 4-3 and Singapore Police pulling off a fantastic and
unexpected 2-0 win over Brasilia State Police, leaving that group wide open.
Matches were
played in the appropriate spirit: committed attacking, full-blooded defending,
sportsmanship, respect. The round-robin nature of the tournament format also
means that even those teams that took heavy defeats have much still to play
for, a good move by the organisers.
Such a
pulsating start augured well for the afternoon session, when the over-35s
tournament got underway. The two games played attracted even more spectators
and the weather obliged, the clouds breaking to reveal warm sun and make for a
perfect football environment.
PSNI have
two teams in this section: the ‘official’ over-35s team and the ‘Mercuries’, a
team of officers who decided at the last minute to enter a team themselves
alongside the other team. They fully merited their place, pushing a high class HM
Prison side all the way only losing 3-2 to a late winner. Their colleagues,
meanwhile, came from behind to beat North California Fire 2-1 in a fiercely contested
match. The North Cali goalkeeper kept his team in the game with a sequence of agile
saves, and they could have snatched a equaliser had their strikers capitalised
on the late pressure they forced. Without doubt the ‘older’ tournament is one
to watch and the sides could, I am sure, give the ‘main’ teams a run.
As players,
coaches, families and friends trickled, then flowed, away from the grounds
afterwards, some informed me they planned to sample some Belfast hospitality
and, perhaps not in keeping with their normal training regimen, recover and rehydrate
‘the Irish way’ before their next game.
For me, the
strange mystique of The Dub has been dispelled in the most positive possible
way. The 2013 World Police and Fire Games are now very much open and will only
get even better.
The soccer
11s tournaments continue through to Wednesday 7 August at Queen’s Upper Malone.
It was an early start for the teams who jump started for
the volleyball this morning. The first three matches were simple wins for
Honolulu FD, Russia FD and Hong Kong Police as the each won 2 sets to 1 at the
Lisburn Raquets Club.
Great support from other members of the Hong Kong police
games team who provided just a little bit of noise as well as those teams who
had there own special chants!
The second match between Geneva Police and Honolulu FD
was extremely closebut Geneva pipped
them at the post 2-1.
Honolulu Fire greeted each team with what seemed like a
goody bagwhen asked what was in them
Bryan Soares replied "We brought these from Honolulu to give to our
competitors before each game it gives them a little taste of Hawaii."
Bryan added about the loss against Geneva Police "We played against them
in Vancouver and lost there, but they are a much younger team! But if we don't
win here we are hoping for a medal in the surfing most of our volleyball team
our entering the surf competition as well!"
Despite the Russian Customs being larger than life it was
the wiry Singapore police that slammed the win.
Geneva PD v Brussels FD saw the battle of Europe commence
it was a tightly called match throughout the three sets but Geneva PD took the
win. Emercom (Russia FD) v Garda Shiocanathe Irish were on fine form against the Russians but it was the Eastern
European power the vaulted the win in favour of Emercom.
Singapore PD v Hong Kong PD in division 2 was an evenly
match game with both sides playing skilfully with the odd dive and nifty agile
moves thrown in xx won
Graham Bell, NIVB referee "The standard has been
very high in division 2 especially the Russia customs v Singapore match. But
these two teams are the ones to watch as I would put my money on the two
meeting again in the final.If I had to pick a winner for division 2 I would say
SIngapore PD as they seem to have consistently the best players. NYFD are
definitely here to enjoy it despite their scores which is great to see."
NYFD and Garda Siochana both have had a female player in
a men's match but Graham explained "A female is allowed to play in a
men'smatch if they don't have enough
male players however it is not allowed for a male to substitute in a women's
match due to unfair advantage!"
Division 1 started at the end of the day with Brasilia MP
v Moscow Dinamo a fast paced match that involved some heavy debating with the
red but ended in favour of the Russians. Also playing was USA combined police v
Tatarstan republic police in which Tatarstan overpowered the Americans and they
did the same with Brasilia MP. Throughout the week will be more division 1 and
2 matches as well as women's and mixed. The finals will be a must watch and
they take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August at Lisburn Raquets Club.
Full results for the day can be found at www.nivb.com
