You couldn't ask for a better venue. Cloudless blue sky, courts placed alongside crystal clear ocean water, all inclusive tournament hotel. If the organizers of NORCECA had any idea how to run a tournament, they could turn this into a tournament to remember. As it stands, we very likely won't know who or when we play until about 5 minutes beforehand, which is unfortunate considering this is the first in a series of Olympic qualifying events. You'd think they'd be as motivated to run it smoothly as the players are to participate in it.
What we do know about the draw is pretty interesting. This tournament will be played out like no other i have played in to date. For both the men's and women's Continental Cup, it will be country vs. country. What this means is that each country is represented by two teams that will face off against two teams from each other country in a double elimination format. For example, if Canada were to play USA, then the first round would look like this:
CAN1 - USA2
CAN2 - USA1
CAN1 - USA1
CAN2 - USA2
The winner is whichever country wins the most matches out of 4. If it ends in a 2-2 tie, then any 2 athletes from either delegation will be selected to play in the "Golden Set" - A single set to 15 points - to determine who will advance to the next round. Top four countries come Wednesday night, advance to the next and final Continental Cup tournament, winner of that earns a berth in London 2012.
I won't delve to deep into the future, for now I'm keeping my mind in the moment because this tournament comes first. The teams representing canada are:
Men:
Christian Redmann + Ben Saxton (CAN1)
Martin Reader + Chaim Schalk (CAN2)
Women:
Annie Martin + Marie Andre-Lessard (CAN1)
Heather Bansley + Liz Maloney (CAN2)
For the first time ever, we are actually teammates with another Canadian team. We are still unsure of whether we'll be playing at the same times as Martin and Chaim, but either way it will be interesting to be able to cheer for fellow countrymen without secretly hoping that they don't do better than us. And for those supporters out there, you no longer have to worry about picking favorites (us of course, don't worry, I won't let Marty and Chaim know) and can finally shout out an unbiased "Go Canada Go!"
Cheers,
Ben Jammin
What we do know about the draw is pretty interesting. This tournament will be played out like no other i have played in to date. For both the men's and women's Continental Cup, it will be country vs. country. What this means is that each country is represented by two teams that will face off against two teams from each other country in a double elimination format. For example, if Canada were to play USA, then the first round would look like this:
CAN1 - USA2
CAN2 - USA1
CAN1 - USA1
CAN2 - USA2
The winner is whichever country wins the most matches out of 4. If it ends in a 2-2 tie, then any 2 athletes from either delegation will be selected to play in the "Golden Set" - A single set to 15 points - to determine who will advance to the next round. Top four countries come Wednesday night, advance to the next and final Continental Cup tournament, winner of that earns a berth in London 2012.
I won't delve to deep into the future, for now I'm keeping my mind in the moment because this tournament comes first. The teams representing canada are:
Men:
Christian Redmann + Ben Saxton (CAN1)
Martin Reader + Chaim Schalk (CAN2)
Women:
Annie Martin + Marie Andre-Lessard (CAN1)
Heather Bansley + Liz Maloney (CAN2)
For the first time ever, we are actually teammates with another Canadian team. We are still unsure of whether we'll be playing at the same times as Martin and Chaim, but either way it will be interesting to be able to cheer for fellow countrymen without secretly hoping that they don't do better than us. And for those supporters out there, you no longer have to worry about picking favorites (us of course, don't worry, I won't let Marty and Chaim know) and can finally shout out an unbiased "Go Canada Go!"
Cheers,
Ben Jammin
Good luck buddy! Remember it's just another week at the office. m and d
ReplyDeleteYou once told me this was your all time favorite pump-up song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7jSp2xmmEE
ReplyDeleteYOU GOT THIS BEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations!! Go Canada Go!!
ReplyDelete