The 2002 Club Sandwich Beach tournament was held on 17th August on Margate Main Sands. The day started early as we claimed our spot on the beach and prepared the pitches at 8am, with the sun already beating down.
15 teams were entered, but with 5 mins o go to the start things were getting hectic as one team had cancelled and several others either hadn't turned up at all, or had less than 4 players! Some quick fixture rearrangement ensued to give time for the stragglers to turn up.
As play started in the sweltering heat it became clear that playing korfball on sand in 30 degree heat was going to be tough as within 5 minutes the pitches were full of sweaty, knackered individuals. Still, for 12 minute games there were some high scoring encounters with Pow Wow Badgers 1 dominating Pool 1 and Raiders and North Downs battling for top spot in Pool 3. Pool 2 proved much closer, with all the teams taking points off each other, Kingfisher finally coming out on top with second place being decided on goal difference between 3 teams.
The Club Sandwich teams were playing some decent korfball and picking up points but a lack of shooting accuracy led to all the Sandwich teams ending up in the 11th-15th placed pool for the afternoon session.
The lunchtime was spent by some building their sandcastles and buying their tacky souvenirs, although most just spent it sunbathing while trying to recover in time for the afternoon.
The top pool after lunch had some close games with Raiders, North Downs, Kingfisher and Pow Wow Badgers competing strongly for top spot. Raiders eventually came out on top with 3 wins and a draw from thier 4 matches to take the title for the 3rd year running, with Pow Wow Badgers pipping Kingfisher for 2nd place on goal difference.
The Club Sandwich battle at the bottom was won by Sandwich Sharks who narrowly beat Margate Marauders 1 - 0 to take 11th place. For a full list of the results, click here
The Sandcastle competition was won convincingly by Margate Marauders, with special mentions going to Rui and Steve for some great artistic and engineering contributions, and Juin for his in-depth but ultimately flawed attempts to investigate the optimum sand/water mixture.
The Tackiest Souvenir competition was won by Kate from Ramsgate Rhino's for her classy decorated pint glass (I've since found out the trick is to pour water on the outside - I think I'll be trying to keep it dry!)
So thanks to everyone who came along and supported the event, and to Tracey who did most of the organisation and yet again managed to persuade Michael Fish to let her use the sun for the day.
Keep your eyes peeled for the details of the 4th C.S. Beach Tournament next year!!