CONGRATULATIONS BOYZ – WE MADE IT!!!!!!

Team mates and Supporters of AKITA Handball:

This was truly a fantastic season and we have earned ourselves that spot back in the top Handball league of Hong Kong! The AKITA organization would like to thank all the players and supporters for their continuous involvement and commitment throughout the 2011/2012 season – it does not work without you guys!

AKITA was founded in September 2008 which means we have now completed our 4th official Handball season in Hong Kong. Most of the original players were still part of the team when we ascended up the league from the starting position in 3rd- to the 1st League. Unfortunately that first appearance in 1st League during the season of 2010/2011 is one to forget! Many players and expats left Hong Kong and it was a difficult time for the team to find new players and training grounds. At the end of a though season we found ourselves back in 2nd League and we had to ask ourselves the question whether it makes sense to continue or throw the towel. But we decided to put in a few extra efforts and keep the AKITA team alive to rise once again and show why we founded the team in the first place: to play proper handball, create mateship and have fun times on and off the pitch! Now let's make sure we don't slack out over the summer and we are all ready and hungry for a hammering comeback in 1st League!!!

I am going to send out a few more messages following this one soon to get our END OF SEASON TOUR organized and also to communicate about our SUMMER ACTIVITIES so stay tuned!

WELCOME BACK TO 1ST LEAGUE BOYZ!!!

Akita Committee

Watch out 1st division, Akita's coming!

12 games. We played 12 games since September 2011, with a result of 10 win and 2 lost. 12 games to have the right to play a last one, a final game for the Championship title. Also, we had to make sure that no teams this year could stay unbeaten!

This Sunday 6^th of May, Akita was playing HKU, only team we didn’t beat for the whole season, with a unique goal, win the title.

Arrived at the pitch one hour before the game, we could feel the pressure, the motivation and the stakes of this game. All the ingredients were here for an epic game.

With 14 players on the game sheet, the rotation was not a problem. After the usual training in the corridor, strafing between the maids out on this day (let’s say for supporting us), and throwing some balls around, it was the time for an intense speech, recapping the season passed and the main points to follow for this game. Needless to say, some funny guys didn’t follow at all the guideline!

Joakim, after flipping the coin, decided to start in defense. The pink color of our opponent’s jersey and our motivation were enough to scream the most powerful “Muschi Nass” of all time (some even say they heard it around the Peak!).

The first minute saw us scoring the first goal. The defense, for both teams, was really strong and intense, and after 5 minutes, the score was still 1-1. At that time, HKU decided to accelerate and despite our willingness, we took a 5-0, letting HKU lead 6-1 after 15 minutes. The time out took at the 10^th minutes didn’t help stopping them, and we felt like we had to react and find a solution.

And we found our solution, called Fabien. Our left winger, clearly on fire, scored 4 goals to help us coming back and we reached the half time on a lucky score of 7-7.

We need to note that on a fast break, Joakim and a player of HKU had a tough time in the middle of the pitch. Joakim found funny to have a close look to the floor, unfortunately, his arch of the eyebrow didn’t think the same, and to punish him, decided to bleed abundantly. As a Swedish warrior, he didn’t pay attention at all and was ready to play, but we took him out and brought him put a plaster on.

Well, enough of Swedish story, back to the game!

The half time speech was again, very intense, repeating the main point and pointing out what we had to improve for the 2^nd half.

We then started in attack, ready to kill the game as soon as possible. After three minutes, score was 9-9 and we finally, got back the lead on another shoot of Fabien. HKU didn’t allow it and in one minute, score 2 goals to lead 11-10.

With the pressure increasing after each minute, we saw our opponents becoming nervous and missing more shoot in attack. A few stops by our amazing German keeper helped a lot. Until the 15^th minute, score was really tight, 15-14 for Akita.

Then, with our entire champion’s heart, we passed the 4^th gear and made a 4-1 to force the decision. 6 minutes before the end of the game, we were leading by 3 goals. But then, we decided that the suspense was not big enough, so we let them come back with 2 minutes to play. All the people on the bench were standing, praying the time to go faster!

But with 2 last goals from Akita, we definitely killed the game, and the final whistle stopped the score on 22-19.

The explosion of joy and the pressure dropping down, we hugged each other to celebrate the first Championship title of the Akita team. After a few more screams and a round of applause to our valorous opponents, we left the pitch to enjoy a few well deserved beers.

I was going to make a list of thanks, but as I’m not really good at it and I don’t want to forget anybody, I will again, thanks everybody, the players present on Sunday, the players who were away, our supporters, players who join us during the season, players who had to leave during the season, players who were playing last season but who didn’t give up.

This title is our reward for a fabulous season, a wonderful team spirit and a commitment to each other of every minute.

We need to keep this spirit up, and show next season that our accession to 1^st division is not a mistake. We’ll keep doing some training and gathering during the summer, but also organize a few social events, first of all to celebrate, and then, to celebrate again!!

Gentlemen, thanks for this amazing season.

Stay tuned!