Road to Rio, literally.

I keep saying that the more you get and watch, the more addicted to the game you become. My friends say that I'm absolutely crazy about my teams, the ones I follow, and I want to prove you that... they are right! Showing my support for the the team on its way to the Olympics is one of my to do list this year. Actually it has been there for almost 4 years. Bad weather, thousands of kilometers can't stop me from doing what I do. You can ask Casey or Jacob and they will tell you the same. I want to make this post personal cause I feel like sharing my short story with you would be a great thing for civilization. Or just for  those of you who want to have a tournament-trip one day. Oh, and for me also cause throwing everything away from me would be a relief. Please - make notes just to not find yourselves in mine and Karolina's position in the future. Grab a beer and follow the text.

Everything started around August / September last year, when me and my friends suffered from after-Grand Slam depression. Sometimes living from the tournament to the tournament is the killer and we were there then. Just before the FIVB released the calendar for 2016 season, we had decided to go to at least two tournaments - one in Poland, obviously, and the other one - well... we would see. The girls and I were working and studying (ok, just me still studying) so try to imagine our faces when it came out that the Grand Slam in Olsztyn takes place at the worst time possible - June 14th-19th - the middle of my finals and girls' biggest work obligations. Of course we decided to go and see that event and our boys - Casey&Jake- playing there, no matter what the consequences would be. We still didn't know then that Olsztyn would be our smallest problem.

Judging by the calendar, we came up with an idea of going to Stavanger, Norway for the Swatch Major Series. The list of things to do was made, the flights, buses etc. were checked, hotel was booked and... the Federation decided Stavanger to host only CEV event this year. There was no point of going there as long as you know #TeamGibberson represents the US. The disappointment was kinda short, after a week there was another calendar with another stop. This time in The Netherlands. The city was unknown then but it didn't stop us from not following the flights and chacking the hotels, we had everything done. Apeldoorn or the Hague - the hostage city was not a problem any more. Shortly after we had marked all the points on our list as checked - the Federation cancelled the tournament. Again. They changed the date, the country and the problem for us was still growing. Hamburg, Germany had to host another Grand Slam, around June 7th-13th. We decided to not go there just because the second week of June would be the killer of our future and bank accounts. 'No job - no money - no life' chain or so. 

Still having that trip in our minds, we finally decided to go to Porec, Croatia.The event takes place June 28th - July 4th. We both have been there, the country is beautiful, the music is catchy and the food just delicious. I spent some time learning Serbian so the communication wouldn't be a problem at all. The things we struggled with were accommodation and the transport. When it comes to sleeping and eating, there would always be somebody to catch on the street and just ask for hotel or whatever but the transport... I talked to Jason, who's the coach of Canadian duo, and tried to get as much information as it was possible about the flights they had last summer. Well, a flight from Poland to Pula was impossible and spending basically 13 hours in the journey would be tiring. Even though I found some flights from Warsaw to Brussels then to Zagreb and finally Pula - with Karolina we decided to find a shorter way. Going from Warsaw to Zagreb by plane and then spending 8 hours in the train to Porec, or a village close to it, wasn't an option either. And selling our kidneys just to get to our destination.. neh. Porec is such a small city that finding anything apart from hiring a car was a huge problem! When the illumination about flying to Ljubljana, Slovenia came we knew that this was our only chance.

 

The flights were found, the hotel either. Karolina sent me the money and I just had to pay for it. As you may assume, not everything could end happily so... so when it finally came to paying for the tickets I got information that my bank doesn't belong to the list of accepted money transit institutions. I re-transferred the money to Karola's bank account and the next day she FINALLY managed to pay for the damn cards. We checked everything we had done that time, just to make sure that we wouldn't have problems any more. Of course there was, the small one. We got information that our room we booked is without a bathroom. This time also everything ended well but only after we spent hours of re-booking etc.

Problems with the flat forced us to take part in the Swatch Major Mascot Contest. Instead of sleeping after working the whole day and studying the rest of the evening, I was sitting home with a small pencil in my hand drawing the mascot that could fit the demands. When the Sandy was done, I also made a short presentation and after weeks of brain-storming with Karolina, we sent the project to Swatch. They postponed the deadline, what was stressful, but finally the information of the winning three mascots was released. We didn't find our Sandy there. I'm not afraid to admit I was pissed off cause they chose, literally a blue nothing, but we were fine with that. The Swatch Major Series team sent us the notebooks and letters of appreciation and here, we want to say thank you Swatch, but honestly - this black thing is my horcrux now :) I'm more powerful than this guy from Harry Potter people.

Coming back to the flat in Croatia. Walking everyday on foot to the courts wouldn't be fun so we decided to buy a little scooters. (Yes, guess who came up with that idea, and yes, you are right - me). After little storms, everything seemed to be perfect! We had felt relief till the time the scooters arrived. Our luggage was way too small to fit them. Buying new suitcases was the point! The problem was that the newest we bought were still too small... Karolina bought another one which was that big that the flight company calculated to charge us with PLN400 fine. It wasn't worth it so she's been trying to sell the luggage (mail me if you want to try smuggling somebody and you're looking for sth big to hide him/her). Scooters in the luggage and the wheels just next to them - it works! Our happiness couldn't have last long. The transport company from Slovenia mailed me that the bus from Porec back to Ljubljana is delayed 50 minutes so we've been living with the risk of missing our flight to Warsaw.

I've been wondering why everything has been going wrong and I just think that somebody is testing us. I'm stubborn and I can work for years just to get what I want and I'm pretty proud we haven't given up on that trip to see our boys playing one of the lasts tournaments before the Olympics. They're fighting on the court and we're just fighting with our wallets, flight companies, different countries. I think it doesn't only show how crazy I am, we are, but illustrates how the team should work, doesn't it?

Trying to finish the post slowly I've just realized that still more than a month left till the tournament and I'm a bit afraid what the upcoming days will bring. Really. I also figured out why I wrote this post - it is for you Casey and Jake. I just want to warn you. Do not you even try to skip any of those events, Olsztyn or Porec, cause I promise our friendship would struggle hard times then!


PS : We'll be uploading some photos and videos from the Grand Slam and Major so you can follow us on social media, but soon more to be said.
PS2: Casey and Jake - #TeamGibberson - play at the Moscow Grand Slam this week - May 24th-29th- so just keep your fingers crossed for us! Still need to strengthen our US Olympic Ranging leader position :)

     

the handball love from the first sight

Make a tea or grab an orange juice cause long post is coming. But keep reading, the boys I talk about are worth it!

I always talk about how much I love beach volleyball, how many tournaments I've seen so far or how fast my heart beats for the teams I support. This blog isn't only about beach madness, it's also about my craziness about other sports. Well, saying  other sports could be way too much. Frankly speaking, there're only two disciplines I can watch and never get bored, what's more - only two which bring really joy to my life. The first one you know, the second one is... handball.

So dear kids, let me tell you a short story after which you'll see the world from completely different perspective. Just kidding, you'll just realize how crazy and beautiful handball is. And I. Not beautiful just crazy.

Generally everything started shortly after Bogdan Wenta (hope you know this guy, if not - google him!) had become a head coach of the national team. His charisma and the way the way he spoke to the boys just bought me, totally. I've been following every game of those boys since then and the hunger for seeing more has been growing till today, event by event. When the national season ended I kept digging and looking for more. I bet you know that feeling when you're so damn into something that you cannot imagine yourself doing something else. Handball became my addiction like the biggest drug. 

It was (correct me if I'm wrong) season 2006/2007 when Wenta had taken SC Magdeburg under his wings. I had followed him then so thanks to the transfer I also started to follow SCM. What's more, Karol Bielecki, Bartek Jurecki or Grzesiek Tkaczyk- main players of the national team- also represented German club. Bundesliga became that one, main thing I watched all the time so I had an opportunity of seeing national team just cut into pieces. They were threw all around Germany, like Sławek Szmal in Rhein-Neckar Lowen or Marcin Lijewski in Flensburg so...they were just for the asking! Follwing the league had become my habbit and then the big times in the history of Polish handball happened.  

Handball was said, and I think still kinda is, to be male sport but do/did I look like I care about this? Not really, that's why World Championships in 2007 which took place in Germany, were like a pure blessing for me. Being glued to the TV set like bristlenoses are to the fish tank was the most normal thing a teenage girl could have done, right? I soaked every second of that sick game. When on the January 22, 2007 we beat Germany and won the first place in the group the real madness was going on here! Boys advanced to the next level of the Cup, we had some troubles with France and won 28:27 with Russia. Not to mention amazing semifinal with Denmark!  It was crazy rad! I still have goosebumps when I think about what happened on the January. Unfortunately, we lost in the final 24:29 to Germany but the pride I had was unmeasurable. Thanks to that tournament I was able to look at those boys from completely different point of view.  Each of them was an inseparable factor of the team. Spirit they had, faith and support they shared between them was so damn visible that you could wear a glasses just to not get blind from it. 

(Poland - Germany; pool-game)

(Poland-Russia; pool-game)

(Poland-Germany; final)

The Silver Boys made it to the Olympics in Beijing. We won the qualification tournament in Wrocław on the June 1st, 2008 so I took it as a birthday gift (I had bday 6 days later) and hoped for big things to happen that summer. The day the Olympic Games started was the day I also traveled to Croatia for holidays. I'm saying this not because I wanna tell you that Hrvatska is such a great place for vacation but to say that... that I took my TV set and set-top box just to watch my boys competing there in case they would not broadcast games of Poland in that beautiful country or my flat wouldn't have TV... 

Ending up on the 5th place broke my heart and soul a bit. Losing 30:32 to Iceland was like a knife just into the middle of my chest. I remember exactly that after this game for the first and the last time I said I would not watch handball any more. Yup, I just hadn't seen the game in two days then. Just a year after the Olympic Games in China, we managed to win the bronze medal in Croatia. I could write a lot about that tournament but the last minutes of the game between Poland and Norway say everything. 

I've make a shortcut about only three years, about only the beginning of history that has been being written since over a decade. I'm not doing this just to proudly show you my memory skills of remembering details of the games but I want you to change your attitude toward handball or make you fall in love in this sport just as I did years ago. I'm totally aware that many of you don't appreciate what those men do on the court, you don't see those fighters the way they should be seen. 

I may sound brutal but I know the truth. I meet new people every day and I see their faces when they hear 'handball'. Spending some time on the court showed me how complicated&simply in one or how brutal but beautiful that game is. Hours in the gym and then many more in front of the TV or much muuuch more in the sport halls are the hours at which that group of badasses just bought me. By they way they play, the way they talk to fans or journalists, they way the act on the court just convinced me that my heart should beat stronger for them and for handball.  I skipped many parts of the journey, especially the ones I cried a lot or when Bogdan Wenta stopped being a coach of the national team.

For over that decade I've seen hundreds of games and I've never regretted the time I spent in the trains, buses, cars. You know why? Because I know they will never let me down. Even if the result of the game isn't as we all want it to be I know&feel they did their best and literally left their hearts, health on the court. They made me cry many times and not every tear was the tear of happiness but this post can't be about tears. It has to be about passion. I'm not afraid or ashamed to say out loud that I love those boys, I'm kinda embarrassed (but still crazy proud) to admit that I was able to skip family ceremonies like weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries just to be in the hall 800 km from the place I live and support the team. I'm not mentioning the school or work days I just took off, because of the game dude. I know it's wildly terrible and maybe a bit sick but if I had been learning Serbian for 4 years just to talk to one person, why not to go to Hamburg to see my boys fighting like the biggest badasses on the planet? I just know they deserve it. One athlete once said that Polish national handball team is a bunch of total butchers and gladiators because they make their living by using their bodies on the court with an absolute awareness of getting injured. I couldn't say more. You simply need to have balls to play that sport! Now try to tell me they're not the he-mans and tough cookies... See? It's impossible! 

It's not all about sport as you may think. They are just great guys with big hearts, I can't recall the time any of them said no when it came to the charity action, taking a picture with kids and fans, giving an autograph on a picture or... singing up a diploma as a birthday gift. Honestly, I think it's just a mentality they have. Eh... I'd spend hours if I wanted to write everything what I should have post here but I assume you're getting bored so... Maybe next time fellas! 

Long story short. It was just an introduction to the things that are coming  to appear here on the blog. I was thinking about it for a long time, I wasn't sure about writing a word how it started etc but frankly speaking, I have a dream of handball  more appreciated, so the people who play it. Many of you are from the countries like US, where that sport isn't played and that's why I want you to get to it closer. Nobody said it would be easy but I like challenges and you'll have become the supporters of my boys till the August 5th. I can do it. 

PS : Thank you all for all those nice comments, tweets and e-mails about the last two or three posts. I do appreciate your words and all love you sent me. I didn't even know there are people in Qatar, 

New Zealand or Japan that read my blog. Thank you once again.

Xx

the hope of American samba

We have been in the Olympic rally since the one in London ended. By saying we I mean all of us reading this post. Not only journalist, who do everything to make the best reportage about the preparation and may look for the inspiration here, not only the fans, like me, who want to sell their kidneys to be in Rio, but especially the teams, athletes, coaches and medical staff who have been doing their best for almost four years to get the place they want to end up this summer. 

Personally, I have only three teams I want to see on the podium, two national anthems to hear and two flags to see waving somewhere up near Copacabana. Well, let me start with the girls cause the rule says ladies first. 

If you are a fan of beach volleyball you will know these surnames, if you are not... you'd better remember them. April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings. Those two ladies are, and I am not ashamed to admit it, my idols, heroines and role models. When years ago everybody wanted to be like Michael Jordan, I wanted to be like Kerri. She is three-time gold Olympic medalist, three-time World Champion with many, many more on the list waiting to be written here and what is more beautiful - she is an absolute SuperWoman and wonderful human being. The journey #TamWalshRoss has been having since the girls started to play together, does not belong to the easiest ones. Kerri's shoulder injury messed up a bit the process of Olympic qualification but what does not kill you makes you stronger, right? After the surgery and five or six months of rehabilitation Kerri is back on the right track with her partner in crime - April. Thanks to modern technologies, apps and other social media wierdos I was able to jump a bit into April's off season. Well... it seemed like she had no off season to be honest with you. Observing her while preparing to the season was a huge inspiration for me. It only showed that even when people do not will to give you many chances of succeeding (sorry people of Twitter but you sucked from time to time, especially while reading tweets about lades not going to the Olympics) you just have to prove them wrong. I am so happy to see the ladies back on the sand again and what makes my hear smiling even more is... seeing them on the podium! Four tournaments, four medals including two golds. It just says for itself! The qualification process will last till June 13th and ... and I just do believe that Kerri's fourth and April's first Olympic gold medals are to win. 

Staying still around beach volleyball I have to move to my favorite and forever number one team - #TeamGibberson. You have read about it, you have heard me talking about its awesomeness all the time so you are going to experience it once again. I could not think about better duo to cheer for, which leads to never ending support of those two. Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson decided to form a team over three years ago. They dominated the 2013 AVP Tour, they were awarded The Team of The Year but we have 2016 now and much more appreciated and valuable name they can be given this summer. Case and Jake have been fighting in the Olympic qualification process just like Walsh and Ross, unfortunately the start of the season was not that great and they have not won a medal yet. I am saying this as a fan not an expert, but I am glad they play like they play right now. Slow warm-ups may pay-off later this summer. Personally, I do hope to see them also on a podium at Olsztyn Grand Slam, Poland and Poreć Major, Croatia but we all know that the Olympic Games are the most wanted events this year. Case and Jake place themselves on the 5th position on provisional Olympic ranking from April 18th. Worth mentioning is also boys' 2nd place in New Orleans (April 15-17, AVP Tour). Domination on home sands first, then bouncing the Copacabana? Much yes! Rio would be Jake's

third Olympic appearance, Casey's the very first debut. I do believe that with a help of amazing sand Ninja Casey and our support we, #TeamGibberson, are able to make big things happen and I even can make a promise... YOU WILL HEAR ABOUT US!

It had to be a long post about the third team? But it will be introduced soon, cause one paragraph about the group of the biggest bad-asses I know is not enough...

Xx
AJ!

*all the pics are from FIVB*

2x the dirty thirty

The day I started to write this post was the day my two dearest friend became, so called, dirty thirty.

I delayed two old notes just to make this blog a bit more personal for one day, for the day that is special not only for them but for me also. I hope you like domino or the puzzles cause this post is going to look like that :)

There are millions types of people, among them are the athletes and close to the athletes you can always find those tiny-tiny fans / supporters who watch their moves all the time. You meet them while walking down the street, drinking in the bar or just shopping around. They are just like you but with one difference - their hearts are much bigger and stronger. They seem to be ordinary bu those people have madness inside them and seem to not obey the boundaries. Spending a minute with them means two things : you can hate or love them. I do not want to talk about hate here so when it comes to love...

I have mentioned two ladies somewhere above and what I want to say is that I love them so much. I could write a long list about how much I appreciate them or how true supporters and beautiful human beings they are, I could even mention those ten years of friendship but this is the sport blog and I need to keep it clear :)

Have you ever thought about the real value of a fan? Well, in my opinion a real fan always say we the team not they, a real fan just puts the ones he supports always on the first place. They do not really think about themselves, they think about the team just because they feel like being a part of it. They make plans, re-schedule everything just to be able to see the game (oops it even sounds just like I am talking about myself, but the note about this is coming slowly here). The heroines of this note are just the examples of real supporters. Wishing them a happy birthday is just too cliche and instead of simple may your dreams come true you have to really, deeply think about what you want to say, because for the fan, there is nothing more beautiful than cheering for the beloved team and then seeing that team becoming successful. You can call it craziness but I would just say that is normal behavior when you're so into something...

Dear Ladies, we have seen thousands of games together, we have sacrificed our health not even once or twice just to support the teams we love, we have met hundreds of amazing people, we were able spent our last $$$ for beers or food which kept us alive during the tournaments, we have become 

THE TEAM! That 1/3 of the team just want to wish you to have amazing and full of love 

Olympic Games. I do hope we will dance the samba, drink caipirinha and just see our boys  - #TeamGibberson and Polish  Men's Handball National Team - with their gold medals on the necks. I am a believer and I have the confidence that good things are about to happen this summer. Please, keep giving that example and sharing happiness and smile everywhere. You are the rock stars today! Love you and cannot wait for 10 more years of rocking the events all around the world!

Your AJ

Xx

PS: I know that this note is a bit messy and may be unclear but sometimes choosing right words is too hard when you have fever so... my apologize here. 

the Brazilian farewell

I haven't written on the blog for almost 2 years. I know it's been a long time and I wasn't even sure whether I would be back to it one day. I'd had many ideas of new posts etc. but it never worked. The first day of March forced me to open the editor and write about things I've had in my heart for over a decade. 
If you're here you must love sport. You must have somebody you follow and enjoy watching, somebody who's the role model, right? Well, I've seen many players in my life but not so many of them are the ones I put on the pedestal; cause they just need to have something I'm unwittingly looking for. I can't tell you what it is, I really don't know, but the ones I love are like Anakin Skywalker, they are the chosen ones. My friend once told me :'You hate or love them but honestly, it scares me how big that love could be...' It scares me too. It scares me cause I know they will leave me heartbroken one day, cause I'm aware that the day of farewell will come and I will never see them playing. So... dear Reader, make a tea or grab a beer, have a sit and just stay here and follow the story of my broken heart, the story about the man who actually did it. I can feel the smile on your face but it's true.
In a career of every athlete, there finally comes the time to say goodbye, and for the fans the goodbye is always too soon. I really don't know how to start cause I can't believe I have to do this. I have to say tchau.
When I first met him I was 11ish? Probably. I couldn't believe that such kid like me was given a chance to take a picture with the man who that time had already won a gold medal at the Olympics in 2004. He was an authority for me then but now we're here, 10 years later with a decade of amazing memories and moments.

Emanuel Rego is the player whose path should be followed by many young ones willing to achieve something big in the future. He spent 25 years of playing all around the world, won 76 World Tour events, he's also tree-times World Champion and won all three Olympic medals. I could write a lot about his sport successes but this time it's not so much about them, it's about the soul and being one of the most down-to-earthed people I've met. 
I can't recall a situation when he said no to any fan, reporter, photographer but I do remember him rushing to games and taking pictures with little boys with Brazilian flag painted cheeks or just... just talking to me and my friends. 
I strongly believe Emanuel is reading this right now so I just want to say:

Dear Emanuel,
you did break my heart. I can't imagine not seeing your name on the competitors list, in the main draw and then playing finals, I can't believe we won't have a chit-chats, I can't imagine myself not cheering for you any more. You're such a big part of my life and actually my beach volleyball path! You are among those people thanks to whom I'm who I'm and who I'm willing to be. Thank you for being here for a decade, than you for inspiring me to be a better person and a better player. Something beautiful has ended but something tells me that even more amazing things are coming. I feel blessed and honored to know and call you my friend. The world needs players and people like you, people with big hearts and wonderful souls. I do believe we'll meet again one day somewhere around Copacabana talking about all those years. Thank you for everything Emil. I love you. We love you.
Your Ala
and #TeamGibberson