EFA
International Report 2007-2008
Brazil
February 13th 2008 saw the inaugural game in the new Quadra Terravista Fives court, which has been named "Maybud Fives court", in homage to Cyrus Maybud who travelled out to Brazil from Switzerland with fifteen other players for this event.This court is located near to the Club House of the Terravista Golf Course, in the Bahia State, in the North Eastof Brazil. Michael Rumpf Gail, President of the Terravista Complex and father of a Zuoz schoolboy player, participated in the official opening game.
France
A Year Weekend in Provence (with apologies to Peter Mayle).It being that time of year again, the good, the bad and the others joined Nigel and Jennifer for a weekend’s Fives at La Croissette, Grillon, Provence.
Messrs Black, Boughton, Bunyan, Caudle, Cooper, Cooper, Falk, Fenn, Knowles, Mitchell, Pattison and Woolfries, accompanied in the most part by their good ladies, disported themselves at Cox's courts in the South of France where they were entertained most royally by their host and hostess.
In between the wonderful local croissants at breakfast and the splendid dinners prepared by our hosts, the Fives warriors battled it out on the Right and Wrong courts in an ad hoc Ipswichians and pals versus the Rest of the World challenge. The pairings and match rules changed in a fluid and dynamic fashion dictated by the twin vicissitudes of advancing years and overindulgence, but the one constant was that after 20 minutes you changed court.
Anywhere other than Provence, changing courts would be a minor interruption carrying little consequence for the general run of play, but in Cox's world, changing courts means playing on a mirror image court. This court has a buttress on the right hand wall, not the left, and Oh Boy does it make a difference! It is as if you were asked to drive a lefthand drive vehicle for the first time, in rush hour, in a strange city; your brain knows what you want to do, but has great trouble conveying the right messages to your muscles. It is therefore a highly recommended training environment for Fives players who need to develop more variation in their game!
As often happens on these occasions, the debate over an excellent dinner regarding the 'wrong' court, the handicapping system, the pairings and the sheer bad luck experienced by some of the players resulted in an impromptu midnight match, where the ability to stagger in the right general direction was a very telling factor. I am also glad to report that in this particular outing the participants established a new record for number of Fives sessions played, managing to play Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning before leaving for the airport.
All in all a great Fives weekend, with plenty of games, some hard fought contests and convivial company, in a wonderful setting. Who won? I don't actually know and don't really care, since it seemed to me that everyone left feeling like a winner. I certainly can't wait for a chance go back
again.
Nick Bunyan
India
There has been no recent contact with St Paul’s School, Darjeeling.Ireland
Handball in all its forms continues to flourish under the guidance of Tom O’Connor and the Irish Handball Association. Tom is a great advocate of One Wall Fives and continues to bring players to England in support of the City Fives Association and the Rossall competitions.Malaysia
Nik St. Bul-Azmi reports from Malaysia:"I represent a group of old boys of The Malay College Kuala Kangsar, dubbed as the Eton of The East in Malaysia, who played the game of Fives in our schooldays. We would be much obliged if you could provide us information on how to get our hands on plans to build an Eton Fives court, as we plan to build one when we build the new Malay College Old Boys Association building at the end of this year."
A further encouraging e-mail has been received from Abdul Razak (MCOBA Secretariat):
“Reviving the Eton Fives at MCKK is a good idea, a niche for the College. Perhaps we should list all Old Boys who still remember the game, and still have the energy to play, to play a demo game during this year’s Speech and Sports Day sometime in mid-year 2008. It’s about publicity, and hopefully interest in the game will catch on.”
There are, however, shades of UK bureaucracy as the latest news indicates:
“We are running into some problems to get EFAM registered. The Registrar of Societies wants to know whether we have any state societies under us as the Malaysian entity. Apparently, to get approval to be the Malaysian Authority on Eton Fives, we must have state affiliates under us and not a stand alone association. We are trying to explain and get approval to be exempted from this requirement. Even the Malaysians are getting excited! The press has promised full coverage and support when we get our registration application approved. May take some time yet!”
New Zealand
We still have to establish whether or not there are Eton Fives Courts in New Zealand. However, Philip Reynolds reports:“I recently played on the Nelson courts and can confirm they have three walls and are of an entirely plain construction, ie they have no step, buttress or ledges. However, there are also two Rugby Fives courts which, as far as I could tell from pacing them, are of the standard dimensions. They currently have no doors (they have doorways, but the doors are missing), roofs or boards (on the front wall). In an interesting variation, one of them has irregular lumps of stone fixed randomly on its walls; presumably so the pupils can practice rock climbing."
Nigeria
Frequent contact has been maintained with the Fives Federation of Nigeria but in spite of best efforts by both the EFA and FFN the promised tour to England has still to materialise.The game continues to flourish not only at senior level but also amongst schools as seen from a recent report received from Alhaji Nasiru, Chairman of Lagos State Fives:
“This is to bring to your notice that we have recently entered for Fives in the National Schools Sports Festival held in Lagos Nigeria at both National Secondary and
Primary Schools levels; and we have just concluded. The winners of the events were:
Primary Schools:
Secondary Schools:
Secondary Schools:
Mixed Doubles (Senior):
17 states in all participated in the event.” The Zuoz Fives Club Zurich held their biennial Engadin Challenge Tournament on 7th / 8th June this year. Numbers were slightly depleted probably due to overlaps with Cricket on Ice players and calendar clashes, but a number of players still made the journey from the UK to play a tournament in the traditionally very friendly Zuoz spirit. Group games on Saturday were followed by an evening watching European Championship games and dining in the Restaurant Dorta, with knockout stages starting on Sunday morning. The weather held, as did most legs and sets of lungs, and the competition was finally won by George Campbell (Games master at the Lyceum) and David Martin. The next Engadin Challenge tournament – in 2010 – will be the 10th, so Daniel Haering will be looking to make this a memorable one. Entries are now being taken! The Zuoz Club Suisse Romande held their tournament inVeigy, just outside Geneva, the following weekend, 14th /15th June, attended by five students from the LyceumAlpinum and the usual Old Boys. Again the weekend wasplayed in a good spirit and a few players pulled out excellent performances. The finals on Sunday saw some playersdropping out for various reasons (including old age!) butreplacements were promptly found. Winners of theseEuropean Championships were Old Boy Erkki Tammivuoriand schoolboy Christopher Reissmann.
International Report 2007-2008
Kaduna - Gold
Lagos - Silver
Lagos - Gold
Imo - Silver
Osun and Ekiti – Bronze
Lagos - Gold
Kaduna - Silver
Oyo and Abuja – Bronze
Kebbi - Gold
Lagos - Silver
Osun, Abia and Plateau – BronzeSwitzerland
Zuoz Club
Seb Cooley
Created 27th January 2009 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk