The 2002 Fives season culminated in the successful and hugely enjoyable tour to Switzerland. Twenty-two people from five schools (Lancing College, Emanuel, Berkhamsted, Tiffins and Newstead Woods) arrived at Gatwick airport at 5:30 on a chilly Monday morning in July, all having no idea what to expect of the tour. Most of that day was taken up with learning everyone’s name and making the 3-hour journey from Zurich airport to the tiny, rural village of Zuoz in the Engadin valley. The wonderful views of Lake Zurich and the impressive Alps set the scene for a wonderful and impressive week.

Our first day in Switzerland forced us all to get out of bed far earlier than anyone anticipated to make the trek to the cable car at Corvatsch. After a quick bite of lunch at 3300 feet above sea level, the more adventurous (and less sensible) among the tour members decided to climb to the top of the mountain through plenty of snow, looking very British in shorts and sandals. That night Howard Wiseman, tour organiser, coach and official mullet model for the tour, led us up to the Lyceum Alpinum, the local school which was supporting the tour in every way humanly possible, for which our thanks are still extended. The food was excellent, as was the opposition during our first fives club that night.

The following day we met the Lyceum’s headmaster, who gave us a fascinating history of the school and the role of fives in promoting international relations for the school over the years, before the tour photos were taken. That night the first of the matches was played: Lancing College vs. Lyceum.

The whole tour took a short hike to a nearby waterfall on Thursday morning; some ended up wetter than others. The rest of the day was devoted to relaxation and sunbathing while the weather held out. The following day, the whole tour cycled to a nearby riverbank up the valley. After a few hours of frisbee and lunch, those who still felt energetic cycled the 24km to Zernez and then either cycled took the train back, the rest spent the day playing fives and socialising with the Lyceum pupils.

Saturday provided great fun for the entire tour. A visit to a swimming pool in St. Moritz gave everyone a chance to show off their diving skills. Afterwards, because of a large thunderstorm overhead, we were unable to find the owners of the crazy golf course to rent clubs and balls, so the staff used their initiative in buying croquet mallets and golf balls from the local Co-op and so the tour enjoyed a pleasant round of mini golf in the pouring rain until the irate owner appeared, demanding double the normal price. That evening the tour celebrated in style in the local pub, where most of the Lyceum pupils were to be found.

Despite all these fun and games, an amazing amount of Fives was played during the week. Every night from 7:30 onwards there was fives club, a great opportunity to play with fantastic views of the Alps and socialise with the pupils from the Lyceum. Overall there were five arranged matches over the week. Due to the dominance of Lancing College on the tour (10 Lancing pupils out of 18 in total) two of the matches featured Lancing as one side of the tournament: Lancing vs. Lyceum and Tour vs. Lancing. Two more matches were more of a matter of national pride, as the Tour and Tour mixed pairs took on Lyceum and Lyceum mixed pairs respectively.

The last full day of the tour provided a real treat for everyone. The infamous Lindt challenge, where the entry fee was a bar of Swiss chocolate, took place on Sunday, and in this all-against-all tournament the eventual winning pair took all entry fees as 1st prize. This year the winners were Nick Heppenstall, tour captain and captain at Lancing College, and Szymon Cybulski, captain of Fives at the Lyceum Alpinum in Zuoz, who narrowly beat the Lyceum’s Matthias Buhler and Anthony Theodossi of Emmanuel school, better known for his ability to attract stray balls from all directions than anything else.

The benefits of this tour were easy to see by the end of the week. Most importantly, everyone on the Tour enjoyed themselves hugely and ended up playing more fives in one week than normally during an entire term, to the tune of over four hours per day on average. The improvements in the playing of each person were clearly visible after seven days of intensive matches. The Lyceum Alpinum profited hugely from this tour, as the players there rarely have such an opportunity to play so much fives with different opponents.

Without doubt many life-long friends were made during the tour. Several matches were added to the calendars of each school thanks to discussions between pupils. The mixture of players from five schools for a week in constant close contact with one another was unbelievably successful.

As we all departed from Gatwick airport to go our separate ways, there was a great eagerness to reunite as soon as possible, primarily at the various fives competitions in England throughout the year but also socially as often as possible. Overall, this year’s tour was a true success for everyone involved- we all hope to meet up again in a year’s time.

J.C.

Swiss Tour 2002 by James Chapman, Lancing College
Created 9th February 2003
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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