Ionas GC enjoyed of organizing a Euro GP

European Grand Prix (Euro GP) tournaments are low-threshold international club competitions which each goalball club in Europe can participate in. The aim of the competitions are that new clubs even from new countries, athletes, coaches and referees could become a part of the international goalball family, improve themselves and get experiences of international games.

EGCA launched this new competition format in the end of year 2019, and the first Euro GP tournament was held in 2020. Due to the corona virus pandemic it was not possible to organize more stages for quite a while, but now in 2022 Euro GP is rolling again.

This year two regional Euro GP stages have been organized. Ionas Goalball Club from Greece organized a tournament in Athens – this is how they describe their experience as Euro GP organizer:

 

European Goalball Grand Prix is a European tournament for clubs and teams. At 1st - 3rd of July, European Grand Prix took place in our country, Greece, in the city of Athens. It was the first stage of South region and both GP and SEGL Youth (U23) tournaments happened on the same dates. Five teams participated at the tournament, including ours of course.

In GP tournament we had the teams of ASCND Marseille from France, Beer Shave from Israel, and three Greek teams, Keravnos, Kleio Thessaloniki and the organizing team of Ionas GC.

In SEGL Youth (U23) participated three teams: ASCND Marseille, Beer Shave and Kleio Thessaloniki.

Ionas GC is a newly established team. From our beginning the most important purpose for us was to develop the sport inside and outside the country. We make efforts to make it as known as we can in Greece, by presentations and demonstrations in schools and inform children and parents about "What Goalball is". As I said before, our team is new, which means that among all athletes, some of them are new in the sport. Grand Prix was a great opportunity for them to become more experienced, meet and play goalball with athletes from other countries. That was maybe the biggest motive when we made our first thoughts to organize GP in Greece. Also we want Greece to organize and host more and more tournaments and Goalball events and that's how we decided to start with Grand Prix and we wish other Greek teams and clubs will follow.

 

Setting up the event was quite a stressful process. As newbies to something like this, we needed more time to set everything up, relative to someone who has done this before and has experience in this sort of thing. As the date of the tournament approached, the fatigue, pressure and anxiety peaked, in our effort to make everything work as perfectly as possible for the participants. Despite this, we did not hesitate and did not back down even for a moment. We knew that the work we had undertaken would not be easy from the beginning, but even the biggest obstacles we encountered we managed to overcome them and I think the result justified us to a good extent.

If it was easy? Of course not!! But the pleasure was so great that when everything was over and went well, it was our greatest reward.

If we would do it again? Of course yes... we can't wait!!!

What was the best part of the tournament? There is definitely not just a better part of the tournament for us! It became like a celebration! Beyond the games, we saw young athletes and their many promising possibilities. We hosted referees from other countries and they were also given the opportunity to develop and the possibility to whistle in European matches beyond their domestic leagues. They should be upgraded along with all the players as well as the coaches. We caught up with Goalball lovers from other countries and found out what's going on in their countries with it. We saw happy faces, full of enthusiasm, enjoying the event and thanking us for being there, and we did the same. There were so many good points of the organization that we certainly cannot single out anything specific. We are more proud of these smiles and that we shared our happiness with all these people.

This kind of GP tournament is a very good opportunity for the development of young athletes as well as a very strong motivation for athletes without international recognition, to participate in something bigger and to gather competitive experiences that will help them develop, become better and even more competitive. Secondly, through this whole process and organization, we have the opportunity to get to know each other better, to exchange information and all together to make European goalball even better at all its levels. All sports clubs and teams should be more encouraged to organize something similar. To be guided and supported by the knowledge and experience of EGCA members and to be led to the ideal result! I'm sure they will enjoy it as much as we did!!!