France win the 4 Nations Cup
Report by Fleur Bartels

The weekend of the 5th and 6th of June saw France claim the Four Nations Cup, at“Dop heets Del” in Kootwijkerbroek, Holland. Teams from France, Norway, Germany, Holland all played against each other in sunny Kootwijkerbroek. This competition took place to help the preparation of all four of mainland Europe polocrosse Nations, as they get ready to compete in the International Challenge, being held alonsgide the World Cup in 2011 in the UK.

Exciting games were played all weekend, starting with the first game on Saturday which saw France take on Germany. It was immediately clear that the Germans had a very strong men’s section who played as a team and their no.1 player Max Scheller played brilliantly and scored most of the goals for the Germans but also the German ladies section played well and their defense against the strong French Henson horses was good.. However, the strength and experience of the French paid off and they won 12-8.

The Norwegians couldn’t bring their own horses and rode on borrowed Dutch horses. They bought a mixture of experienced and in experienced players but played well and never gave up fighting all weekend.

The Dutch will be diappointed with their results as they didn’t really get in to the games this weekend. Mistakes were made playing when they lost against the Germans on Saturday afternoon and also the French’s tactics nailed the Dutch team down during their match. The spirits of the Dutch sunk slightly but they will regroup and train more in preparation for the World Cup.

The French were the strongest team throughout this weekend. Their horses are still better then the Dutch and German horses, but also their tactics and stick skills were better. They were deservedly winners of the 4 nations polocrosse Cup.

On the Sunday afternoon fun chukka’s were played and all teams were mixed. It was a lot of fun and nice friendly chukka’s were played. This really summed up the whole weekend; sociable, enjoyable and a lot of fun..like polocrosse must be!

Full Results:

Germany vs France: 8 -12
Norway vs Holland: 3 -19
Germany vs Holland: 13 - 8
France vs Norway: 19 - 3
Germany vs Norway: 16 - 3
France vs Holland: 15 - 7

Best female no. 1: Barbara Beaufils (France)
Best female no. 2: Camilla Blom (Norway)
Best female no. 3: Linda Wermuth (Germany)

Best male no. 1: Max Scheller (Germany)
Best male no. 2: Hayo Harder (Germany)
Best male no. 3: Bruno Wallet (France)

Best overall female player: Fleur Bartels with Cimarron (Holland) – price sponsored by Bombers Equestrian Equipment
Best overall male player: Jochem Elsinga with Jelle (Holland) – price sponsored by Bombers Equestrian Equipment

Best horse: Spirit owner Leanne Boekholdt (Holland)
Best combination: Florien Luitse and Tuesday (Holland)