Canoe polo DHM in Hanover

The cooperation between the University of Kassel's General University Sports and the Kanu-Sport-Kassel (KSK) only began last year on the initiative of trainer Lorenz Schulze. The team that formed around Lorenz's two successors, Nadine Köhler and Philipp Hahn, was correspondingly inexperienced. Laila, Jakob and Asad joined the team from the University of Kassel. The team was completed by two students, Hanna and Bob, who have already played in tournaments with KSK. Bob in particular was able to support and guide the team with his experience. Many thanks to the KSK and especially to Heinz, who provided us with the necessary equipment!

Unlike in previous years, the DHM took place in May. As Kassel unfortunately has no indoor training facilities for canoe polo, we were hardly able to train until then. So we only went to Hanover with the expectation of gaining a lot of experience, learning and having fun. These goals were achieved and exceeded.

Unfortunately, we arrived and set up the tent on the lawn of the Barsinghausen outdoor pool on Friday evening in the rain. On the contrary, the main match day on Saturday provided us with sunshine and pleasant temperatures. The first game started at 8 a.m., as there were 12 teams (8 university teams, 4 alumni teams) and a lot of games to be played. The game was played in two groups of 6, so that a total of five games were played in the group phase. In the very first game against Göttingen (alumni), we were able to achieve our minimum goal of scoring at least one goal in the tournament. As the alumni teams are not included in the scoring, the game was scored 3:0 for the University of Kassel and we had our first win to our name.

The other games against Berlin, Heidelberg (alumni) and Hanover 2 were also balanced and exciting, but were narrowly lost. We only had no chance against the defending champions and eventual finalists Hannover 1 and were beaten 8:0.

After this exhausting day, it was time to replenish our energy reserves. The Hannover University Sports Department had put together a delicious pasta buffet. Afterwards, there was a small party where we were able to socialize with the other teams. Generally speaking, the entire tournament was extremely friendly and everyone supported each other, whether cheering from the sidelines or helping out with equipment.

The final matches for Sunday resulted from the tables of the first match day. We had to play WG Göttingen early in the morning. Unfortunately, it was a little too early, so we were unable to bring the positive developments of the previous day onto the pitch and lost narrowly 2:1. The final match for 7th place was a completely different story, which was played on equal terms against Hannover 3. It went back and forth without a goal being scored until shortly before the end - after a fantastic assist from Philipp - Bob welded the ball into the goal from the left. Then there were only 2 minutes left in the game, which we survived without conceding a goal. So it was done! The first win at a DHM and by 0!

Finally, we would also like to thank the university sports team for their support, which made it possible for us to take part in the DHM!

Philipp Hahn