Kwalleballen 2003

Sunday 14 April 2002 there was Kwalleballen again in Dommelen near Valkenswaard. We attend early with photo and video camera. A big tent, a castle filled with air for the kids, several beer taps, toilet, changing room and showers were available. The whether was fabulous. To be sure we had some extra clean clothes with us. Twenty four teams of seniors, some ladies and a couple of youth teams attend. It is some kind of Rugby with a bag of sand two ponds and a lot of mud. Because of the straw rest of the corn it is wise to wear some protective clothing. Most of the teams are in there normal clothes. With a big water car there were sprinkled a lot of water over the fields. First you see hardly any effect. But to the end there is thick layer of mud covering the fields and the players.

The rules are quiet simple. Everything is allowed, but someone lying down on the ground should leave the bag. So the game can continue and the injuries are less. When the bag is stuck in a bulge of players or outside the play ground, he is tossed up by the arbiter. Maximal 7 players are allowed, but you can change as much as you like. And for sure there is need for. Every game takes 7 to 9 minutes and then the players are exhausted even when you have enough fresh players. The team of Lichtenvoorde has a lot of players. Sometimes there were during the match more then twenty players in the field. The same guy can be seen in there 1e, 2e, 3e and 4e team. Because of the overwhelming number of players they reach with one team the final.

Some tactics and techniques are sensible. Everybody laying on the ground should release the bag. So when everybody is laying on the ground the bag is free. Both teams always has one player out of the scrum to pick up the bag, when he becomes free. A scrum isn't very efficient. You become very tired, dirty and there happens nothing. Some teams catch players outside the scrum and push them on the ground in the mud so there own team can pick up the bag. It happens all the time, that a struggle is continued in the middle of a pond with ten of more fully clothed players. Only when the bag is in the water together with some players there is a goal. Some of them are afterwards completely soaked. But because of the heavy it isn't even chilly. Some players are that warm after the game, that they take a voluntary plunge in the water to cool down. I tried to follow some changes of nice clean clothes to a the complete trashing of them.

Several players were in very nice clothes. The metamorphose of some of them are to follow on the video captures. The guys above was there for the first time. In top you see some teams, that are before. I played there second match with them. But after a soaking in the pond I stopped completely exhausted.

Most of he players are rather heavy. That is important in scrums. It like them best, when they are still recognizable.

Beneath you see the complete process of trashing of the nice boy in bleu jeans and yellow t-shirt. In a unbelievable short period he becomes from nice and clean in dirty and to the very end completely soaked.

The playing around of two guys in front of the match was unbelievable too. The guy in yellow with the gray trouser was absolutely clean before he started to struggle with his friend. He didn't played before. After a short period of playing he was as dirty as the other players of his team without any contact with an opponent.

2004