Kwalleballen 2005

Sunday 10 April there was the annual 'Kwalleballen'. It was rather cold. We have suffered a lot. The players didn't have this problem, because they have to run and struggle on the playing fields. We photographer have to survive in the wind and the rain. Of course we want to participate. But that was only possible in dribs and drabs. Nevertheless the event was quiet a success. The number of teams almost didn't decrease, because of the whether. Sports, shorts and thin tshirt were rather rare this year. Striking was the bravery of some participants, when fearless entering the water tanks. On urgent request of a lot of interested people at this the rules of Kwalleballen:

Rules of Kwalleballen

Even with mud baths by fourteen players struggling for a burlap bag with sand some rules are inevitable. Again the organization tries with as little as possible to rule the matches. Kwalleballen is there for the pleasure of everybody. Take care of your opponents. Have pleasure, but doesn't play hard, clumsy or aggressive. Let we have a nice and fair day all !!!

The arbiter is in the lead and is always right.
A match takes 9 minutes and will be played by teams of maximal 7 and minimal 6 players.
You can change during the match as much as you like to.
On start of the game the bag is put on the middle of the field, while teams were behind the water tanks. The arbiter gives the start signal.
A goal is made, when the bag is thrown in the water tank of the opponents.
After a goal the game is restarted from the middle of the field by the opponents.
When the bag becomes behind the lines, the other team restarts from there.
A player without the bag shouldn't be attacked.
Tackle is only allowed with the arms below the shoulders. Kicking of the opponent with the foots isn't allowed at all !!
A player laying on the ground isn't allowed to hold the bag or to lie on it.
After a breach of the rules the other team restarts the game.
The arbiter have to take care of spectators being to close to the lines.

Some rules aren't superfluous. Nobody likes serious injuries. The tempo of the game is lost, when somebody is lying on the bag. The compliance of the rule, that you shouldn't attack somebody without the bag, can be better. The really successfully teams often have a player, that impedes opponents only. Some tactics are important. These players stay almost all the time out of the scrums, but wait for the moments everybody is lying down on the ground, to take the bag and to run to the water tanks for a goal. This type of players are in the match almost all the time, because they become less tired. But it takes some time before they are as unrecognizable as there mates. Being really successful these players doesn't escape their destiny, being completely submerged in the mud.

A typical example is the playmaker of the team above. In the qualifying round he escaped almost without a splash on his clothes. During the next matches his light blue jeans suffer because of the contact with other players. In the semifinal he changed in a green tshirt and the original color of his jeans disappeared almost completely during the play. In the final he changed again. Now in a bright white tshirt. It tokes some time to get this in the right color. He was involved by the last but one goal and went down in the water tank completely during the fight.

A similar situation can be seen by the next playmaker. The first matches he didn't have in contrast with his mates almost any splash on his clothes. The first photo shows his team. They reach to the semifinal. They are all nice clothed and starts with splashing each other with mud. On the video this play is more visible. The playmaker participate but stays almost clean, while the two other boys in white sweater get a lot of splatter. One of these doesn't get any farther harm, while the other was covered with mud almost from the very beginning. In every scrum he was lying down in the mud (beneath). The playmaker participate in the fights later on. So he ends almost as muddy as the mud lover.

This year there was a really 'professional' speaker. Without his valuable contribution nobody should understand what was going to happen. On the video you can watch his comments very nicely:

The final of Kwalleballen has started some minutes ago.
As you can see there were played on a muddy soil.
There were played by the teams...
There were played by two teams.
Apparently one of these are the 'Stadse bergen'.
I should know the players, because they are playing from the very beginning in Kwalleballen.
Probably they are playing from right to the left.
The whether is almost always nice with Kwalleballen.
Today we didn't have a water car. So we have ordered some rain.
But because we don't need more rain anymore, it will become nice and dry within some moments.
Referee... How long do they have to play anymore ? Until three o'clock !!
I am thirsty and I could do with a beer.
We play the best of five.
At two o'clock this afternoon the beer is for free.
Very, very strange... I see a white tshirt.
Can somebody do something on it...

This year is was a very exiting final. It toke more then ten minutes for the first goal. After that there were three other. All 'probably' from the team of the 'Stadse bergen'. The field was more muddy then ever. So you aren't really glad to survive the preliminaries. In a thick layer of mud two very experienced teams battle each other. Both have a lot of reserves to exhaust their opponents in the scrums, while the light and fast players are waiting for the moment to escape with the bag for a fully clothed dive in the ponds. An unbelievable long period nothing happens. The boy in white was victorious, while the boy in blue was a loser. It wasn't clear why the boy in white did almost all the goals. Nobody had any dry and clean spot on his clothes afterwards...

A great number of teams didn't manage it this year. Especially to the end of the preliminaries that wasn't any guarantee to stay dry and clean. Almost every participants ends a number of times stretched out on the ground in the dirt. Some I even didn't see clean at all. The boy in orange tshirt was soaked from the very beginning and toke advantage of every chance to take another dip. The participation of the other guy in a orange sweater was relatively short, but worthwhile. The guy in jeans and black tshirt lost his balance near the water tank and was sitting fully clothed in puddle filled with water and mud. The boy in black jeans and colorful coat was one the playmakers and stretched on the ground in full quiet a number of times, but ends rather clean. A big shame...

The boy in nice black trousers try to be the centre of my attention from the very beginning. Initially he stays rather clean. But later on he participated in some good fights. Several times he becomes stretched on the ground in full. His team wasn't very successful. So he wasn't submerged in mud to the end completely. But in the last head of the preliminaries he ends in the water tank twice. The first time he pushed some opponent in the tank enthusiastic and go with him. His trouser is wet then up to his thigh. The second time he captured the bag and went like a stone in the water. He was soaked up to his waist. Above there are a number digital pictures of him dry and soaked as well.

My participation was restricted this year because of the cold. Real playing is to exhausting. But of course I had some change of clothes with me. I ended in the mud twice, while Ton was a wimp the whole day. Afterwards complaining, because I didn't initiate him. Because I want to wear my best clothes in the final, I have to do something to force a change. After the preliminaries I toke advantage of some participants playing in the mud. It wasn't planned. So I had my handkerchief, auto keys and wallet still in my pocked. A jump in the water tank gives some nice finishing touch.

After the final I entered the field again. The players are busy to wipe out the last clean spots on their clothes. They recognize me from last year. Without any second of hesitation they picked me up and pushed me in the water tank head first. This gives the best results. From one moment to the other I was transferred from a beautiful clothed spectator in fully soaked mud pillar. I was in jeans, jeans jacket, shirt, tshirt, briefs, shoes and a short leather coat. It is a pity, that not all participants on this kind of events understand, that they have to push me in the dirt tot the very end for most pleasure of me and them. Afterwards I drive home wet and muddy as I was for enduring enjoyment.

2006