Kwalleballen 2010

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Dordrecht - Sunday 18 April was the annual Kwalleballen in Valkenswaard. It was beautiful weather and it was for the organization not an easy task to get the fields in right liquid state. The participation was somewhat disappointing. Between the matches there was play around a lot. Especially Ton has many photos of normal clothed participants and spectators thrown in the pond. I myself helped a lot of candidates for a good soaking. It wasn't a big sacrifice. Fortunately, I had sufficient clothes with me.

Again it was possible to subscribe as individual participant. Many teams were badly in need for sufficient reserves. Seven minutes playing without reserves is exhausting. Some teams from the surrounding area started with barely enough participants. Later on these grow into a complete melee. I was invited to play with the group above. They started with six men and ended with a dozen. Mostly spectators volunteered. They reached the half-final. I myself played a few times only. It is very exhausting and I was more concerned about the mud than at stake.

In the morning I was in jeans and a thermal protection against the cold. That appeares not really necessary. Between the matches diligently members of the teams are soaked in the ponds. Once there was a struggle I participated immediately to soak a still dry candidates. There was need for. When walking around on the fields nobody should escape. Above I 'helped' someone from another team. Under in jeans a fully clothed team member. Before he was only somewhat dirty. Afterwards he was completely soaked...

I was not entirely clear how many rounds we had to play. In preliminary groups with four and five teams. Obviously we sat in a group with five. After the end of the third match, I decided to clean and switch in fresh clothes. Coming back to my team we still have a match to play. That was obviously a setback, but I didn't hesitate. Of course, I would play the last match too. When I did some challenging in the field, there starts a spontaneous battle with the boy in the yellow and he throw me fully clothed in the mud. The damage to the clothing was serious, but it seemed worse than it was...

On another field tried some girls to throw the boy in the jeans in the pond. It doesn't work out, the boy was far too strong for them. I volunteered to help. After a long-term battle finally we managed to get the boy in the pond. He took me with them. To the end, I was more wet then he. After that I started a mud fight with Ton. There aren't many photographs from, because fighting and taking pictures isn't easy to combine. Some fields becomes quiet liquid now. Both of us where completely covered with mud to the end.

During the whole day there were continuous mud fights. The spontaneous fight below surprised Ton completely. It was after the final. Both spectators were in there normal clothes. Ton run to his car to pick up is camera. But nothing stops them by trashing themselves any farther. Ton missed the first soakings, but took more then a dozen pictures of the resulting fight. It was going from the pond to the mud field and back on and on. On the site of Ton Zwemmen met kleren aan you can find them all. My team did like the mud very much. From the very beginning until the final you can find them dunking en trashing each other. May be you didn't recognize them.  But all of these boys can be find on least at two picture above.

Both teams in the final were totally new on Kwalleballen. They weren't aware of all good traditions like throwing the arbiter in the pond after the match. They have to learn. Normally I walk around in my nicest clothes, where I have to go home with. Every year the big bullies who win the games pick me up and throw me in the pond as well. So I have to go home completely soaked and trashed from head to foot. But nobody of them did anything. So Ton try to push me in the mud. But he isn't strong enough to complete. At that moment one of the members of the winning team came to help him. And in no team I lay down in the deepest mud puddle and afterwards a nice soaking in the pond.