|
 Unfortunately,
I can remember very little about my time with this team. In 1971, I was still
living in Cheltenham, which is only about 7 miles from Tewkesbury and no doubt
I got involved due to it being so close. I do remember that no-one else the
Cheltenham Spa team went over there with me. The Tewkesbury team was based at
Ashchurch Army Camp with the personnel there organising the team and taking
part. My memories of the initial It’s A Knockout heat are very hazy
indeed. The competition was played out on home turf at Tewkesbury and we beat
the Hereford team we were pitched against. However, I can’t remember what
games I took part in, or how I got on. By winning, we qualified for the
Jeux Sans Frontières heat in Rotterdam, and my memories of that are much
clearer.
 The
Dutch international heat took place in the Ahoy Stadium, Rotterdam, which was
a fantastic new arena at the time. I remember Barney Colehan coming up to me
after the match, to tell me that he thought I was a very cool competitor as I
was managing to sleep up until about half an hour before my game. My game in
Rotterdam consisted of being on a big inflatable mat with a volleyball net
strung across it. The idea was that the people from other teams would throw
inflatable dolls over the net and we had to throw them back. I think we had
two guys and two girls on each side. The team that won was the one with the
fewest number of dolls on their side when the game ended - and the dolls were
heavy! I figured a way to throw them back that was good for me (remember
strength was not my forté), and that was to have my back to the net and throw
the things back over my head. My partner, on the other hand, was a big strong
guy who would grab a doll in each hand and throw them back!
The
Dutch heat was won jointly by the Dutch and French teams. I’m not sure where
we finished, though I do remember that we were the top British team at that
date. Unfortunately, just as when I was with Cheltenham Spa, we got pipped at
the end and did not go to the International Final.
My memories of the Tewkesbury team are probably not so clear as the other
years I participated in It’s A Knockout as I was in the process of
moving house at the time. In the Summer of 1971, I moved to Cambridge... which
is about 12 miles from Ely and that is the start of another story...
Click here to
read Ian's memories of Ely, 1973
by Ian Rodger |
