Some time ago I wrote about our football team. I ended that article in an optimistic manner, though the facts at that moment were not really supporting my point of view. That was obvious even for the others, and many of them smiled when reading my statements. But even if I presented the facts, I also talked about feelings, about potential, plans, and improvement. Now, half a year later, we can draw a line and see where we stand.
Last year, we lost all our seven matches in Derby Arena Tournament, ending on the last position in the group. This year, we took part again, and qualified from the group, with 3 wins, 3 ties, and one loss. In the following stage we managed to win one out of three matches (and almost tied on another one), despite our opponents having superior experience in the final tournament stages.
Last year, we went to the Karlsruhe 
Tournament, and failed to qualify from group stages after two losses and a tie.
This year, we qualified from the second place, out of a group of six teams (with a little bit of luck, to be honest). We won two, tied two and lost one game, but the result we were most hyped up was the tie against the last year’s champions. Even if we lost the following knockout match, we finished among the first 8 teams, and agreed that it may be possible to finish even higher next year.
You might wonder what happened during the last 6 months?
Well, we underwent some changes, both individually and as a team. We 
trained seriously – even in winter, when there were only a few degrees above zero in the playing hall, and felt our hands numb – but we did train. Inside the company we searched aggressively for people interested in football, and found quite a few who strengthened the team. Then we agreed that we needed a coach, and were lucky to find one, who helped us a lot.
Beyond these facts, I strongly believe that we came pretty close to being a team in the real sense of the word, not just a group of players, and this was one of the main reasons for our recent good results. The team was able to recover from conceding early goals, the substitutions came naturally and worked very well. Most of the time, we all had similar opinions, and even after we lost our last match, I think we left the pitch with our heads up.
Also, I would like to thank our great fans, who supported and encouraged us all the way.
So, what’s next?
There are still some things to improve, though the results are obviously better, we are certainly on the right direction, and we want to continue because there is still room for growth.
To be honest, I start worrying for my place in the team, as some very good new players joined the company. It is both normal and motivating, which is why I am up to the challenge.
Also, I want to invite everyone to join our trainings, and why not, be a part of the team for the next tournaments.
