Hello, Sam here.
It’s been a while since I've written a blog
entry, apologies! It’s been pretty busy in the Arctic Geology department. I’m
here to tell you about my role in the Longyearbyen basketball, football and volleyball teams and our recent matches against the nearby Russian town, Barentsburg, Every semester 5/6 teams in a variety of sports from
Longyearbyen play against Barentsburg home and away. Generally the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, however a strong rivalry still exists between the teams of each town and the games can be pretty exciting.
Barentsburg - Away
We left around 8am in the morning on Sysselmannen’s (The Governor of Svalbard) brand new boat. Upon arrival we were ushered up to the sports centre and straight on to the volleyball court. The team played well and it ended up being a very close match were only two points separated the winners, Longyearbyen, from Barentsburg. Whilst Longyearbyen played indoor hockey a few of us wandered around Barentsburg. It was really interesting to see the architecture and old communist posters. The town had a nice character and atmosphere. It was then time for Basketball were Longyearbyen won again by a large margin. It was then made a clean sweep with a victory in football. Everyone then headed up to the canteen where everyone was served some tasty Russian food. This was of course accompanied by some Russian vodka, passed to us in rather large glasses whilst being told “Russian tradition”. This tradition was repeated numerous times, with the measurements getting less precise each time. Before long we were exchanging laughs and songs and communicating via a mixture of grunts and cherades – It was a great laugh. Our time to leave came to quickly and we said our goodbyes to the Russian miners. The party continued on the boat back to Longyearbyen and we were back by 11pm.
Barentsburg - Away
We left around 8am in the morning on Sysselmannen’s (The Governor of Svalbard) brand new boat. Upon arrival we were ushered up to the sports centre and straight on to the volleyball court. The team played well and it ended up being a very close match were only two points separated the winners, Longyearbyen, from Barentsburg. Whilst Longyearbyen played indoor hockey a few of us wandered around Barentsburg. It was really interesting to see the architecture and old communist posters. The town had a nice character and atmosphere. It was then time for Basketball were Longyearbyen won again by a large margin. It was then made a clean sweep with a victory in football. Everyone then headed up to the canteen where everyone was served some tasty Russian food. This was of course accompanied by some Russian vodka, passed to us in rather large glasses whilst being told “Russian tradition”. This tradition was repeated numerous times, with the measurements getting less precise each time. Before long we were exchanging laughs and songs and communicating via a mixture of grunts and cherades – It was a great laugh. Our time to leave came to quickly and we said our goodbyes to the Russian miners. The party continued on the boat back to Longyearbyen and we were back by 11pm.
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| Longyearbyen volleyball team after winning a point |
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| Friendly smiles after the meal in Barentsburg |
Longyearbyen - Home
The games kicked off at 12.45pm with volleyball and table tennis being played first. Longyearbyen were given a clean sweep from Barentsburg in table tennis whereas we won 3 sets to 1 in volleyball, playing strong both in attack and defence throughout the game. Football ended up with a 2-2 draw with Longyearbyen conceding 2 late goals in the final minutes. The basketball game was as rough as ever. I was marked out of the game in the first two quarters along with a few elbows in the back of my head. In the end we lost by 9 points. Everyone in the team managed to get some good game time so everybody seemed happy with the result. The final result was an overall win by Barentsburg. After the tournament all the teams went for pizza and beer at the local restaurant Kroa. After eating a fair amount of pizza I made a quick exit, declining various offers of vodka, martini and whisky from the Russians. Although I had to leave the party early, with hindsight I'm pretty glad I left! Until next semester Barentsburg, the score stands at 1-1!
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| A rare unblocked attack from Longyearbyen |
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| Longyearbyen basketball team on the attack |
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