O Sport, You Are Peace!

O Sport, you are peace!

It has been quite a while since I wrote about sport… But that certainly does not mean sport is no longer part of my life. Long-time readers know that I regularly play tennis and also train with the MSU handball team.

The summer season is over, so we have moved from our cosy outdoor tennis court back indoors. Still, to brighten your mood on these gloomy autumn days, here is a photo from our final outdoor tennis practice of the summer.

Regular training with the MSU handball team resumed in mid-September. Something incredible happened this year: several people who had previously played handball professionally for the Palace of Pioneers team enrolled at MSU. With these strong new players on board, the standard of our game has risen considerably: our attacks are faster, our combinations more elegant and our defence more solid.

Last week, we played another friendly against the RANEPA team. The last time we played them was back in the spring. This time, our play was more cohesive: it felt as though we were no longer just a collection of individual players, but a proper team. In attack, we played with greater purpose; in defence, we made our opponents earn every goal.

If the result matters to you, we lost. Personally, I do not consider the score all that important, especially in a friendly. What matters is that I continue to play at inter-university level, and I enjoy it.

Our coach is considering entering an alumni team in the Moscow championship. There used to be an alumni team that played regularly; it was called MSU 2. But then the alumni drifted away and stopped coming, and the team ceased taking part in the Moscow championship. Enough alumni are now attending training that I may soon be playing in the Moscow championship as well.

For now, here is a photo from our game against RANEPA.