2020 AmsterJam
July 25-26, 2020
Zandvoort, Netherlands
It's a bit hard to describe the overall feeling of the weekend considering that this was the first official freestyle event since all of the lockdowns began.
I think most all of the players were a bit overwhelmed at finally being able to be outside and grateful to find themselves on such a huge, beautiful beach.
It it felt like every jam or gathering was something to be cherished.
At the start of the event Iwan made a really nice, heartfelt speech about all the players who weren't able to be there, especially Cotton.
On a lighter note, we received messages from Norway and Brighton saying they were jamming 'in spirit' with us on Sunday.
It's also really great knowing players who weren't able to come to Amsterjam were able to take part or watch the tiny room battle which was taking place simultaneously.
Way to go Daniel and Co!
On Sunday we were treated to a sunny day for the competition, and even though the wind remained high it was a bit less strong that Saturday.
The Open Pairs round featured 6 teams. First up, was Steffi and Harry.
Steffi is a very talented juggler/hula hooper who had attended last year's German Championship in Freiburg (a combined juggling and frisbee event).
This was her first time competing and we were all super impressed by how well she did in extremely windy conditions.
The next team was Jessie and Steffen and they hit the move of the day...
Steffen was somehow able to do hit one handed handstand invert delay and keep his balance on the sand in super strong wind.
Then, while finally coming out of the position the wind took the disc and miraculously
Jessie was able to catch a flamingo before it blew away! Awesome Move into a Super Save :-)
Pepyn and Silvina had a bit of trouble with the wind gusts but they showed no fear going after thier moves with some wicked counter psycho bashing.
Ollie is really becoming a high level wind player and is pushing the limits but in a Zen sort of way.
He and Waldi had a great round, putting pressure on the teams to follow.
Greg and Thomas Noetzel had a very solid round as well and ended tying for 2nd with Ollie and Waldi.
Woo and Z'mon (Simon) had a very entertaining round with Wu bending the boundaries of what most mortal players consider possible and Z'mon doing a long,
ground control combo which fired up the crowd.
The last routine of the day was 'Shreddy' Finner and Tom (me).
Like most other teams we had several wind blown drops but we were able to survive and even thrive at times.
For the last move I went for a spinning standing gitis - knowing it was not only the last move of our routine but his last move of the event
I tried to focus extra hard to catch it - waiting until the last possible moment to commit to the catch.
I was so relieved when it arrived in my hand.
The 2020 Amsterjam was now over, and next comes the real fun part - wide open beachjamming for hours and hours.
For many players the beach experience extended way past the weekend. Freddy, Woo and Ollie jammed all day Thursday and Friday as well -
jamming as late as 10pm on the beach. Jessie, Harry, Notzi and Steffi spent over a week camping at the beach in the south of Holland
where the Belgian boys and Gregbee also met up for some jams the week before Amsterjam.
You would think that 4 straight long days of beachjamming would be enough, but last I heard Freddy and the boys were thinking about
canceling Monday's tourist boat ride in Amsterdam for another day at the beach! :-O
Z ya round, be safe!
- Tom
OPEN PAIRS FINALS:
1. Tom Leitner & Freddie Finner 6,29
T2. Waldemar Wagner & Oliver Peters 5,00
T2. Gregory Lo-a-Sjoe & Thomas Noetzel 5,00
4. Woo Wunder & Simon Luehring 4,29
5. Jessie Skomrock & Steffen Verstichel 3,79
6. Silvina Porsch & Pepijn Tavernier 3,07
7. Harry Skomrock & Steffi GroB 2,64
SPIRIT OF THE GAME: Steffi GroB
