2018 Broward Craig Trophy

The Broward Craig Trophy is a bi-annual event between the USIC and Belgium IC that was cancelled two years ago just after a terrorist attack on the Brussels airport.  Well all I can say is that if I knew we were going to have as great a weekend as we did this year I think everyone would have braved the terrorists.  We all arrived Thursday night or Friday morning and after getting settled at the lovely Hotel Pavillon du Zoute went to a much needed practice session at the Royal Zoute Tennis Club where all the tennis was played.  The Royal Zoute had an actual qualifier event going on at the same time with lots of 20 something year olds hitting the ball 100+ mph to watch.  Despite the other event we were treated to practice courts on Friday and all the courts we needed both Saturday and Sunday.  The courts themselves were a very unusual red clay without a lot of bite to them so that the ball would generally stay lower than I have seen in the past.  After practice on Friday we were treated to a barbeque at the house of a local IC member that was superb.  In fact all the food was excellent - breakfasts and lunches at the Hotel and the formal dinner at a local restaurant on Saturday night.  Lots of local Belgium cuisine was sampled and not found wanting (the tiny shrimp were my favorite - still no clue how they got them all peeled).  As can be seen by the scores, the matches were all close fought and very competitive with perfect sportsmanship demonstrated by all.  Some of us found time to see the sites in Knokke le Zoute, Bruge, and even Sluis in the Netherlands.  The Belgium team made us feel incredibly welcome.  Special thanks to the Belgium IC president Michel de Marneffe who set things up from their end and even took over as the match captain.  Also of note Patrick Bolle De Bal was made an honorary member of the USIC, and Robert Van Malder who is a member of both teams worked wonders in helping coordinate the event.  In summation another wonderful IC event with great tennis, great food, and most importantly new friends made to hopefully last a lifetime.