By Samuel Habtemariam
The Kanga Cup week has always been the one week I looked forward to as a kid. I used to count the days until I was able to walk out in the Opening Ceremony with my teammates and all the other players from around Australia and the World. The Kanga Cup was the best week because you got to see your teammates day in and day out for the entirety of the tournament.
Playing against kids from other places was the best part of the tournament. Playing against these random people you had never seen before, but you knew you didn’t want to be the one who lost was something I will never forget. The Kanga Cup competition is the one week of the year when Canberra actually looks busy as well! Not being able to find a car park spot, waiting ten minutes in lines at the canteen, is something most people from Canberra don’t experience, that’s when you know what an important week it is!
The moment when you put on the highlighted, waterproof wristband is the moment you realise that the Kanga Cup is starting. My mates and I used to see who could keep the band on the longest. I always won! The nerves in the first game is always at its highest but by the time you get to the third or fourth game it feels like you’ve been playing in it for years.
I have been lucky enough to win a Kanga Cup. We lost our first two games and we went on an amazing run after that not losing a game and winning the Final 3-2. The feeling after you have won is unbelievable, knowing that you had a whole week of fun and you had a medal to take home at the end of it!
Every young kid deserves a chance to play in the Kanga Cup; they deserve to go through all the cup dramas like a real professional player. Any kid, any skill level and any age can play in the tournament. Every kid playing in the tournament looks forward to the Kanga Cup and every kid has aspirations to win it, just as I did.
Samuel Habtemariam played for ACTAS in the 2015 Kanga Cup. The 2016 NSR Kanga Cup takes place from Sunday 3rd July to Friday 7th July at venues throughout Canberra.
