By Prarthana Vinoth (Travel Editor)
Four days in the Spanish sunshine, questionable navigation, and a suspiciously eventful tour.
If there’s one thing ICSM Men’s Hockey proved on tour in Alicante, it’s that you don’t actually need to play hockey to have a successful hockey tour. In fact, across four full days in the Spanish sunshine, the team managed to fit in almost every sport imaginable, multiple sightseeing trips, a casino visit, and one Uber journey that will surely go down in Imperial sporting history.
The tour began in suitably chaotic fashion, with the team arriving in Alicante in costumes that immediately set the tone for the days ahead. With the usual combination of questionable decisions and questionable outfits, it was clear that this was not going to be a particularly restful holiday.
By day, Alicante delivered exactly what you would hope for from a Spanish tour destination: sunshine, beaches, and plenty to explore. The team made it to the beach twice, swapping hockey sticks for volleyballs and footballs. In a remarkable display of sporting versatility, the boys managed to play seemingly every sport except the one they had actually travelled as a team for.
There was also time for some culture. Between beach sessions, the team explored Alicante’s sights, wandered through a beautiful local park, and enjoyed a meal at a lovely Italian restaurant. Spanish spoons also made an appearance, because apparently even a trip to Spain cannot be complete without spoons being involved!
Of course, no university sports tour would be complete without at least one logistical disaster. Enter Ankit Shah, the team treasurer, whose navigational decisions deserve a section of their own. In what can only be described as an accidental detour, Ankit somehow orchestrated a 20 minute Uber journey for approximately 15 members of the team to a gay swingers club. Whether this was a genuine navigational mishap or a masterclass in creative tour planning remains a question for the ages. The team, understandably, may never look at an Uber receipt in quite the same way again.
The evenings were equally eventful. One night saw the team try their luck at the casino, presumably testing whether their fortunes extended beyond the hockey pitch. Saturday night brought the grand finale: a visit to a club reportedly ranked among the top 50 in the world. After four days of sun, sightseeing, and increasingly questionable decision-making, it was perhaps the most fitting way to round off the trip.
Ultimately, Alicante delivered everything a university sports tour should: a change of scenery, a questionable amount of sleep, memories that will be repeated for years, and enough stories to ensure that the group chat remains active long after everyone has returned to London.
The hockey may have taken a back seat, but the tour was undoubtedly a success. And if Ankit is ever put in charge of booking transport again, the rest of the team might be wise to check the destination before getting in the Uber.
