Welcome Back Headis Tournament at Unisport

After a long forced break, it was #Comebackstronger on 01.08.2020 for all Headis players at the "Welcome Back Cup" on the outdoor area of the Unisport of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. The Headis Home World Championship was actually planned for the end of July in Kaiserslautern. As this could not be held due to coronavirus, the World Cup was quickly turned into the "Welcome Back Cup", because after 161 days without a headis tournament, there was great interest and motivation for the resumption of the Lautr trend sport. The TUK and Unisport also played a special role in the Headis World Cup. In terms of teaching, sport and events of all kinds, the main focus is currently on being able to take the first steps back towards "normality" with the help of individual events and ensuring the success of hygiene concepts and the like in advance with a view to the coming winter semester 2020/21.

A separate safety concept was also developed and implemented for the Headis World Welcome Back Cup. As the organizer of the World Cup, Unisport had taken all precautions to ensure the highest possible level of safety for all participants. In addition to the now standard rules such as social distancing and the registration of all players, spectators, catering and the typical high-fiving were dispensed with. Nevertheless, TUK, Unisport and the Headis team agreed that safety and hygiene were the top priority, meaning that even more rules were included in the safety concept than would theoretically have been necessary. This was expressed, for example, in the form of a ban on returning travelers and people from high-risk areas - a measure that only became a legal requirement after the Headis Cup. The concept also included the regular disinfection of the tables and balls, the division of zones for players and referees, a one-way system on the playing field and much more.

However, compliance with the hygiene and safety regulations did not detract from the good atmosphere and the overall success of the World Cup. The atmosphere throughout the tournament was, as is typical for the Headis community, very informal, sporty and consistently positive, and the players simply supported each other and cheered on every game. The field of participants consisted of 20 women and 60 men from a total of four countries. The tournament began in a group phase with groups of four and five. Even here there were some spectacular rallies that would have been worthy of a final match. After a short intermediate round, it was on to the knockout phase, in which the courts were really set alight. After it was still damp and cloudy in the morning, the sun came out just in time for the decisive matches and continued to heat up all the players. The finals then took place in the evening. The women's final was an all-Cologne final, in which "Theadix" won 2:0 against "Platzwunder", while Madrid-born "Klausi" secured third place. In the men's field, it was even an international final, in which local hero "Sniper Schorsch" from Kaiserslautern also defeated his Slovakian rival "Dendiik" 2:0. Third place went to "Stennis the Mannis" from Berlin, who won bronze in a thrilling match. As an additional fun factor, the Headis multi-competition was offered as a side event alongside the tournament. Here the players were able to try their hand at disciplines such as high or long heads and had an interdisciplinary change of pace during the breaks in play.

At the end of the tournament, some of the players' foreheads were glowing and both the organization and the entire field of participants were satisfied with the successful tournament. The Unisport of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern would like to expressly thank all those involved for their understanding and assistance in implementing and adhering to the safety concept, so that the "Welcome back Cup" could take place in this form.

The next Headis World Cup is already planned for September 24, 2020 in Saarbrücken. All information can be found at https://headis.com/de/.

Unisport wishes you lots of fun and success!