Normally you play to win, but with Saturday’s final of Parentesen’s annual brännboll tournament fast approaching, the competitors’ focus is on avoiding failure.
“It’s one of Lund’s long traditions that has simply grown bigger and bigger every year;” says Per Nilsson as he and the rest of Parentesen take to the grass to decide which corridor will be this year’s champions and who will be left to, literally, sweep up the wreckage of a failed campaign.
“It can get crazy out there. Great fun, but crazy,” reflects Corridor C2 team member Axel Lööf.
And why wouldn’t it be? The ultimate punishment for the losing teams is to play a “Losers’ Final” in the courtyard, be pelted with trash and have to clean up once the rubbish has settled.
“To be honest it’s pretty stressful,” adds Axel. “I have played for the last two years and all you think about is not being the one who messes up and gets the corridor on trash duty.”
“Yeah it can be tense,” says organiser Ralf Elfving, himself a veteran of the ordeal. “But it’s been a good sporting spirit this year. There have been no controversies and things have been running smoothly, well, aside from the party.”
A source of recent contention has been that the planned after-party at Göteborg Nation was, only a few days ago, cancelled.
“On such short notice it has been impossible to find a new location.” says Ralf Elfving.
The traditional after-party held in the garden of Parentesen was blocked by the authorities after last year’s party escalated beyond control. And despite efforts by the organising team, there will be inevitable ramifications from the cancellation of this year’s party-plans:
“Normally we can take in some money from the sale of tickets but this year all we have to work with are the entrance fees from the corridors themselves. So the prize for the winners, which last year was a 5000 kronor IKEA voucher will unfortunately have to be downgraded.”
The landlords AFB have been firm in their stance against a party in the garden this year, even hiring security guards to patrol the area on the evening of the final, with strict orders to call in the police should there be any flaunting of the rules.
But with the field still adorned with matching strips, team huddles and players so dedicated they are sporting knee and elbow supports, the foundations are there for a party to descend none-the-less come Saturday:
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen, we’ll just have to wait and see,” says resident Ludwig Dupias.
