Finally, the time has come. After two-and-a-half months of intensive training and preparing, the whole team was elated that the SAISA boys volleyball tournament has arrived. Hosted by the Lincoln School in Kathmandu, Nepal, 10 teams participated in the event, including our OSC Geckos team. The tournament was great, and an excellent chance of playing a lot of volleyball, meeting like-minded people and getting to know some of the Nepali culture.

I arrived at school at 2:30 in the morning. Instead of being tired, I was excited and wide awake when we boarded the bus for the airport. Luckily everything went as planned at the airport and we were soon in our seats, ready for take-off. The flight was long and tiring but enjoyable, particularly the time at Dubai International Airport. Milo and I spent part of the time starting to design a yearbook cover for the school year 2018-19. Upon arrival in Kathmandu in the evening, we took our check-in baggage and proceeded to the bus, first being greeted by chilly air, then by the bus that took us to our hosts’ homes. Jordan and I stayed together and our hosts were very nice. Being Nepali, it was very interesting listening to their knowledge of the country’s history and sharing opinions on several topics when we talked in the evenings.

Our team at Lincoln School. Photo credits: Lincoln School events crew

The first two full day we had pool games. We won the first match vs Lahore 2:1. We did not play our best though, and decided to concentrate more in our next games. The next three pool games were lost unfortunately, mainly because the other teams had more experienced players and because our mentality was not good throughout the games. Against ACS we were leading by several points at the start of both sets, but in the end lost both by 25:21. We were very disappointed to see that we would only have needed one more won set to continue to the quarterfinals, but we played vs ISOI 7th position. We played well and the game was good, but in the end we lost again, making us 8th of the tournament, not what we hoped for, but in hindsight, the other teams were simply better than us, so we could not have expected a much better result.

Me serving against ISOI. Photo credits: Lincoln School events crew

The final of the tournament was Lincoln School vs Dhaka, and was the most exciting live matches I have ever seen. The skill level, particularly by one players from Dhaka, was near-professional. The game was won by Dhaka 3:1. All the games were live streamed so our parents could watch them at home and I also used them to see where I can improve.

On the second day, we went to a temple on a hill, overlooking Kathmandu. It was a nice cultural experience and we had fun watching the macaques that lived in the temple grounds interacting with each other. On the final morning we spent some time on a market, were we looked, and occasionally bought, at the many souvenirs on offer.

Our team at the monkey temple. Photo credits: Sue Turner

Prayer flags at the temple. Photo credits: Sue Turner

Overall, the volleyball season went very well. We started of as a group of  players not really knowing how to play together but by the end of the tournament we were a very good team. I also improved a lot over the time, particularly being able to do jump serves and much better spikes. Apart from improving my technique, I gained more experience in cooperation and leadership skills. As the team’s captain, I concentrated on organizing the team and motivating players who lost the previous point, as well as helping leading the warm-up. The main weakness of our team was our lack of good mindset while playing. I think this is especially because we do not have a lot of match play experience and did not play as a team long enough. However, the whole team had hoped for a better position and since our team has huge potential, I am planning to organize year-round training with my team, with the goal of reaching the top three next SAISA.