I recently returned from a 2nd trip in merely a week. In case you haven't been paying any attention to the rest of the blog, I was in Xiamen, China for the weekend, coaching the TIS junior girls volleyball team of during the SCISAC volleyball tournament. Let me preface this entry by doing one thing, sharing the post-SCISAC entry about my team from last year.
I quite like writing, although it remains to be judged by you whether I'm any good at it. I reflected on my old SCISAC entry before leaving for Xiamen this year and was surprised at how capable I was of conveying the emotions I felt after that tournament.
Here's a meaningful snippet I wanted to share with you from last year:
SCISAC 2012 Entry
A cynic would tell you that, sports are just fun and games meant to entertain. I beg to differ. Our tournament started with excitement but in the immediate aftermath of our finals loss, there was only emotional pain. There were no dry eyes in the team huddle after the game. You could taste how incredibly badly the girls wanted the win. Before the game I told the girls to pour everything they had onto the court and leave nothing behind that they would regret and at the end, I knew without a doubt that every one of them had. But to put so much work yet falling just short of their goal is a gut-wrenching feeling that cannot be described but only experienced.
Yesterday was one of the most bittersweet days of my life. For me this tournament reaffirmed why I love sports. Yes we didn't win gold, but every last player on that team put in a titanic effort and hopefully woke up today feeling nothing but pride for their effort. Yet I'm sure the bitter taste of disappointment will linger for the girls. However, the beautiful thing is that bitter taste will provide the returning girls a drive that will push them to work and compete that much harder for next year. Beyond that, the girls have definitely gained an invaluable life lessons on the topic of determination, trust, and hard work.
It is not a stretch to tell you that a group of teenage girls inspired me over the span of this weekend. Again, words alone are not enough to describe how overwhelmingly proud I am of how far these girls have come in the development of not only their skills but their character in the span of 4 months. Yesterday, my girls didn't lose gold, they won silver. In the end, it was never about the result but rather it was culmination of an incredible chapter of the development of their identity. I'm sure however, my girls will tell you that this story has not yet reached a proper conclusion.
End old entry
If you are a committed follower of this blog if you already know the results of all of our matches from the following:
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/tis/34/tpod.html
(read this first, so you have a better sense of my reactions as I describe them below)
There's are in-depth summaries of each game for the boys and girls for that blog, all of which I wrote anyways, so I'll not go into all the result summaries here. If you've read this far and still don't know the results of the tournament, I'm hear to tell you that the TIS girls took first place at the SCISAC tournament!!! This win will be remembered as more than merely a championship win because:
- It was the first time a TIS girl's team has claimed a SCISAC (middle school) or ACAMIS (high school) championship in ANY sport
- It was only the 2nd different TIS sports team overall to win a champion, preceded only by junior boys basketball, who are currently still the 2-time defending SCISAC champions
- Outside of TIS, it signaled a sweeping change in the landscape of SCISAC girls volleyball. Previous to this year, the former champions from XIS were 4-time defending champions, who were looking for a 5-peat on home court. In the entire existence of their program, they've only failed to become champions once, in their inaugural season. Rightly so, XIS had assembled a volleyball dynasty.
Long before leaving for Xiamen, at some point right around when the SCISAC team was officially assembled, I knew this team had tremendous ability and potential. I was confident that, if we played our game and controlled the pace of the games, even the vaunted XIS team couldn't stand against us. Sure that sounds like an almost arrogant thing to say, but I had that much confidence in our team, in our girls. On paper, we had all the pieces to make a serious run at the title. We had electric new players that could dictate the game with consistent and dangerous serves and provide reliable defensive court coverage. This was balanced out by veteran returning players with an unquenchable hunger for the champion, who had continued refining their skills to be team leaders on the court, with their reliable play.
The first game at SCISAC was already a big test. TIS vs. XIS. We had yet to take a set from them previously (from last year). After a shaky start, our girls began to exert their will in the game, dominating XIS in the serving game. In the end, we cruised comfortably to a 2-0 win. The rest of the preliminary round games had their ups and downs. There were points when we weren't our sharpest but we always managed to do enough, or buckle down in key moments to roll through the competition, going flawless in 4 games, not losing a single set in the process.
Any expectations that our team had about cruising through XIS or any of the other teams in the playoffs were quickly squashed during the 2nd set of the 1st vs 2nd playoff match against XIS. In the first set, we demonstrated our full potential where the team flexed it's muscle, pounding away with relentless offense and aggressive serving. XIS started to handle our serves in the second set, and the more they got involved in the rallies, the stauncher their defense became. Still, at the end of the set we held 2 match points. XIS showed that as 4 time defending champs, they could handle the pressure and fought off both match points, and pressed us with 2 of their own set points. Our girls knew that a golden opportunity lay ahead, held steady and staved off those set points before finally closing out the match.
A thrilling and positive conclusion to the match, and the stage was set for the grand finale finish the girls were hoping for and worked a whole year to get to. Yet every member of the team, from players to coaches, knew that it was really going to be 1 match, 1 more result that would define the entire season. I had absolute faith in the abilities of our girls, but for the first time the whole year, I felt something lurking in my heart. Cold, black terror. Our year, and our expectations for the year were so results driven, built on winning this championship match and collectively we knew that a single lose could erase all the other positives of the season. Our team captain, who would graduate up to ACAMIS volleyball along with our 1st string setter, made it known that they wanted to end their SCISAC careers as champions.
Yet a loss would once again bring pain, more pain than even the year before. To work so hard and yet obtain the same result would be beyond crushing. Sure there would be the reconciliatory congratulations and I realized that even before the game was played, I was already incredibly proud of what the girls had accomplished that the results would not really change my impressions of the team or of them. However, athletes know that winning a champion is a simple but absolute barometer of success or failure. I was terrified to reset a new year where there with a debilitating sense of uncertainty as to whether we could ever wrest the championship away from XIS.
Our team was able to relax and watch the semifinals between XIS vs. HKA. The results surprised nobody, and something about the way the tournament unfolded suggested that we were destined for a penultimate showdown with XIS. This was it. The journey had arrived full circle, except in that moment, we had an opportunity to change the course of SCISAC history. An hour before the match I had a one-to-one chat with some of our key players. For the graduating players, I told them that one way or another they would remember this day for the rest of their lives and that they had a chance to be the authors of how they would remember this day. I told them to rise and claim what their hard work had given them the opportunity to do. For the other key players, I told them that I always believed they were the best team at SCISAC and all they had to do was show it one last time, and then they would then convince everyone else what some within TIS already knew.
Much like in the 1st vs 2nd match-up, the girls paced through the first set on strong serving, building up an earlier 10 point lead. In our timeouts, I reiterated to the girls that they were in control and as long as they played their game, they would likewise control their destiny. XIS did chip away at the lead but our team had too much focus to let that kind of a lead slip away. The first set was claimed, 25-16.
Being one set away from our final goal, our nerves became readily apparent. At the same time XIS demonstrated a dangerous sense of controlled desperation, knowing that they were at the edge of oblivion. Sloppy serving, timid attacking, and painful lapses in defensive coverage by the team, along with a steely resolve and a boisterous home crowd from XIS tilted the court heavily in their favour. Our girls fought with teeth and nails but were struggling against a rising tide of XIS momentum, eventually succumbing to their first set loss during SCISAC, 22-25.
There was not a worse time to be overwhelmed by nerves, and to have the momentum be completely sapped from our team. The feeling was palpable in the team huddle leading into the 3rd set. I could see in the girls, a demoralizing sense of dread starting to dawn on them. That suddenly, we were the hunted and that everything seemed to be disintegrating. Most crushing was that our team leaders were the ones propagating the downfall. I could see the tears already starting to well up, as the girls saw ever point XIS won slowly but excruciatingly extinguish their dreams. The early scoreline of the 3rd set reflected this and XIS's momentum carried them to a 4-8 lead at the court change over.
I knew that if we had any hope of still pulling out a win, we'd have to make a move immediately to close the gap. Then suddenly we manged a hard-earned side out and received the serve back. A seemingly insignificant event in the course of the match, but this point paved the way for the final turning point of the match. A girl, who experienced immense disappointment in being left off the SCISAC team from last year, rallied the team with a 7 point serve scoring streak, racking up 3 aces in the process. XIS called a timeout to stem the momentum we had gained, but to no avail. Suddenly it was 12-8. Yet even when we reached match point (14-10), XIS would still not submit. They rallied for 3 points, and were another point away from forcing a championship ending tiebreaker. After using our final timeout, the girls poetically ended the tournament with an attack from our team captain and best hitter. To be honest, we were exceptionally lucky on the play. If our captain hit 2 inches higher, the XIS blocker would have deflected the ball back down to our side the court and we would be deadlocked at 14-14. Instead, the ball clipped the net, barely skipped over the blocker and landed with an insignificant thud just behind the blocker.
For a single moment, it felt as though the Earth stopped turning. The moment after followed with an eruption of cheers and pure esctasy. The whole TIS contingent spilled out onto the court, where there were hugs, high-fives, and tears everywhere. It was then that I could see how every drill, every decision, and every experience, led down the long road too that singular moment. It felt that if we had done anything differently, we would not have emerged victorious. For some of these girls, it was the first time they've realized a dream that was so personal and significant to them. For me, the championship was meaningful because I've seen their commitment to the sport and to each other as teammates, and I wanted so badly for the season to pay dividends to all the challenges they've had to overcome during the year. In the post-match celebrations, I realized that like the year before, this moment transcended volleyball and would serve as the foundation in their development as young adults.
It has been a full week since SCISAC, but time does not fade a moment like that. Moving forward this team will remain forever bonded together, regardless of where they end up as individuals. The girls already want to get back into playing volleyball, but they need a mental off-season even if they aren't physically tired of volleyball. As a coach, the victory is most assuredly sweet, but already it is the stuff of stories and history. Another chapter concludes. A new chapter is ready to begin. The cogs are already turning for the volleyball season next year. Next year without a doubt will provide the team with the biggest challenges it has faced to date. The team will lose the keystone offensive tandem that we have relied on since the inception of the team and we'll be forced to redefine the team's identity. Next year in earnest, we will be the hunted. Everyone arriving at SCISAC will know that we are the golden standard, and that toppling us would validate their chances for being SCISAC champions. Next year, we will undertake the most difficult task in sports, defending a championship.
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| Heart of a Champion |
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| There can only be 1. SCISAC Champs 2013. |
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