MRISA - Volleyball Tournament

MRISA is an association of Mekong River International Schools where teams from Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia compete in basketball, volleyball and soccer tournaments throughout the school year. This time it was our (ISPP's) turn to host the Middle Years Volleyball tournament and we were all very excited to be involved.

Samuel had decided to try out for the team even though he had never really played it before, unless you count  a few games on the beach on holidays! He wasn't that hopeful as it was for grades 6-8, but went to training and had a go. He was able to match it with the older kids and was selected in the A Team as their designated "setter". He does have amazing co-ordination, can read the play, excels at ball sports and has energy to burn! Phil and I can debate at length as to where the talent comes from - both claiming AFL footballing cousins, and I throw in the Stawell gift place getter (thanks Uncle Ted!), but I may have to admit that Phil has it over me on the tennis court! Either way -  he was rapt and we were pretty proud, although  I was then lamenting that it was a home tournament and I didn't get to travel......but I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

lets go ISPP lets go!

Part of the hosting duties is also to provide the "billets" for all the visiting teams so ISPP had to find beds for about 150 kids. We requested students from VIS (our previous school in Vientiane) and were lucky to be assigned Joji from Japan who Samuel used to play soccer with, and another lovely young boy, Daniel from Canada. They were great kids, and it was wonderful to welcome them into our home. They were bombarded with questions from us all about life in Laos, who was still there, friends, teachers etc,  and took us down memory lane!

 

Our visiting VIS friends!

The tournament was played out at The Beeline Arena, across on one of the islands on the Mekong. It's a pretty impressive stadium for Cambodia  although it did get  pretty hot under the tin roof. Pool games were played on the Friday and the rest of the school students from ISPP were in the crowd creating a fantastic atmosphere. ISPP lost their first 2 matches in what were nail biting 3 set matches - to a strong team from Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) and our arch rivals here in Phnom Pehn, Northbridge (NISC)  We won the third game against a team from Thailand, the highlight being Samuel holding serve for 11 points straight.

The Saturday morning game was the all important match to determine if you played off for the top four spots, or played off in the consolation group for places 5 -8. It was another tight  game and the boys came up just short against UNIS, the tournament favorites from Hanoi. They were a big strong team and just had a bit too much power. The boys fought it out bravely though winning some magnificent rallies. So it was on to the play off for the plate trophy. The boys won the first match, producing some of their brilliance from the Friday games which meant they would play off for fifth spot and found themselves up against NISC again. Both the teams had a fair bit of home town support and the atmosphere was amazing, with plenty of cheering and drum banging going on. It was another nail biting match but our boys managed to win both tight sets, again playing some of their best volleyball. It was an amazing finish with Samuel serving at set point and being carried from the court on the shoulders of his teammates. He was rapt and we were really proud of his effort and sportsmanship. He had really matched it with the bigger taller kids and continually revved up his teammates on court. It was a wonderful experience for him, a great introduction to MRISA and was topped off with him being named MVP for his team and making it into the All Star Team for the tournament.  The smile couldn't be wiped off his face - hanging with the big kids was pretty cool stuff. 

Joji and Samuel, respective MVP's for their teams!