It is a buzz of activity around here this week as we prepare for the big fall VB tournament. We are the host school and this is quite an operation. Our teams will only play in this one tournament. They have been practicing since school began. We have both a Boys and Girls varsity team and we also have both a Girls and Boys junior varsity team. The alternate practice days Boys one day, Girls the next except on Tuesdays when neither team can practice.
As the host school, there is a lot to get ready for. The other three teams will travel here for the tournament. The teams that are participating this year are from Qatar, Jordan and Cairo. A team from a school in Lebanon usually would participate but because of the events of the past 6 weeks have only been in school for the past week so they will not come.
The teams stay with us beginning tonight until early Sunday morning. The coaches stay here at the school either in extra apartments or in apartments with staff who have an extra bedroom. The players stay with host families (families of our players and students). Quite an undertaking. The other players need passports and visas to enter the country to compete – the schools usually make most of the travel arrangements but in most cases the players will have to pay a good share of the travel costs. While they are here, our school will arrange some sightseeing for them (as time permits) and will provide their lodging and meals. The school will host a banquet for the teams and coaches on Saturday at the conclusion of the tournament. All the teams will play each other tomorrow to determine seeing for pool play on Friday, with the semi finals and finals being played on Saturday. It should be fun to watch.
Getting ready for the tournament is quite a project for us. We have one covered court and one open air court In order to host, we were asked to put a temporary cover over the top of the uncovered court. This was indeed a project – all done by hand with timber, cords, ladders and a covering. It was amazing to see the workers climbing around on ladders (literally walking with them as one would with stilts). In the end the cover was put up but with the wind, it was thought to be too unstable so they took it down today. They are putting the tarps on the side to block the sun as it goes down in the afternoon. It will be interesting to see how our teams do. The boys’ team has 7 players will the girls team has 9. 3 of the 7 boys are either in my class or homeroom while 5 of the 9 girls are in my class or homeroom. I will take my class out tomorrow to watch them play.
This is really a neat experience for the kids – We remembered back to the first two years that I coached and we took our team up to Sioux City to play in a Holiday Christmas Tournament and our players stayed with the Heelan girls while Pat and I stayed with the Heelan coach and his wife. It was one of the most memorable experiences we had coaching (and we won the tournament both years – way to go Greyhounds!!) Tomorrow we are hoping our Falcons are ready to rock the other 3 teams.
