“Playing well and poorly at the same time”
Written by Audrey Yip
Young volleyballers exceed expectations to claim ACAMIS title
From October 31st to November 2nd, the Red Division Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS) Volleyball Tournament was held at RCHK. The Black Kites once again acquitted themselves admirably, the boys achieving a third place finish while the girls finished strongly to take the title after a horrible first day.
This was the second year the RCHK Black Kites girls and boys under-20 volleyball team participated in the highest division (Red Division) Volleyball Tournament. Other schools in the division include Suzhou Singapore International School (SSIS), QSI International School of Shenzhen (QSIS), and Chinese International School (CIS).
After the round robin neither RCHK team was in great shape. The girls’ were fourth, while QSIS came third, CIS came second, and SSIS came first. In the boy’s tournament, CIS finished the first day fourth, RCHK were third, with QSIS second and SSIS first.
The boy’s team lost close matches against two schools, SSIS and QSIS, but managed to win the third-place when they won 2-0 against CIS. Unfortunately, the girl’s team were unable to keep their winning streak from last year and lost 0-2 to SSIS, QSIS, and CIS, getting fourth in the tournament.
During the semi-finals, the girl’s team were fourth seed but were able to win against the first seed, SSIS. “While we lost the first set, we were able to come back in the second and third and win the third set 15-13 against SSIS,” the girl’s team captain, Endria Tai said. “It was our first win of the competition, and it was a huge relief to know that all our hard work had led us to the finals. We definitely exceeded our own expectations.”
Tai said she was delighted with her team’s performance. “With only two players remaining from last year’s ACAMIS team, our team was extremely young with an average age of 14.9 years.” She said, “I’m extremely proud of our young team for being able to improve immensely over the three-day tournament. I’m also extremely impressed at the fact that our team was able to overcome the mental barrier of facing multiple losses against strong opponents, and play to our full potential on the last day while staying extremely calm and collected.”
When asked about their match, Damian Chau, the boy’s team captain, said, “We played well and poorly at the same time.” He mentioned how players from other schools such as QSI have played volleyball for eight years. “Our team was made of 50% beginners, players that have played this sport for a few months or even less,” Chau said, “After every match, we would have a team briefing about the mistakes we made in the game. While our team was stuck making the same mistakes and unwilling to move forward, the opponent was constantly changing their play style and constantly evolving.”
When Chau was also asked about the highlight of the overall competition, he was very confident about it. “Ask anyone on our team, and they would tell you that it’s the second day against SSIS. On that day, everyone was ready to play, and something felt different. We were excited rather than nervous, we were constantly talking about different methods and strategies we should be using against the other team.”
Although at the end the boy’s team still lost, they were only a few points away from winning that match. “During that match, it felt like we were truly working as a team. We had good communication, great receives, etc. We are a team with potential, but we also need to reflect and learn from our mistakes to improve our performance.”
