“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game”. This is what we were told since the beginning from our coach, Amid. This year’s Girls Volleyball ISACI was a success for the team of Mercedes-Benz. Motivation, hard work and teamwork were the key aspects of our practices, that drove us to the first place this year, and we are very proud of saying it.
The most important thing this year that everybody understood was that finding good players is easy, but playing as a team is another story. Supporting each other and being all friends was one of the key factors that brought us to play amazingly. We weren’t just teammates, but rather, close friends.
We started the volleyball season with a strong will to win and the victory that we deserve last year. The Six W’s: Work will win when wishing won’t . Bruises and burn marks were the evident of our hard work. If you put in the work, the results will come. On the first day we won both matches which made us go through to the finals, this is a big achievement since last year we were in the semi-finals and ended up in last place.
In the finals, we put everything into the game and made sure we left the court with no regret. This match we owed it to ourselves because we know that we deserved first place. Every player has contributed their best which allowed us to win ISACI Volleyball 2017. This was the best way to end the ISACI journey for some since the DP 2 will be leaving and off to college.
Coach’s reflection:
This year was the toughest year to choose the team considering the numbers of participants and having more girls than there were places for. It took nearly 3 months of practices to select the final team.
The team of 2017/18 was not only about the friendship, it was about helping, caring, motivating and commitment.
During the practices one of our captains was injured and that was very difficult for other players to cope with. She did not give up, she came to all the practices and helped others in different areas and that’s only one of the reasons I’m saying this team was more than just a team.
Throughout the tournament the girls only lost one set, winning all other matches in straight sets. After losing the first set against Hyderabad in the first match, the team was determined not to lose any more sets. They bonded together and went into the final as the number one seed. In the final against ISH the girls had set points against them but showed resolve and spirit to win 3 straight points to take out the set and ultimately take out the match and walk away as ISACI Champions. The Champions trophy is now at the Home of the Eagles.