As the teams lined up for the “inauguration” ceremony of the annual semana santa (holy week) volleyball tournament, my stomach dropped. I looked at all my tiny girls lined up against women my age who had many more years of experience, not to mention many more inches to their tall trained bodies. “Did I make a mistake in making my girls sign up for this 3-on-3 beach volleyball tournament? Are they just going to get embarrassed in front of all these people watching, including my boss, his family, and many of my friends? Am I going stand up proud next to my girls as they get a beating in front of almost the entire city of Jarabacoa or will I just sit on the bleachers and cheer them on from the sidelines? How “present” do I want to be as their coach?
This is a question that I think most of us have to face. How present are we in the lives of the ones we love? I often can get so busy with my own schedule that I forget to be present. I am not just talking about being there when a friend wants to talk about something. But really, being present. Am I so engaged in my girls’ lives that I know what’s going on at home? What subject are the struggling with in school? What happened today to my roommate Maggie at school? I find I often come up short in this area. Anyway... back to the volleyball tournament!
So the Semana Santa volleyball tournament is a 3 day event that people come to from all over the country. There is a 3-on-3 mens basketball tournament, 11k race, as well as 3-on-3 mens and women’s volleyball tournament. About one month before the event, I gave my varsity girls two options. You either run in the race or play in the volleyball tournament. So we train through March with the special rules of beach volleyball and ready or not, the tournament began last Friday. The tournament is double elimination. Every game is a quick game to 21. We’ve signed 4 teams up, one from JV, two from varsity, and a team of me, Katie (another missionary from SI and a Dominican friend from La Vega called Sindy. Our team was called San Diego. So as we go through the tournament highlights, I will refer to the teams as JV, Varsity1, Varsity2 and San Diego. Torneo de la Montana… here we come!
DAY 1
JV (Anna, Micah, Stephanie): I give the JV team a pep talk before their game against a team from the capital. One of the girls already has tears in eyes because of her nerves. They end up played their hearts out and BEAT the other team. Everyone is going crazy because this was a team that was not expected to win. So awesome!
Giving JV team a pep talk
Varsity 1 (Lili, Shakira, Dianny): They are matched up against a team from the capital - which had two girls over 5’10 and just jacked. The third is a short chubby girl. (Not politically correct probably, but we’re just stating facts here). One of the tall girls has played for the junior national team for the DR. Sweet. Varsity 1 girls play awesome and outsmart the team and win!
Varsity 2: Gets a buy
San Diego: Wins their game
Everyone goes on to day 2...
DAY 2
JV: Plays against a strong team from Moca. San Diego is supposed to play right after so Coach Jess can’t be on the sideline to call a timeout as Moca gets a 8 point streak because she is warming up. Again, the importance of being present. Anyways, they end up losing and then face another tough team later and lose. Still, I was very proud of these girls. (JV is out)
Varsity 1: Wins one game, loses one… still are qualified to play Sunday.
Varsity 2: Wins one, qualified to play Sunday.
San Diego: Wins one, qualified to play Sunday.
DAY 3
Varsity 1: The moment I’ve dreaded most. Varsity 1 has to play against San Diego. Us. Me. Their coach. Gosh, I’m actually super nervous. More nervous than I’ve ever been for the other games. The thing is that even though their small, they are smart players. Plus, if we lose to them, I’m never going to hear the end of it. Well, I decide to just pretend they are any other team and play hard. And that’s what we do. At one point, I even hit one of the smallest girls Lili right in the face. Oops! Even the commentator said I was an abusadora. Lo siento (sorry). Varsity 1 later loses again and is now out of the tournament.
Varsity 1: Loreidy, Nana and Leslie
Who’s present now? About 5 of the 9 girls’ parents have came out to watch the tournament which was super exciting! Many times, parents don’t come to watch the girls play, so this was a big deal. Also, my roomates and other great friends are totally involved with the games and it was so cool to have them be a part of it.
Varsity 2: Loses their game and is also out of the tournament.
SanDiego: In the Semi-finals, we are matched against 3 pretty tough girls from La Vega. One girl is about 6’1 and if someone doesn’t slow the ball down… watch out. With the support of our crazy fans, we end up winning and rest till the finals.
Keep in mind, the champions of the tournament when 35,000 pesos which is about 900 bucks!!! Side note, for those bethel pilots out there, Mark Lettinga was also playing in the men’s volleyball tournament and they also made it the finals. Men’s tournament champion team wins 60,000 pesos. (In case I forget to mention it later, Mark’s team won the men’s division). Yeah the DR hasn’t quite grasped the whole equality of the sexes idea yet. J
So back to the championship game. We play against a team from Moca who has also gone undefeated. I honestly cannot remember a time I’ve been more pumped up in my life. For real. After lots of diving, hitting, screaming, heart and sweat… we win the game! But you know what the best part of the game was? Looking back and seeing the entire end line filled with my best friends jumping and screaming throughout the entire game. They could have been there sitting and clapping, but they did so much more than that. They were literally jumping around and getting us pumped the entire game. The beer company “presidente” sponsored the tournament so we won a hat, t-shirt, medal… oh and a presidente beer! It’s just too bad I don’t like beer. Haha. Luckily, I was able to give it away to one of my crazy fans! J
After the winning point!
So besides watching and being proud of my girls and us winning some sweet cash, I was reminded of what it means to be involved in someone’s life. It’s not about just being present… its about being so involved that you are sweating, crying, screaming alongside them! Check out the video on youtube from one of the plays of the championship game and make sure you listen to all the commentary of our incredible friends.
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBBH5ja3pCc
