SAISA Volleyball Tournament 2014 Dhaka, Bangladesh

29th October-1st November

The OSC Geckos took part in this years SAISA volleyball tournament held in Dhaka. We placed 4th and lost to the host team in the semi final. They would end up winning the championship, The tournament was structured in a round robin setting and we played a total of 8 qualifying games. It was exhausting. I personally had to show a great deal of perseverance as my right knee was bruised up pretty bad and it was effecting my jump. After every game I had to ice every 20 minute interval to make sure I was ready for the next game. SAISA has never had a round robin setting before and it was a completely new structure that demanded a lot of physical and mental prowess. As Captain I had to make sure that my team weren't neglecting their injuries and were resting well.

Our last round robin game was also against the home team ; Tigers. The scores were dead even between 15 and 20 points. As captain I was shouting and screaming at my team until my voice would give in. We were up 20-18. Suddenly, we started falling apart. The score was 20-23 in an instant and we were playing like we had already accepted the loss. Volleyball isn't a game that anyone can win by themselves, it's not possible. After the 23rd point I brought my team into a huddle and spoke to them directly. I told them that we look like we've given up and we are not playing our game. It's against the rules to be in a huddle for longer than a few seconds without calling a timeout. We didn't care. I still can't remember what I said to my team but when we broke we had this new found adrenaline to fight. We ended up losing that set 23-25. I was really proud of my teams ability to come together in the end and play through that mental block. I was also really proud of myself for being able to inspire it. 

I'm currently starting training for the SAISA Basketball tournament 2015 that is going to be held in Chennai, India. 

Photo Credits- Gimesh Ragapakse                                                    OSC Gecko vs LAS Buffaloes 2-0 

Being Captain was an interesting experience that I learned a great deal from. I feel like it prepared me for being a leader in the future and most definitely prepared me for captaining the SAISA basketball team. 

Photo Credits- Gimesh Ragapakse                                  Osc Geckos vs AISD Tigers 0-2