The American International School of Dhaka's invitational volleyball tournament was this past weekend. It was clearly the most successful tournament that I've been part of in my five seasons of coaching at AIS-D. All three of the boys teams competed and performed at an impressive level. Coach Ralph and Coach Radtke made the difference this year. The skill level of all the players in the program improved dramatically over the season. The athletes worked hard and it was obvious in the tournament. All of our teams were able to run their defense and offense, play their positions, and hit the ball as they "attacked" their opponents. The over all skill level in the program is the highest that I've seen. The addition to the program of two excellent coaches, Robert Radtke and Ralph Nitzsche, meant that the athletes received expert personal attention. One of the most exciting matches for me, as a coach, was the semi-final game where the Arctic Tigers played the Bengali Tigers. The rallies were long and exciting. That match impressively show cased the level of skills that those in the program achieved this year.
The Arctic Tigers went on to play BIT in a very exciting final match. As per usual, their nerves and the excitement of a packed gym got the better of the Arctic Tigers and they lost the first set. Once that was out of their system, the Arctic Tigers went on to play smarter and calmer. Rohit and Andrew led the assault with their middle blocking and hitting. Eric, Shanil and Arneeb all were setting well paving the way for our hitters. The Arctic Tigers beat BIT three sets to one, claiming the tournament title.
The Bengali Tigers finished in third and the Cool Tigers were sixth. All the Tigers can hold their heads high. Each team was able to get the ball to their setters, setters got the ball to their hitters, and the hitters were able to hit. All of our teams were well organized and executed their objectives well.
The Artic Tigers are the SAISA travelling team. They will be travelling to Mumbai on Sept. 25 for the SAISA tournament. This is a great team. There are five returning players, Eric Pepe, the captain, Rene Renfrit, Salmon Rushdi, Rohit Rana, and Arneeb Mabub. Veterans of the program but new to the travelling team are Shanil Perera, Niloy Islam, Amari Hemmings, Ihsan Kabir and Andrew Beadle. This is a strong team. We've got powerhouses in the middle blocking of Rohit, Andrew and Rene, great setting from Eric, Arneeb and Shanil, rounded out with the hitting of Salmon, Amari, Niloy and Ihsan. These young men have worked tremendously hard this year and I'm confident that we will doing very well at the SAISA tournament. I predict we will make it into the final match. If we can keep our heads together, stay calm, and play our game, there is a good chance we could win the tournament.
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