CIS Lakeside hosted its 2nd annual Husky Growl Volleyball Tournament on 25 and 26 September, 2015.

Last year’s 6-girl-team event turned was a much larger tournament this year, with 14 boys and girls teams in total. APSM, our community sports partner, co-hosted this tournament with CIS this year, and Shanghai Community International School-Pudong returned to the tournament once more this year.

Despite the school’s closure due to haze, our filtered indoor facility provided student athletes and parent spectators a safe and pleasant environment to enjoy an excellent international volleyball competition.

A friendly, yet fierce, competition dominated the two day tournament. Teams from across the island, Australia and China competed against each other, and learnt from one another. CIS 19U Boys’ and Girls’ teams participated in the tournament, and placed 5th in what was a very competitive event. While SAS Girls (Singapore) and St. Mark’s Boys (Perth, Australia) teams were the overall winners, all participating student athletes gained some tournament experience, improved their volleyball techniques, and became better team players by the end of the event.

The great community of parents, coaches, international schools and students were very proud of their teams and their model sportsmanship. Congratulations to all student athletes who proved to be great risk takers by competing in the Husky Growl tournament.

Our student coach, Victoria Groensedt of U19 Girls A Team, shared her experience about participating in the Husky Growl:

What was the highlight of the tournament?

The unity of all of the volleyball players at this tournament was certainly one of the major highlights. We had players join the tournament from all over Singapore, and even all the way from Shanghai, China and Perth, Australia. Despite the competitive nature of the tournament, friendships were formed between players from all countries and teams: everyone had something in common - a love for volleyball.

What was rewarding about being a part of the competition?

Being part of a competition is rewarding in so many different ways. It is tiring to play multiple games a day, all at a high competition level. However, a good number of players rose above being sore or tired and act as a “team motivator” by pumping up the teammates and making sure that each and everyone was playing the best that we possibly could. Individual players characteristics are really brought to light and shine in a competition like this. As captain, I am extremely proud of every single player who was able to step up and shine with her personal qualities on the volleyball court.

What was challenging?

The most challenging aspect of this tournament was the fact that our team have only played together for two seasons so far. Volleyball is a sport that is extremely teamwork dependent. It becomes tough to act as a team when the players do not know each other well enough, and cannot compensate for individual players strengths and weaknesses. Despite this, I certainly feel that our team did a great job. We talked to each other on the court and we made it work. Our team spirit has really increased this year, and it will only continue to improve and grow as the CIS volleyball community grows.