Away Game

I walked off the bus followed by the 6 boys who showed up for our game yesterday. We had our first away game since I've started coaching here, thanks to a tournament taking place in our gym. As we walked into the courtyard of Adarsh Public School I thought sure there was some big event going on. There was a big sign welcoming visitors. Six lovely women in their colorful saris were lined up by the door, one with a pan of paint to give each of us a bindi, another with a bowl of loose flowers she tossed over each person. What is going on? We were just coming to play a volleyball game, but it turns out the big event was just that, us coming to play a volleyball game. We had to stop and take pictures in the foyer of the school, then were herded into the director's office to meet him, extend our thanks/receive a welcome and take a few more photos. Then we were lead out to the volleyball court, a dirt rectangle in the middle of the school courtyard. The chairs set up, the sound projection system in use and the other team waiting for us on the far side of the court all started to clue me in as to how important of an event this was for them, that we were willing to come out to their school to play a match. Needless to say my boys were a little overwhelmed for their first match! After the game they were asked to speak with a gathering of middle schoolers who were curious about were they came from (US, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Colombia) and how they were adapting to India. Then on to visit the primary school where a group of little ones were practicing a dance routine for a competition and were happy to give high fives and bump fists with the boys after they took a quick tour of some of the rooms and then posed for yet a few more pictures. Despite the game not going so well, a quick 3 set loss, I am so glad we were able to bring some of the players for this experience beyond all I expected. It brought them together as a team, reminded them of how lucky they really are in so many respects and helped add a little bit of real Delhi to their lives. You just never know what to expect here.