It was a warm and crisp afternoon this last Wednesday in the Gwanghuengchang Park region of Seoul, as three of area's finest elementary school faculty volleyball teams emptied out of carpools into a gymnasium and prepared for heated battle.
The Dark Blue team, who were also hosting the event, were the early favorites due to the superb demonstration in warm-ups. Their square jawed, 6ft 8inch star player could only be described as Yao-Ming-ish, and drew one member from the opposing team to request documentation proving his long term employment status. The next team donned light blue and pink uniforms and the sat firmly in the 2nd seed after all the coaches and AP poll numbers were added up. Their team was strong up front in setters and spikers, but their back court lacked skill and depth.
Finally entered the rag-tag Hwehya Elementary team feeling fresh and feisty, despite their bottom ranking and lack of any unifying uniform choices. Fueled by three practices in two weeks and plenty of post-practice watermelons (pictured), they entered the gym undaunted by both the expansive and modern gym or their lack of matching shoes (Dark Blue team). The Hyehwa fielded a team consisting of one (self anointed) player/coach in the vice principle. The VP held his team in check by using a selective mixture of death-glares and selective high five-ing moments. Their young, perma-smiling special education teacher was their primer spiking threat, the older P.E teacher an expert setter, and the younger P.E teacher added both setting and spiking abilities to round out their top four players.
The Hyehwa team also included an underutilized and tenacious female 5th grade teacher in the back, a computer teacher whose sizable fear of the ball propelled his play more than a competitive fire, and a soon to retire maintenance man. Lastly the team boasted the novelty of having the lone foreign teacher in the competition -- who at 182 cm was the tallest player on the team and, at a total of three practices lifetime, the least tenured volleyball player.
The first match pitted the 2nd and 3rd seeded team, Light Blue vs. Hyehwa. The Light Blue team jumped out to an early lead taking advantage of several net-violations by the rag-tag Hyehwa squad. They gained further momentum with a few ferocious spikes that got their faithful fans up and cheering. However, with the score 8-3 in favor of the Light Blue squad their setter gave a well placed ball thinking it would lead to a third straight spike and sending the crowd into a frenzy WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN the lone foreign teacher perfectly timed his altitude climbing jump and blocked (the crap out of) the Light Blue spiked ball. All sides oohed and awed at the foreigner's feat and soon after the score was tied at 9-9 in the first to 21 points first game.
Slowly but surely the Light Blue team pulled away for a 18-13 lead. A few missed serves by the Hyehywa team and one time when the foreign teacher accidentally just plain caught a ball instead of hitting it, prompting the vice principal/coach/drill Sargent to give him a glare that went through the player's ocular cavities and slapped his brain on the way in, and soul on the way out. Eventually a 21-15 score was reached in favor of the Light Blue squad.
However game two was a different story. All of Hyehwa's spikes either found holes on the court, or the faces of the less-skilled players in the back. The special education teacher adapted his game to meet the grueling challenge of spiking at the taller competition and went on a tear. The foreign teacher chipped in a few more tenacious blocks as well as three straight point-earning serves and no fantastically embarrassing mental lapses. Hyehwa cruised to a easy 21-13 win, the gym was filled with whispered admiration and the legend was beginning to grow.
The final game in the 3 game set was to15 total points. Only one word could describe the match: heated. Hyehwa gained the hard fought 4-1 advantage, only to watch miscommunication (to translate the expression of the vice principle again, "Since when did me shouting 'mine mine mine' mean you should run into me in the middle of a critical set Mr. PE teacher?") and poor play shift the score to a 5-5 tie.
Worn and weary the Hyehwa squad hobbled into a 9-5 game when the Light Blue team used their new adapted game plan to spike only away from the (impressively) (yet totally humble) high-jumping foreigner and started nailing shots all along the right side of the court. Consequently the game ended 15-8 and the Light Blue team emerged victorious. They would go on to play the Dark Blue team and we may never know the outcome of that game due to the sad fact that this reporter had to catch a ride home after the first match. But one thing's for certain the legend of the Hyehwa Faculty Volleyball team is only beginning.
No comments:
Post a Comment