Taking Home Bronze

By Kyra Brewster

This past week at Dalat, the school hosted the Girls Asian Christian Schools Conference Basketball tournament. 7 teams from Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong travelled to the school for a weeklong tournament with games spanning over a four-day period. 

The week began with an opening ceremony and a trip to the Tuesday night market with girls from all different teams. That night, anxiety and stress were high as the athletes prepared themselves mentally and physically for the high-stakes competition that was to follow the next day. On Wednesday, Dalat girls faced SPH, a school from Indonesia first, playing tough and smart to eventually come out in the lead and winning their first pool play game. Many other games were played on Wednesday with some predictable outcomes and some surprising ones.

During games, the crowd stands were filled to the brim and the entire gym filled with cheers and yells from the excited fans watching. When one team would begin a chant, the crowd would follow with a “let’s go eagles” chant louder and crazier then the first. The stands shook with stomps and the gym echoed with the sounds of whistles, screams, and buzzers. The tension was high as the players felt pressure to perform well and would feel a rush of fulfillment when they made a shot, and the crowd exploded in deafening noise. Throughout the craziness of the atmosphere, all athletes remained calm and collected, communicating with their teammates on court and during timeouts to play as best as possible. 

Each team was assigned to an elementary school class that they visited and talked to. They got to know each kid and the class made posters and cheers to support the teams at their games. This companionship between players and young Dalat students continued throughout the week as players would see their supporting class and give hugs or share small conversations. In addition, a service day was held in which all teams bonded together to teach students from a Rohingya school how to play basketball. It was a unique experience with smiles passing from face to face and laughter coming from every child in the gym. 

Ee Rynn Ong (11) from the Dalat girls varsity team says, “It was nice to interact with the kids even if it was for a short time. I was at the crafts station and one of the kids drew a card with all our names on it which was so cute.”

Dalat girls played 8 games in four days, ultimately winning important games to come out in third place. They were pleased with their placement at the end of many difficult games pushing though injury, fatigue, and anxiety. At the closing ceremony individual awards for top defender, top rebounder, top shooter, and tournament MVP were given. In addition, there were all tournament team awards as well as medals handed to the first, second, and third place teams. Every athlete on every team performed to the best of their ability and used their talents throughout the week to glorify the Lord and leave everything they had on the floor.