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| SAISA Basketball Team picture taken at OSC by Mark Shipley |
DAY 1:
Our first game of the day was set to be against the home team AISD. This was a very nerve wrecking situation as the entire Dhaka school would gather to support their team and the odds were not in our favor. Though constant reminder to block out the chants and screaming it is difficult when the gym is filled with excited, eager, angry teenagers all betting against you. We started the first game off really well. Everyone on the team got a chance to play and we kept up a lead of at least 4 points throughout the game. We obviously shocked both the bystanders and the dhaka team with this defeat. Although we beat them in this first game, we could tell that they were not playing at the best of their abilities simply because they underestimated us. We left the gym leaving the rest of the teams feared and us walking away with a satisfying win of 24-14 in the first game of the tournament. Though the first game wasn't as important, this was a great motivator for us and gave us reassurance that we'd be able to bring home the championship, especially after beating one of the strongest teams in the tournament.
Livestream Recorded game OSC vs AISD
Me and Wenuri were hosted by a girl who was also competing but for the Dhaka team. Though in an awkward situation we both congratulated each other in the end carrying through great sportsmanship on both sides. It is a great experience being able to compete in an environment where you are close to the opposing team.
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| My host and I hugging after the first game of the tournament. |
The remainder of the time between our first and last game of the first day of the tournament gave me a chance to both interact with my team more as well as old friends from other teams. As well as that I had a chance to meet more new people which were great company throughout the tournament.
Our second game was against KAS which is the Karachi American School. We knew that this would be an easier game but we did not want to let it get to our heads too much incase we didn't play as well. In this game especially I got more chances to play and try new things. I am personally really proud of this game and feel like individually I met a lot of my personal set goals. For example, in this game one of the proudest moments I had was making a 3-pointer. This had been one of my goals from the beginning of the season. I never knew i'd be able to find the strength and skill to make this shot and to be able to have made it in a game situation during the tournament really pumped me up and gave me more confidence. I felt like I finally contributed to the team in a way I had not felt before. We ended the game with a great score of 41-5 and ended the first day of the tournament with fantastic results. Pride was amongst all of us and our excitement but fear grew as well.
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| Karachi taking a free-throw at the beginning of the game (I am #15) |
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| Me taking a free throw during the OSC vs. KAS game |
That first day we also had our SAISA Social. This was different from anything I had experienced before. The school had planned for all the schools to go to a Mall to a bowling alley. This was really new to me but ended up being really fun as well. Though the teams did not socialize with each other as much as everyone expected them to, the night still ended up to be fun for everyone with great memories.
DAY 2:
During saisa every team is assigned to one of the primary school classes. These classes become your "fan club" during the three days of the tournament. We were assigned to the 3rd graders and were welcomed with posters hung all around our team tent and a parade of little children with gecko hats and pompoms. It was adorable. The kids were all super excited about the tournament and came to the majority of our games during school days to cheer for us non stop and chant out cheers. They even went out of our way to make us little hearts of paper and good luck charms and came to give us hugs between breaks. There also came a time where we were able to visit their classroom. This was a really interesting experience that I had never done before. We began with an interview where they asked us all kinds of questions about our school, our team, about basketball and we got the opportunity to ask them things too. This was a nice bonding session. Before leaving they asked us for our autographs and pictures and it was wonderful.
Our first game of the day was against Ls, Lincoln, which was the last team in our pool before going on to mix pools to earn a spot in the semi-finals. This was one of the tougher games we had played but we were still able to walk away with a win of 33-18. This was the third game we had played and the third game we had won and we were all anxious to find out which team we'd play from the other pool.
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| Performing a gecko cheer after the game against Lincoln. (I am #15) |
The second game of the day was against LAS, Lahore. Even though we were not overly worried about losing the game based on the results of Lahore during their first day, we were still a bit scared because this team played very rough and aggressive and had very physically strong players on their team compared to us. As well as that our team had been having trouble with being fouled and if receiving too many fouls, the player can be disqualified from playing in that specific game. We were able to pull through with a score of 40-17. This concluded the second day of the tournament with great results of two more wins for the geckos. That friday was dedicated to studying so we were brought to our host houses earlier than the night before.
DAY 3:
The third day was most hectic, we had now placed into the semi-finals and found ourselves facing lincoln once again. We had a team meeting and discussed our attitudes toward these next two games. We knew that lincoln would play harder than they did before as this game was crucial to the tournament. Lincoln played outstanding during this game and made some beautiful shots which impressed all of us. Even though both teams played extremely hard with a lot of heart, we ended the game with a score of 38-25. I did not participate this game as much as I had before but I didn't let it get me down or take it personally too much as we were all a team and the coach had to do what he thought would be able to get the best results. I used this time to cheer on the players playing and make sure to be there for supporting my team. With this win we earned a place in the finals of the tournament having to face what we thought was the strongest team in the tournament, the home team of Dhaka.
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| Team Photo at SAISA, Dhaka, Bangladesh. |
We had been undefeated so far with fantastic results but we didn't want to take this for granted. We had watched as dhaka improved their game by a lot since we played them 3 days prior. We were all nervous and did not know what the outcome of this next game would be. Of course, since the home team was in the finals, when the time came around, the gym was filled again with the majority of the secondary school and teachers, and once again, the odds were against our favor.
We started off strong with a great lead but towards the 3rd quarter Dhaka didn't seem to back down and came at us strong, making the game tie. The score zigzagged a lot and it was a very close game until our star player managed to get one more free throw in at our overtime. We were told this was the first time ever in saisa that a finals game went into overtime. It was all very exciting and when the buzzer went off screams and tears came from the geckos and gecko fans.
After a routine dance and a lot of hugging and pictures we were allowed to, as a team, cut off the basket we scored our winning point in.
The award ceremony was also very exciting when the champions were announced and the sportsmanship award which we also received. This was a great end to a fantastic SAISA tournament.
SPORTSMANSHIP PIN
There is a new tradition in SAISA tournaments involving sportsmanship pins. Each team, for basketball at least, is given three sportsmanship pins, one to give out each day of the tournament. The pin can either be given to a team or an individual athlete who showed either great athleticism, sportsmanship, or other qualities admired by you. We gave our sportsmanships to two teams who supported us throughout all our games and sat in the stands cheering for us each time.
The gecko team, as a whole received the most amount of sportsmanship pins with 2 team pins, and 4 individuals.
I received an individual sportsmanship pin from the Lincoln Snow Leopards team on the last day. One of their players, as well as a friend of mine was on the floor in the hallway crying due to an injury. I carried her to the nurse's office and stayed to make sure she would be okay. Though I simply did this out of friendship the team appreciated my caring gesture and found it should be rewarded. I am greatly appreciative of this pin being awarded to me that day and hope that I will be able to do more things for others simply because I want to help.
