In our final week of term 2 tournaments we have seen unprecedented success, winning both the Volleyball under 13 boys and under 15 girls KLSL cup and bowl championships.

On Thursday my Volleyball under 15 girls travelled to HELP International School to take part in their KL Sports League cup finals hoping to win their 2nd championship of the year, after their incredible KLISS success. Our girls went into this tournament full of confidence, being undefeated KLISS champions and playing some excellent Volleyball in the process. They won their first game, beating Asia Pacific International School ruthlessly in two straight sets. Next we came up against our biggest rivals for the winners medal - HELP International School. Against a noisy atmosphere we struggled to play our game in the first set and lost it 15-10. In the second set we found a tactic which we executed brilliantly. We took a big lead, but HELP cut the deficit to take the game into a tie breaker. We went 15-14 down to give HELP a match point. They played a good shot which looked like the winner to eliminate us from the championship race, but somehow a combination of Cherise, Ashley and Reysha made some unbelievable shots to keep us alive in a rally which we eventually won to keep up alive in the match. We eventually got our break point and won the second set. In the final set we blew HELP away with our serving and tactics to win 2-1 and go within 1 win of winning the championship!! We beat TIS Kuala Lumpur in a routine win, with our stylish play on display from beginning to end in another straight two set win and to win a double championship for the first time in our history! An incredible victory for these girls whose never-say-die attitude and comeback ability is so rare to find and a pleasure to witness. They have dominated this division, remaining undefeated throughout the whole year. They’ve played the best Volleyball of any under 15 team in Kuala Lumpur and I can't wait to get back to training these girls next week in preparation for future tournaments.

On Tuesday our Volleyball under 13 boys hosted the KL Sports League cup finals in a bid to win their second trophy of the year, the first being their KLISS plate championship. Mr Zul’s team have also worked and trained hard this term and have deserved more for their efforts. They beat a hard working HELP International School in their first game in straight sets, then played TIS Kuala Lumpur in a tight match. Our sister school took the first set then we fought back to take the next set to move the game into a final set. TIS Kuala Lumpur took a commanding lead of 8-4 to give themselves 4 match points. But, in what seems to be a characteristic of our school this year, came together to make a dramatic come back to take the game to an 8-8 tie breaker. Our boys won the next point to give themselves a match point and won the match!! A fantastic comeback from Mr Zul’s team to push themselves to the brink of their first ever KL Sports League championship. In their final game they played against a good St Joseph’s team. The first set was nervy but they took it 15-12. In the second set they dominated it and won the match to win the championship! A huge win for Mr Zul and his boys and they can be extremely proud of their efforts.

Our girls participated in two KL Sports League bowl tournaments this week for our development squads. The first was Mr Firdaus's Volleyball under 13's. They travelled to TIS Kuala Lumpur and played well, finishing in 4th place. The girls learned a lot from this and will be better equipped when going into future tournaments with this experience behind them. My under 15's hosted our bowl tournament and played Mutiara International Grammar School as well as TIS Kuala Lumpur. This team consisted of players who haven’t played very much this year from our under 15 team and some of the stars from our double championship winning under 13 team. It was a great tournament and we came out victorious! A great effort from all involved, and yet another championship to add to our ever-growing collection.

As we reach the half-way point in the year, the amount of trophies we have won so far is phenomenal. We have been working so hard in training, with trainings taking place before school, during lunchtimes and after school. The trophy haul we have managed is incredible and surpasses anything we could have dreamed of (Denisha Lim has won FIVE championships in the last 5 months!). We really have pushed ourselves to the maximum and we have reaped the rewards. Of course, our sole purpose for creating sports teams was to have students competing against other schools and living through experiences that they would never have a chance to get from normal school life such as team work, bonding with team-mates and coaches, pushing themselves to the limit and most importantly - creating memories that will last a lifetime. Our athletes have done all this and much more. I can’t wait to see what comes in term 3 for our sports teams.

Our attention now turns to training our Football, Basketball, Benchball, Cross Country and Netball teams ready for our term 3 fixtures. It really is non-stop! Letters for the Phuket tournament in November will be handed out on Monday and Tuesday to students who are invited as we attempt to have numbers finalised before we go on our break.

Mark Kelly (Director of Sport)
Email Contact: mark.kelly@pc.tis.edu.my