The CBSE West Zone Cluster IX – Volleyball – 2015 competition was inaugurated with a very unique quote:

“Be Humble when you win and Gracious when you lose.”

It was held in Rajkot at Jay International School from 22nd to 24th of October 2015. A total of 29 school teams from western India participated in this highly competitive tournament. It was a very highly anticipated event as we had worked very hard under the guidance of our sports teachers to prepare to be able to give our best. Our accommodation was duly arranged at Yogidham campus in Rajkot by Pujya Tyagvallabh Swamiji and Paragbhai.

On 22nd October, in the fresh and breezy morning, the grand opening of the tournament was held. A dignitary of Rajkot declared the tournament open followed by a march-past by all the participating school teams. We were free in the morning session as our first match was in the evening session against Sanskar Vidhyalay. We won the inaugural match quite comfortably by 2-0 with set scores of 25-13 and 25-11.

23rd October was a very hectic day as we had one match in the morning session and there were two matches including the semi-finals in the evening session. Our morning match was against Shree Satya Sai School who had finished third in the tournament in the previous year. With the momentum we had gained by winning in our first match, we put in a lot of energy into the match and won by 2-0 (set scores 25-15, 25-15).

Our victory qualified us for the quarter final match in the evening against Atomic Energy Central School, Kakrapar. We again won comfortably by 2-0 (set scores: 25-17, 25-11). Our joy knew no bounds as we had stepped ourselves into the semi-finals by this victory.

After a few hours of rest, we prepared ourselves for the semi-final match against HOCL School, Mumbai. We were on a winning streak so far and entered the match with even more focus and confidence. The match was to be decided based on best of 5 sets. We started off really well and won the 1st set 25-20. But then the opponent team got back with a fantastic game and the following 3 sets closed dangerously close with our team losing by 23-25, 24-25 and 22-25. The match, although a semi-final, attracted the support and cheers from an electrifying crowd as if it was the final match!

The final and the third place matches were planned for on the 24th of October. Although our loss in the quarter finals had caused some disappointment, but we soon regained our focus in the game and played for the third place match against Laxmi International School, Vapi. We won the match 2-0 with 25-9 and 25-22 and secured the Bronze medal in the tournament.

The achievement was a matter of pride for us and our school. It would not have been possible without the guidance and coaching of our dear Ritesh Sir. He was constantly on his toes training us for the tournament.

We came back not only with the Bronze medal, but also with some very valuable experiences for life.

Submitted by: Dev T. Patel & Vinamra A. Patel [Std 10]