Our school's regular season for fall sports ended during the last week of October. By this time, we two coaches had already had countless talks about our team over dinners and during bus and taxi rides from practices. It was a bonding experience to coach together, and we hope we also showed a positive family image to our players--many of whom have absent parents (because of heavy work schedules).
Mika and Coby were able to travel with us to all of our games. They were very popular with the girls on our team and provided great entertainment! One of our players calls Coby "Kanji" (a close sound to his middle name "Kenji")--"Kanji" means "cool stuff" in Korean.
We entered the end-of-the-season tournament hoping to place in the top three but fell short of that goal. It was a disappointing weekend because we all knew our team could play better than it did. However, there was a highlight. Mark's birthday was on the first day of the tournament, and the girls and Malia planned a surprise for him--complete with cake, balloons, and a spray can of fake snow.
A week later, Mark took 9 of our players to a larger tournament in Japan. Against the odds, our team rose to the challenge, came together with a commitment to excellence, and won almost all of the 14 games they played. They came in third place--the highest our school had ever placed at this tournament. When they returned to Seoul, the whole school was buzzing with the news, and the team was beaming with pride.
We are both extremely proud of the girls, but Mark deserves most praise for their accomplishments this season. His dedication to their improvement was evident from the start. He emphasized commitment, prioritizing (with God, family, and school above volleyball), and a "go-go-go" spirit. He was head coach--and a good one. Malia came alongside him as the assistant and was continually impressed by his insight and excitement with the sport.
As we taught them skills and strategies, we also modeled passion, leadership, and teamwork. This was our ministry, and we pray we handled it with grace and goodness. We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord in this way from August through November and look forward to working further with these ladies in the off season and into next year.
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