Rain was pouring hard, and we managed to get a parking spot not too far from the gym entrance. As soon as we got in, we were greeted by bad news. The roof of the gym was leaking and only ONE court was playable. What?!?!?! Whose smart idea was this?
This leak in the roof had some ripple effects. Two divisions were suppose to play at this venue. But because only one court was playable, they had to move one division to another location. One division has 8 teams, which were further divided into 2 pools. To accommodate all the matches, games had to be limited to one set of 25 points. For our Endline team, this didn't work to our advantage. Our players are like diesel engines. It takes them a while to warm up before they can reach their potential. You cannot achieve this by playing one set.
The team had more breaks than actual playing and officiating combined. And like a diesel engine that's constantly turned off, maximum potential was never reached. That pretty much summarized the events in the morning. The team lost all 3 games in the pool.
By noon, the sun, and all its glory, came out and quickly dried almost everything its rays touched. There were no more leaks, but only one other court was used. It was better than just having one. By the start of the bracketing matches, teams were able to play best of 3 sets. Our team had hope. But it was short lived. We lost both remaining matches, and we placed last in the division. The matches were close and not lopsided. I guess the long breaks took its toll on the boys and they just didn't overcome.
It was a sad day, for both players and parents. We managed to stretch the last 2 games to 3 sets, but it just wasn't enough. The outcome could have probably been different had there not been any problems with the playing venue and the leaky roof. But who knows.
As we left Florin, I can't help but ask myself why did the organizers of this tournament, NCVA (Northern California Volleyball Association), allow these things to happen. With a storm in the forecast days in advance, did they even bother to check if the roof was leaking? With 2 divisions, 16 teams, and 4 pools, why did they choose a venue with only 3 courts? Logic will tell you you'd need 4 to play 6 games per court. Conservatively, at 45 minutes per game (including warm ups), that's already 4.5 hours just on pool matches alone. Then, there's probably an equal number of bracket matches in the afternoon. This is why these tournaments end past 6pm.
I don't know who did the math on this, but it just didn't add up right !!! And this is just the boys league. Imagine the girls league, which begins immediately after, with 10 times the number of teams !!!
I'm glad the season is almost over. But there is one more trek to Sacramento. I just hope everything turns out well. Fingers crossed.
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