Nationals Perspectives
Adult Director
Published on 12 September 2010
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Creole Open at the 2012 Nationals
Top from the left:
Christopher Ongay, Jason octave, Cody Loe, Srdjan Narazdin, Justin Brubacker
Bottom from the left
Gary Ramirez, David Evans, Rich Camerlengo, Alika Derego, Rony Gilot, Dany Yin, Matt Werle
Playing volleyball in a national tournament is amazing for someone who breathes, thinks sleeps and loves to play this sport. The National Tournament is an experience that is definitely worth the trip. This Creole team consisted of Rich Camerlengo, Cody Loe, Jason Octave, Matt Werle, Alika Derego, Christoher Ongay, David Evans, Gary Ramirez, Justin Brubaker and Srdjan Nadazdin.
We have to fight through lots of adversities all year, but that is the only way to strive for excellence. Despite the fact of not being able to play much during the year we felt that we represented the club to the best of our abilities and are proud of our accomplishments. We had a very rough first day as we went 3-2 in pool play. We rallied the troops and gave it one more effort. Despite our record we ended up in fourth place in the pool and got bumped to the silver bracket. Winning the silver bracket would have to be our goal now. We had some tough matches but came victorious. Our secondary goal of winning the silver bracket became a reality.
I do hope that one day we change the playoff brackets in the open to allow all teams to make it and fight for the gold. I know and understand the reasons why its done this way but we all want to win and compete. It was disheartening to see that Paul Mitchell who came out in second place did not even show up for a team picture nor did their all-stars. These are the ones who should be disciplined not the ones who are abiding by the rules and love the competition and friendships that we build. We leave it on the court and go hang out afterwards.
Speaking of hangouts; Salt lake was not what we expected. We thought dry state, Mormon city, there would be no places to have fun. But on the contrary, we had a blast. We visited the temple and the surrounding area. The city is beautiful. Me and our assistant coach Dany yin visited Park city, which is a well known skiing resort. I highly recommend it; it’s beautiful and worth the trip.
This group of guys came out and proved that team work and perseverance can overcome any obstacles. Some of them made a lot of sacrifices to be on this team and I commend and respect them for that.
We are looking forward to next year to try and win our title back. We want to thank all the players who made this possible for us to be able to compete in this event. Hope to see you all next year.
