Girls just wanna have fun
 Macau,
China, July 22, 2005 - I said, "Hey, what's going on?" The
Girls' Under 18 World Championship, that's what!
In heart warming and totally unexpected scenes on Friday
night, the teams of the ninth edition of this
eagerly-awaited FIVB event came together in a pre-tournament
festival which set the scene for the competitive days ahead.
The occasion was the official welcome dinner at the Macau
East Asian Games Dome Convention Centre, but the girls were
in official party mood and determined to celebrate their
participation. Nothing was going to stop them!
Pic: The five birthday girls cut the cake
Even the band, brought in to entertain the distinguished
gathering, ended up taking a back seat as the teams left the
confines of their allocated dinner tables and poured to the
front of the hall. They danced, they sang, they even formed
a long line and danced a conga round the tables of the vast
function hall.
And when the chorus of the most recognisable song in the
band's repertoire came, Egyptians and Croatians, Brazilians
and Puerto Ricans and Austrians and Koreans joined together
in singing, "I said 'Hey, what's going on!'"
Wei Jizhong, FIVB vice president and ASC President here,
knew exactly what was going on. "This means Volleyball is a
family," he said, above the noise all around him. "It shows
the spirit of the players, and the togetherness of the
teams.
"We are in a high level of Volleyball; we are in
entertainment and we need the players' happiness."
The FIVB, and the local organisers, had achieved all these
things...and that's even before the championship had started.
"We organised the band because we wanted the players to feel
relaxed, but we never thought this would happen," said
Isabel da Silva, Director for International Affairs and
Hospitality for the Macau East Asian Games Organising
Committee, who have put considerable resources and manpower
into organising the Volleyball championship. "It was just a
natural and spontaneous reaction from the players to leave
their tables and dance and sing together."
The local organising committee had even gone to the trouble
of making a king-sized, or maybe queen-sized, birthday cake
for five players who would be celebrating their birthdays
during the July 23-31 championship.
The rest of the gathering joined together in singing "Happy
Birthday" as the cake was cut.
When the party was in full swing, each team provided two
players for a dance exhibition on stage, and there was even
a short karaoke session towards the end.
One of the songs performed by the band, "I believe I can fly",
was particularly appropriate considering the days ahead,
while the closing song, a rendition of the Robbie Williams
classic "Angels", brought a perfect end to the evening.
"If they celebrate like this before the championship, what
are they going to be like after it?" asked Australian Jon
Voller, an architectural adviser within the MEAGOC operation.
Whatever happens when the competition starts, and whatever
happens to the careers of the players in the years to come,
the Girls' Under 18 World Championship in Macau had already
provided them with lifelong memories. |
Competition Formula