Spartans In Russia 4

September 1st, 2010: Sochi, Russia

Mark this day on the Spartan Calendar as the beginning of the 1st Annual Spartan Intersquad Beach Tournament. Names were drawn out of a hat pairing the team up in the most equal way possible. The teams were named as follows:

Dan JVD & Ben Ball (Giant & the Gremlin)
Nick Del Bianco & John Wiebe (or Woobe as he is known in Russia)
Lucas Van Berkel & Derek Thiessen (front runners for the championship ☺)
Micah JVD & Devyn Plett (freshman setters unite)
Marc Howatson & Aaron Vandenbrink (skill incarnate)
Rudy Verhoeff & Josh Doornenbal (Middles can play beach too)
Mikiah Schalk & Constantine (Stan) the Russian (unknown…could be great)
Joel Jansen & Victor the Russian (Old Men who got game)
Branden Schmidt & Jarrod Offereins (great front & back potential)

With the teams set and the trash talk beginning to fly early in the morning the matches for the pool phase commenced. Needless to say a bunch of English being yelled by very tall and in most cases pasty white (soon to be burned red) and skinny, sorry thin, Canadians play beach volleyball drew quite a crowd. By the end of the morning most of the locals on the beach had turned their chairs around and were watching the boys play, laugh and enjoy their morning. The play also provided a number of opportunities for interaction with the locals. Many of the guys were asked to play on the other court with some of the Russians who were playing. A little dose of humility was waiting for the Spartans as they played some very crafty old Russian men (and woman) who had every trick in the book. Some great conversations popped up throughout the morning and a small following began to take shape.

After lunch the team had another team session with DJ. The discussion surrounded the guy’s sporting background, church background and the essence of sport. After much good discussion a few more athletes gave their stories. The highlight was Ben Ball’s analogy for understanding Christ’s sacrifice equating it to if one of our teammates sacrificed themselves for us and how incomprehensible that would be. It was a powerful moment in our trip and one that hit a lot of the team squarely.

Later that night it was time for our first match. So back to the gym we went…or wanted to go. We were told that the bus was not coming…just wasn’t coming. So as Victor Podluzhny went looking for an alternate form of transportation a number of guys on the team prayed for a solution. Shortly after an empty bus was flagged down on the highway and the driver had time to take us to the gym. No small task as Russian traffic is like Port Mann rush hour combined with Red Mile way back when the Flames were good (ya, I said it!). An hour and a half later we were at the gym ready to begin the match.

We were not sure what type of team we were going to play. It ended up being a team of veterans from the leagues in Russia who now play amateur together for Gymnasium Number 15. The headman, Vladimir, is a former Super league hero who could still bomb. Like stereotypical Russian volleyballers they ripped the serve and did not tip once. This was great for us as our block was solid and many new roofs were given to the locals thanks to this match. After the match the two teams went out of the sauna where the match was held to the courtyard and had a post game snack. Rudy Verhoeff gave his story to the opponents and did a great job conveying where he came from, why he plays volleyball and why Christ is so important to him. It was a great example of why this trip is important.

Day 1 of competition was great, God is great…

Go Spartans!!!