PNZLIFE NOV 2020

06 UNITED FILIPINO VOLLEYBALL CUP 2020 | VOL 2 NO 10 | WELLINGTON EDITION : www.filipino.kiwi | Mobile : 027 495 8477
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Volleyball bounces back
despite major cancellation of tourneys
AUCKLAND - Against
all odds a group of gutsy
volleyball players in
Auckland made a snap
decision that the coronavirus
was not going to put
a damper on their longing
to compete with other
teams in New Zealand.
“The whole concept of
organising our own tournament
started when New
Zealand went into the first
lockdown around March,”
explains Paolo Valencia,
who has a track record of
competing successfully at
tournaments over the last
five years.
He said that as there was
significant pent-up demand
for a nationwide volleyball
tournament despite
the cancellation of the
annual Filipino Labour
weekend games they decided
to forge ahead to organise
the United Filipino
Volleyball Cup 2020.
“That is how the UFVC
evolved. This tournament
was special as it reminded
By Mel Fernandez
us that regardless of everything
that happened this
year, we were still together,
we were here and we were
ready to play.
“When I started to get
messages from teams
across New Zealand, it
made me happy that people
were still positive and
the number one theme of
the messages was that they
wanted to have something
to look forward to.
“I messaged every single
team I knew and expressed
my interest in going ahead.
I got inspired by the
responses and decided to
lead the planning and I
was very happy to see
everyone work together
with a 'Bayanihan' mindset.
“I assigned the responsibility
of taking all the safety
measures required in
order to have a safe tournament
to the team leaders.”
“Perseverance
and determination
are life
skills we want
to help young
players develop
through sport.”
- words of wisdom
from American positive
psychology expert
Lara Mossman
Lead event organsier Paolo Valencia
Although there were
some challenges along
the way, like when
Auckland went to Level 3
again, everyone stayed
positive and the rest is history.
The event was held from
24 to 25 October 2020 at
the AUT North Shore
Akoranga Campus in
Auckland.
It attracted teams from
as far away as Hamilton,
Rotorua and Christchurch.
A newcomer to the
Filipino Volleyball community
was Cordillera -
formed by members of the
Cordilleran community.
Likewise, the Natalia's
team was formed recently
for the Ambassador's Cup
2020 in Auckland. It consists
of women from South
and West Auckland and
they are now actively playing
and joining leagues.
The champion men’s
team Waray was established
in 2014 and has been
growing since then. “We
were gunning for a place in
the men’s, women’s and
mixed categories,” says
Paolo. “We were excited to
have our rookies involved
and to see them shine.”
Finally, all the way from
Christchurch was Fusion.
They paraded 4 teams,
which played in all the categories.
They also entered
2 teams for the mixed team
contests.
List of Participating
Teams and Clubs
Men's – 10 teams.
WARAY, Auckland
Harbour Filipino Sport
(AHFS), The Filipino
Society Inc. (TFSI),
Hitterz, Philippine Club of
Rotorua (PCRI), Fusion
(Christchurch), Waikato
Filipino Association
(WFA), Barbie Dolls,
Cordillera and Simps.
Women's – 10 teams.
WARAY, AHFS, TFSI,
Hitterz, PCRI (Rotorua),
Fusion (2 x Christchurch),
WFA (Waikato), Natalias
and Vipers.
Mixed teams – 8 teams.
WARAY, AHFS, TFSI,
Hitterz, PCRI (Rotorua),
Fusion (2 x Christchurch)
and Cordillera.
THE LEGENDS
Mixed CHAMPION - The Filipino Society Inc
Women's CHAMPION - WARAY (right)
Men's CHAMPION - WARAY (left)
Fusion from Christchurch fielded the biggest
number of teams at the tournament.
Their Women’s Team was placed 3rd and
Plivia Alaba (pictured right) was awarded:
Best Opposite Hitter in the
Women’s Mythical 7 Awards.