Combined volleyball loss doesn’t leave team down

IN the words of an anonymous padre, the reason ADF members should play sport is so that they can be faced with the reality of losing – and learn to get over it.

This is what has happened to the ADF indoor volleyball teams at the recent Arafura Games.

While both teams came last in their respective competitions, they faced their opponents with true determination and went down fighting, and have kept their drive to do better when next the opportunity presents itself.

The men’s team had the good fortune play a practice match against some of the local Northern Territory players before the games, with the ADF side winning 3 sets to 1.

Their luck changed during the games though, being bettered by teams from South Australia, Northern Territory and the Macau international team.

The ADF men’s first match was against Macau, and even though they lost they managed to push Macau over the three closely fought sets

The second match against Macau also saw the ADF lose 3 sets to nil.

Things were better with a draw against the Northern Territory, but the South Australia won both games despite a hard-fought contest.

The ADF men entered the semifinals in third place, but lost again to the South Australian.

A bronze-medal playoff between the ADF and Northern Territory teams brought no victory.The ADF women’s team fared no better in their competition, but like the men they played with a resolve that was mixed with a great sense of pride to represent the ADF.

There were seven teams in the women’s competition, including the notable presence of several overseas teams, such as Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Macau, China and a USA college team.

While the ADF women’s team lacked the cohesiveness of a team with plenty of prior practice and training, each player rose to the task at hand.

While the final score didn’t do justice to the women’s fighting spirit, their narrow defeats against top international teams spoke volumes about how strangers in the ADF can come together as a fighting force in such a short period of time.