Team Work in Action

The excitement just would not die off. All good things come to an end. I call the past weekend one of the 'good things'.

Last week, a group of fun loving ladies took off for Melaka to take part in our first ever Melaka Open. Although the tournament has been organized yearly for a while now, this was the first time we were invited :) Good thing we have a Melaccan on our team to pull the strings. We were sponsored by the Datuk Kuala (an area in Melacca).

If I have to describe the KL Team tradition, I would say that we are loud, fun-loving, positive, caring, competitive, and have some attitude ;) A wise man once told me, "It is the attitude in an athlete that gives him/her the edge." All in all, I can simply put that we are a TEAM.

Perhaps all have been longing to play, as the previous tournament was a long time ago. We timed in a couple of practice sessions before the tournament, and all could not wait to play as a team again. Although we have not been practicing regularly, but when we do come together, everything just clicks! That is a wonderful feeling.

Everyone has the same mentality, the same mind set, the same target, and the same motivation. Most importantly, we always cover each other's back. I believe nothing gives a sense of belonging like a team of people looking after each other and always embracing each other's strengths and weaknesses. When a wink or an eye signal means something, you know that the synergy is there.

Anyway, we drove down to Melacca on Friday night, reaching our destination around 12 midnight. Despite feeling tired after a long day of work and traveling, we were beaming with excitement when we gathered. We had so much to catch up and laugh about, and only dozed off after 1am.

The next morning, we raised early to send the juniors for the first match. They put on a good fight against the more experienced team, but lost in the end. The juniors had much room for improvement, especially on the basic skills.

Then, it was our turn. We were like a bunch of kids running out from the boring class rooms to the playground during reccess. Yes, we were that excited :) We won the first game.

During the interval time between the first and the second game, we decided to go for Durian Cendol hunting. Although we had a so-called 'native Melaccan' guiding the way, we still got lost a few times before reaching the destination. By the time we reached the cendol place, we only had 15 minutes to gobble up the tasty dessert, and rush back for the second game. Weekends in Melacca are packed with traffics. We reached the court just in time for the coin toss! Phew... Otherwise, we could have been disqualified. My bad (captain always takes the blame hehe).

We did not have much resistance from the 2nd match as well as the 3rd. Just lots of laughter and joy :)

Coincidently, the very Saturday was also Haizreen's birthday. Haizreen is one of my favorite people. She brings so much joy to the team that she is invaluable, almost irreplacable.

That evening, we secretly picked up a Chocolate Indulgence after the match. Then, our sponsor brought us to Umbai, a famous seafood place for dinner, and took us on the Melacca River Cruise. Although I used to travel to Melacca very often for work, I had never seen Melacca at night. It was gorgeous. Thumbs up to the local authority for the tourism development. We sealed off the day with the birthday cake beside the river and went to bed after midnight.

The Semifinal match was quite exciting. The second set was close, but I guess our team work prevailed. At 5pm, we faced the defending Champion in the Finals. It was fun and the most competitive of all. As usual, we enjoyed the challenge and celebrated whole-heartedly as the final whistle blew.

On our ride home, we could not stop talking about how enjoyable the trip was, and we savored every moment we spent together. It may sound corny now, but it is true.