Spikeball. A New Craze On The Island.
After a 15 hour lay over in Iloilo City, from a month long out of
town Ultimate Frisbee photo coverage, I woke up at 3:30 in
the morning to catch the 5:00 am bus ride bound for
Boracay,
Wednesday, October 28, 2015. Not because of Ultimate
Frisbee, but because of a new craze on the island. Spikeball.
I was introduced to Spikeball last March 2015, during the
World Championships of Beach Ultimate in Dubai. Charlie
Mercer who played for the Boracay Dragons-Philippines
brought a mini trampoline and a yellow ball in our hotel room
and challenged everyone for a Spikeball match. Of course
everyone was up for the challenge. During their free time in
Dubai, you can see the Philippine team playing Spikeball,
and even during the opening parade at WCBU.
Moving on to the present, Karen Cabrera of the Boracay
Dragons had this crazy idea of introducing Spikeball to the
island of Boracay by putting up a mini tournament. So, she
went ahead and gave it a shot. Majority of the players who
participated are from the Boracay Dragons Kids and
Legends, players from Boracay Ultimate, a few parents and
more. As for me, this is the first time that I will be covering
Spikeball, and I have no idea how the heck am I going to
shoot this sport. So I just grabbed my gear and tried to learn
how to shoot it as the tournament progressed.
With their cool looking yellow Spikeball Boracay jerseys made by
Double Happiness, the teams attracted so many passersby
on the beach. They even caught the attention of Fit Pinoy, a
Fitness channel in Youtube. They spent almost an hour
covering and interviewing players right in front of Beach Bum
Bar Boracay, Station 1. The host even had the chance to
play the game. It only shows that Spikeball can be played by
everyone. Athletes. Non-athletes. You name it, they can play
it. It's fun. It's competitive. It's great exercise. The kids
division had Taj and Clarence win the Juniors Division.
Fit Pinoy Featuring Spikeball Boracay
The Open Division had players partner up with whoever they
want. Two boys, two girls or a mix of 1 boy and 1 girl per
team. The tournament became more competitive during the
Semi-final rounds, where teams are getting more serious
and
very competitive. The final four are here to win it all. It was
suppose to be a "Fun Tournament", but it was also great to
see that they are really going for it. They are here to win.
Team Datu-Hendrix and Team Justin-AJ made it to the Final
round of the first Spikeball Boracay Tournament. It's a
Boracay Dragons Final. The Legends versus the Future. The
Young Bucks versus The Seasoned Veterans. If you want to
witness a real competitive Spikeball game, that final match
was the game to watch.
At the end of the day, Team
Datu-Hendrix won the final game, but decided to give the title
as the first Spikeball Boracay champions to Justin and AJ.
They had a hearty meal from Spicebird Piri-Piri restaurant as
their championship prize and flipflops from Havaianas. In the
end, great sportsmanship prevailed, and everyone went on
their merry ways with a big smile on their faces. Kudos and
big thanks to Karen Cabrera for being the first person who
took the gamble of putting up a Spikeball tournament here in
the Philippines. And thank you to all the organizers and
sponsors who became part of the first ever Spikeball Boracay
Tournament. From what I've heard, there will be more
tournaments coming in the future. Soon there will be a
Juniors, Open and Elite Division. Maybe we can see this
sport as the next big thing here in our country someday. We
shall see.
For more info, you can check and like the Spikeball Boracay page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spikeballboracay
Until then. More images to share. More stories to tell.
It's All About U
Until then. More images to share. More stories to tell.
It's All About U
- Don Laczi
This is AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHi would you know where we can buy Spikeball sets here in the Phil? and how much will it cost? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi! Look for Karen Cabrera on Facebook. She might still have a few sets of Spikeballs
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome :)
Thank you!
Delete