Our Very First Date

 

A pre-summer’s day, a group of young men, an unplanned activity, and a crazy idea – all these unrelated items have come together to create a date, which many of us now anticipate year after year.

 

Volleyball Bounce

 

The story goes back to sometime in 1995 when a group of energetic young men ventured to Lantau Island for a holiday, armed with little more than a volleyball and some imagination. Fancying ourselves to be pro volleyball players, well, specifically the female players of classic Japanese films who utilise “killer” techniques, we devoted our energy to a beach volleyball game. At that time, nobody knew that this casual diversion would end up making a huge storm in our lives.

 

Helplessly Addicted

 

Since that day on the beach, volleyball has become a drug, and not surprisingly, we all became addicted. We soon found ourselves constantly making our way to volleyball courts to get a quick “fix,” but due to the limited choice of sports centres, we usually ended up playing at the old Wong Lai Chung Stadium once a week. Unfortunately, this aged stadium became terribly inconvenient and was so poorly equipped that we couldn’t help but to dump it and find a new lover – The Western Park in August 1995.

 

Love At First Sight

 

Western Park is such a nice place that we fell in love with it immediately. Not only does it look brand new, but it’s extremely bright and incredibly spacious, but most importantly, it is as elegant as we are! It was probably the best stadium at that time and our lives have since turned to a new page. But of course, life has its “ups and downs” – there were times when you had more than 30 guys vying to play, while other days, only four guys would occupy the court for a mere two hours. After all, Western Park gradually began to establish a little fame on its own.

 

Mooncake Cup

 

We had much fun during our regular practice, but of course, there were moments of boredom. Coincidentally, the Women World Grand Prix was held in Hong Kong that year, which was sponsored by a famous mooncake manufacturer. We then came up with a crazy idea to organise a small-scale competition sometime around the mid-Autumn festival. The prizes were little more than a few sporting equipment and some mooncakes, and therefore the competition became known as the “Mooncake Cup,” which eventually paved the way for the Superleague.

 

Back & Forth

 

Time flies, and now the 10^th Superleague is soon upon us. Looking back to when we first organised the event, we didn’t have a formal name for the competition until a friend of mine suggested several amusing titles like the “Ding Ding Cup” or the “Monster Cup”. But eventually, it became known as the “Superleague”. Over the years we have come across many obstacles and devoted much time and energy for the competition, but seeing so many people – players, their friends and other unknown acquaintances attending the games – all the frustration soon disappears and it is well worth the effort.

 

In the years to come, we hope we can attract more great guys (both in terms of outlook and technique) to join us and have fun. But most importantly, your support and participation over the years mean everything to us. Maybe someday we will make it as an international event, and we expect you to be right there by our side, right?

 

Have fun and good luck!