Volleyball Session Schedule - February

The schedule for volleyball sessions for the month of February 2009 as following:

Cyberjaya Beach Volleyball Tournament

It promised to be a hot Saturday when Urban Spikerz made their way to Cyberjaya for the first ever beach volleyball tournament organised by Cyberview Sdn Bhd in conjunction with the 51st Merdeka Carnival last August 23rd, 2008. Held at the Cyberjaya Community Lake Club, it was one of the 3 sport events open for participation to the public. The other 2 were 3-on-3 basketball and street soccer.

Urban Spikerz registered 3 teams for the tournament: Urban Legend, Urban Neo and Urban Elite. Each team consists of 3 guys and 1 girl. The organiser was expecting 24 teams to participate but on the tournament day, only 13 teams registered. During the game itself, one team pulled out — the organiser’s, no less, leaving only 12 teams in the end.

Preliminary rounds

The matches were played under the hot sun on a newly-made sand court (which the organiser plans to make permanent, I was informed, for future tournaments). They really need to do something about the sand, though. The type they use was definitely not suitable for beach volleyball. More like for building construction.

Anyway, here are the results for the preliminary rounds:

Quarter, Semi & Final

All Urban Spikerz teams got through to the quarter finals, although it was a bit unfortunate that Urban Legend and Urban Elite met each other here instead of at the semis. But at least we reached our minimum target: qualified to the quarter finals. Why? Because you win RM100 if you reach quarter final. So we got RM300 in hand already.

The weather turned bad just as the quarter final matches were about to start. It rained heavily and all games had to be put on hold. Half an hour later (it felt longer), the rain changed to a drizzle. Not wanting to delay the tournament further (it started a bit late), we continued with the quarter final matches.

Have you played beach volleyball on wet sand? Definitely not a good feel.

Anyway, here are the results for the quarter and semi-final.

Despite valiant efforts, none of the Urban Spikerz teams made it to the final. However, reaching the semi-finals itself was a major achievement since it was the first time ever we participated in a beach volleyball tournament.

It rained heavily again as Urban Neo and Urban Elite fought for the third place. After a fierce battle, it was won by Urban Neo with a score 20-18.

…pause…

Okay, the match was actually decided by a coin toss since none of them wanted to get wet. Kambing!

The final between Red and Gibaok A was pretty much even. In the end, team Red made more mistakes than Gibaok A resulting in the latter bagging the tournament with a score 15-12. They won cash money RM1,500. Congratulations! Second, third and fourth won RM700, RM500 and RM300 respectively while quarter final qualifiers received RM100 each.

So alltogether Urban Spikerz won RM900. Excellent work guys! Not bad for a one-day effort. Let’s hope we’ll do better next time. Esprit de volley! Yeaayy!!

In Memoriam...

HALIMUDDIN SUKAIMAN

10 September 1979 - 14 May 2008

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Words are just not enough to tell you how much we are missing you, my good friend. Our lives are made less without you. You were always the jester, the sun lighting up our days.. making us laugh with your antics. Things would never be the same without you around.

On behalf of the people from Urban Spikerz.. we love you, my friend. You will always be in our heart. Al-Fatihah.....

Urban Spikerz Field & Track Meet 2008

The second of the club’s scheduled events for 2008, Urban Spikerz organised a mini track and field meet for its Marion Jones-aspiring members and friends. Held on Sunday morning, 23 March 2008, at the Kampung Pandan Sports Complex, the meet saw participation from 4 teams: Urban, Urban United, Cobra and Planet YM. And just like last year, the meet offered 3 individual and 3 team titles.

Individual events: 100m, 200m, long jump. Team events: 4×400m, 4×200m, 4×100m.

Bright and sunny, it was a perfect day for the meet. The event kicked off with 4×400m and finished with 4×100m.

Here are the results:

Congratulations to team Urban United for becoming the overall champion.

Cherating Getaway!

C’mon guys and gals! Put on your Spedos and let’s hit the beach!

Taking advantage of the long weekend (Friday was a public holiday for Kuala Lumpur), the committee of Urban Spikerz organised a trip for its members and friends to Cherating, as part of the club’s activities for the year 2008.

Located in Pahang, Cherating is one of the more popular beaches in Malaysia. With a long beach, fine sand and great water, the place is packed with people everytime there’s a public holiday.

Day 1 - Friday, 01/02/2008

The meeting point was the Projet-now-Shell petrol station in Gombak at 8:30 am, before convoying to Cherating. Everybody got there early except for Eina, Zul and Syihan. We then proceeded to Genting Sempah Rest & Relax (R&R) for the second round of breakfast. The first was while we were waiting for Eina, Zul and Syihan.

We finally made a move to Cherating around 10:30 am. There were 4 cars in the convoy, although one car (a Proton Waja or Fid’s-bkn nama sebenar) was seen about to head to Genting. I dunno.. a confusion in spelling, perhaps? At least they got the “ting” part right. The journey should take less than 3 hours if we were to drive non-stop, thanks to the not-quite-new-anymore Karak highway and the newly-opened Pantai Timur (East Coast) highway.

Being in no hurry to get there, we took our own sweet time, stopping at one R&R and running into Budin and Zaidi Abangikan, of all people. Apparently they were on their way to Taman Negara for their own long weekend retreat.

We reached Cherating around 1:30 pm and immediately checked in at the Tanjong Inn Villa de Fedelia (Fuiyoo!! What a name! ). We actually stayed here the first time Urban Spikerz organised the same trip last year. We got better chalets this time, with air-con. The rooms were quite nice too.. especially the ones for couples. Really suitable for those who are on honeymoons.

After lunch and a short rest, we proceeded to the beach for the main agenda: beach volleyball. Everybody enthusiastically participated since all of us are volleyball fanatics. Except for Zul, that is. We didn’t allow him to play because of his injured ankle. Sorry dude..

Unfortunately, we had to cut the game short when it rained all of a sudden. And it continued till dinner time. Bummer!

Day 2 - Saturday, 02/02/2008

The weather was abysmal. It rained the whole morning and into late afternoon. While a few of us braved the weather (it was not really that bad, actually.), the rest were content to continue sleeping, eat breakfast or play the game card, Uno.

Around 5 pm, it was back to the beach for another round of beach volleyball and some fun in the sea.

The weather turned bad on us again that evening but fortunately, the rain stopped before dinner time. We decided to have seafood, so we drove to Kemaman to a food court near the Kemaman mosque and bus terminal. We had fish, squids, prawns, shellfish and rice.

The service was reasonably fast, the food was good, the serving was plentiful and most importantly, the price was actually reasonable. We expected it to be more expensive and were pleasantly surprised when it was not.

Day 3 - Sunday, 03/02/2008

We started the day with a quick breakfast, then a quick dip in the sea before packing up and checking out from Tanjong Inn Villa de Fedelia (the name still cracks me up ). Before we left for Kuala Lumpur, we took time for a group photo. And plenty of single ones. Hehehe…

All and all, we really had fun during the Cherating getaway. Should do this every year! ;)

Urban Spikerz Annual Dinner 2007

So there were us in our School unifrom, feeling like a 12-year-old again. Urban Spikerz was formed in 2003 by a group of people who only had one thing in common then: volleyball. Over the years, the interests have grown into more than just volleyball. Added into the list of activities are, among others, athletics, bowling, pingpong, badminton and trips.

This was the third dinner party the club has organized. The first one was in 2005, held at the Residence Hotel in Chow Kit and the theme was “Black & White”. The second one, themed “The Purple Party”, was held the next year at Armada Hotel, Petaling Jaya. And this year’s dinner was held at Kelab Darul Ehsan, Ampang.

It was actually quite fun dressing up. Some of us were really into it. Back to school indeed! Hahahaha… We had good boys, bad boys, good girl, bad girl, Boy Scout, headmistress, lots of teachers, even some students from we don’t know which school. Yes Karen, that was you.

This year’s dinner was made extra special with the appearance of our guest artist, Farah Asyikin. She was just amazing. She sang her hit songs “Dari Sini Ke Bintang-Bintang”, “Seribu Penipuan”, her new single “Di Pangkuan Pilu” and the song by Rihanna, Umbrella.

Not to be left out were the MCs. Perfect couple, no?

We even had performances by the school kids, as the opening and closing acts for Farah Asyikin. Hehehehehe…

All in all, it was a really fun event. And for the year 2008, Awang was voluntereed the club president... hehehe

About Us

Five years ago, a group of young professionals residing in KL got together every week to fulfil their love for volleyball. Without fail, the motley crew of friends and colleagues would spend the most of Saturday mornings at the outdoor volleyball court in Tasik Titiwangsa. As more and more players joined in this sporting initiative as the weeks unfolded, the group itself expanded. Playing sessions evolved from Saturday mornings to later include Saturday evenings, with an extra court added to accommodate more people. By this time, what was initially a casual sporting get-together between some twenty or so players progressed into a membership of about forty, prompting the initiative to divide courts into Beginner level players and Intermediate level players to create a fair playing field for everyone. When players began to remarkably improve their skills, the Beginner level was made without all together.

From its modest beginnings, one thing was certain about this group: these city folks don't just love the sport, they have something stronger for it – PASSION. Recognizing the level of commitment and seriousness with which the group operates by, the inevitable eventually happened: they officially formed a club. And thus, on the group's inaugural excursion in June 2003, Urban Spikerz was born.

Now, gathering a myriad of KLites with an equally colourful background covering the fields of banking, insurance, business, engineering, publishing, pharmaceutical, management and public relations – just to name a few – Urban Spikerz is more than just a name to represent a collective passion for volleyball in the heart of KL. What started as a work-out between strangers and colleagues is now a weekly ritual among friends. And three years down the road, the club has moved on to include such activities as club excursions, friendly matches, the annual Urban Spikerz Volleyball Internal League as well as an Annual Dinner into their portfolio. Furthermore, the club acts as a platform from which the love for other sports is then developed as members test their skills in bowling, athletic events and men's netball under the club's banner. Other activities already in the pipelines include white-water rafting, cave exploring, softball and even the more relaxing pursuit of board games. The club is now even blessed with an official web site.

Regardless of its many ambitions, the heart of the club – as the name suggests – resides in volleyball. Now, playing sessions are organized between two to three times a week with a steady flow of some 24 or so members per session. For the very least, the club offers restless urbanites an alternative form of entertainment to fill in their evening with. But at its best, Urban Spikerz is a club that prides itself in the strength of its members, the value of their friendships and the fun they continue to inject into the beloved sport of volleyball.