“Melbond for Sisters” promotes Islamic sportswomanship
Melbourne, 10 April – After a 2-year hiatus, Melbond for Sisters was back with a BANG! This time at the State Netball and Hockey Centre (where the 2006 Commonwealth Games for netball was held). With the theme “Play as a Muslim”, everyone showed tremendous levels of sportsmanship (or should I say sportswomanship) in competing for the two sought-after titles: Netball champion and Baling Selipar champion (yeah.. wherever we go, we should never forget our roots).
The event organised by SURIA ISMA-VIC kicked off with a speech by the program director, Sis Mazlin Zuraida Mohd Zaharial, reminding the sisters to ‘play as a Muslim’ which meant giving it their all while playing, but at the same time maintaining their ‘akhlaq’. This was followed by a dance aerobics session which got the place exploding with adrenaline-pumped sisters.
At approximately 9.30 am, the netball games started, with 6 teams (Shihab, The Blue Rangers, Team A, Jogho and Black Warriors to name a few) competing with each other in two leagues. After fighting their way through the action-packed games, teams Shihab and The Blue Rangers emerged as the two teams to qualify for the finals.
Next was Baling Selipar, which saw 8 teams (Mushroom, Cabai, Meoww, Helang and others) competing against each other. And let me tell you this; this was not your average ‘baling selipar’, but THE Ultimate Baling Selipar. Never ever underestimate the Malaysian traditional game of ‘Baling Selipar’, as the players were all brought to complete exhaustion by the end of it all. But nevertheless, everyone enjoyed throwing slippers at each other and running around like CRRRRAAAZY.
In the middle of playing ‘Baling Selipar’, we noticed that we had gathered quite an audience, consisting of the locals. It seemed that they were really intrigued by this ‘weird’ game and were asking the sisters what the game was all about. Some even commented that the ‘baling selipar’ players seem a lot tougher than the blokes playing rugby outside since it involves being whacked by slipper-wielding opponents. Who knows, this game might make it big here and end up replacing footy or being in the Olympics someday…… Aaaanyways, teams Meoww who has now bloomed into AUMM and helang qualified for ‘the Baling Selipar’ finals and after a gruelling 20-minute game, team AUM emerged as the champion.
The highlight of the day was definitely the netball finals which was between the Blue Rangers (from Melbourne City) and team Shihab ‘the shooting Star’ (from Clayton). Both teams were extremely good with very skilful players; sharp shooters, menacing defenders, agile catchers… you name it, they’ve got it. It was a suspense-filled game which had the audience sitting at the edge of their seats, supporting the team they were rooting for. Even with only half a minute left of the game, nobody could guess who would clinch THE title as it seemed that it could go either way- It was THAT close of a game. With only 10 seconds left, both teams were tied at 6 points. And finally, with only a few seconds left, a GS (Goal Shooter) from one of the teams strikes for gold and calmly shoots the winning goal. And that GS is from team Shihab! Yup, the Clayton team is Melbond 2010’s netball Champion. Congratulations!
Another winner that day was Sis Zawani Din who was awarded with the ‘most valuable player’ award, not only because of her netball skills but also her good etiquettes on the court. She played hard, but never neglected to remain calm and respectful of others. This truly reflects the theme ‘Play as a Muslim’.
At the end of the day, everyone was happy with what they’ve achieved. Hopefully the sporting spirit did not end just there. As we all know, exercising is an essential part of our life and as Muslims, we are especially advised to do so. So, keep up the good work, and insyaAllah, we’ll see you in Melbond 2011.
Sumber: Laman Web ISMA Australia
