By: Bill & CJ Sherman, parents of Meghan and Kamryn, Jacksonville, FL

The level of play during our tour in Nicaragua has been good for the girls. Both teams have had good competition, but they were not overwhelmed. The playing conditions have challenged the girls to adapt their skills, athleticism and knowledge to overcome various problems. The stresses that come from traveling and being away have caused some disruptions that they worked through and became better because of them.

The highest level of competition has come from the two National Teams. The senior team is pushing our older team with every match. The Nicaraguan’s play a good, solid game and they beat us in the first two matches. There is a slight edge that comes from playing and practicing together, and the “Nicas” were able to use that to their advantage.

The Junior National Team has a good degree of athleticism and is developing solid skills. In general, they are well balanced with our team, but we have a distinct height advantage that provides good challenges for their attackers. Our older team beat them in the first two matches played. As we play together more and develop better team skills, our older team is improving.

Our younger team is primarily playing local high school age teams. We have several middle-school players and they are learning and adapting to the level of play. They are assisted by a high school setter, and two high school liberos that are playing as outside hitters. They won two matches and lost a third to a scrappy and unorthodox team, which included the coaching staff in Rivas. Their general skills and techniques are improving with each match. This has been a challenging situation for them, but they are continually improving.

We have been amazed by the courts that are used everyday by these teams. Most have cement or tile floors. None have air conditioning. The one gym that had a wood floor, also had a very leaky ceiling as we discovered when a heavy rain shower passed through while we were playing. All of them have good bleachers and we have had 150+ noisy fans for most matches.

In addition to the gyms, most of the teams are woefully unprepared by our standards. Some only have 2 or 3 balls that are well worn due to the cement floors. Not all of the girls have knee pads and some are playing in street shoes rather than sneakers. We brought a lot of spare equipment from our players and clubs at home. The night after we donated the equipment to the local organizers, we saw some of the ankle braces and shoes being worn by the team we were playing.

Given the facilities, the conditions have been a little harsher than the teams were ready for. We play most matches between 4 and 9pm. The earlier matches have better lighting because the sun is out. Once it goes down, lighting gets a little sketchy. Rather than the bright overhead lights we are accustomed to, some gyms have 6 to 8 street lights attached to the walls. It provides enough to be playable, but there are times when it’s difficult to see the server on the far side.

Wind and rain impact us as well. Many of the playing surfaces are open-air and the wind comes through and moves the ball around. When it rains, the ball will roll out from under the covered area and get into the wet patio around the court. And because of the wind and rain, the courts are usually very dusty and dirty. This makes footing a little difficult at times. Mental note: Do not bring white jerseys! All of the knee pads and socks are becoming gray to match our t-shirts.

The fans are great. They cheer very loudly for their local girls. They are also very appreciative of good rallies and cheer for either team when they occur. The dark-eyed, dark-haired Hispanics are very appreciative of the variety of girls we have. Especially when we roll or stretch or move in ways they think are suggestive. The girls are handling it well, and just smile back at them, probably because they don’t understand what words are accompanying the whistles.

Even though most of us are from Florida, or the south, we are not ready to be out in the heat and humidity all of the time. The A/C is limited to the hotel rooms or the bus. Being in the shade is a necessity between 10AM and 4PM. And you will sweat just sitting there. Plenty of water is required, but it gets very boring to continually drink warm water from small plastic bottles.

While we have been very careful with our food and drink, most of the group has digestive problems. Most have worked through the problems with standard supplies of Tums, Maalox, or Mylanta, but a few have required antibiotics. Everyone is drinking a lot of water and Gatorade and by day 8, most of us are over it and living normally.

The conditions here are challenging. Power failures occur at various times. The water for one of our facilities was shut off nightly from 9PM until 3AM (and we have no idea why). Air conditioners have been available every where we slept, and that made it much more pleasant. One hotel had construction that ran from 8AM until 8PM. But on the one morning they didn’t start at 8, 4 of the local schools brought out their drum and bell corps for parades at 8:15AM. They were celebrating Flag Day in Nicaragua.

Would we come back again? Yeah, probably. Would we recommend the trip to our friends? Absolutely.

As with any new country, you have to learn local customs, how to survive, where to go, and where not to go. The country is beautiful, the dollar is strong, and we can survive. Volleyball has opened another door for us and enabled us to see and understand how other people live. As with all trips to foreign countries, we are constantly amazed at how well we live in the US and how blessed we are to live there. But Nicaragua has its own gifts and treasures for us to appreciate and we will most likely come back in the future.

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