Stuyvesant’s First Fall Sports Volleyball Tournament

Students filed into the third floor gym to watch Stuyvesant’s first Fall Sports Volleyball Tournament on November 20, 2024. The competing teams were boys’ badminton, boys’ bowling, girls’ bowling, cheer, boys’ fencing, JV football, varsity football, boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer, girls’ swim, and girls’ tennis. Refereed by girls volleyball, the tournament lasted for two hours, a successful trial run for future tournaments to come.

The tournament was organized by seniors and Stuy Sports Presidents Brandon Waworuntu and Chloe Wong, in collaboration with the Stuyvesant Athletic Association and physical education teachers Peter Bologna and Vincent Miller. It was supposed to end at 5:00 p.m., but Miller allowed it to last until 5:45. “It was tough finding a day that would work,” Bologna said. “Mr. Miller generously gave us a part of his practice time to enable us to have this tournament.” 

The preparation for the tournament was generally last minute, putting pressure on the coordinators. “I remember the days leading up to it. It was a lot of stress because it was a major time crunch,” Waworuntu said. During the tournament itself, time remained sparse. Rather than having first-to-21-points matches, the teams played games lasting ten minutes.

Amidst the overwhelming volume of students and time constraints, a notable hiccup in the tournament was some issues with players not abiding by the rules. “[There were some] people who lacked the knowledge of the rules, which I sent out the night before,” Waworuntu said. “Some teams used boys volleyball players who weren’t actually on their team. That caused a lot of problems, and everyone was yelling and fighting.” 

Despite this, the majority of participants had fun and benevolent attitudes. “They were professional, they were courteous to each other, and even when they lost, they didn’t throw any type of fit. They understood that it was all for fun,” Bologna said. 

The boys soccer team had the highest volume of participants, splitting into three teams in order to get everyone on the court. The winner of the tournament was the boys soccer A team, defeating the B and C teams along with the rest of the competitors. “It was a smaller court than we were used to playing at so we kept hitting the ball too far,” said senior and boys’ soccer co-captain Eben Eichenwald. “We were also used to hitting the net and they kept calling that a foul.”

This past summer, the boys soccer team attended a sleepaway camp called Camp Scatico where they developed the volleyball skills that ultimately led to their victory. “We were training for that moment since August,” Eichenwald said. “We went [to Scatico] to train for soccer and also volleyball so we’d spend like three to four hours a day playing volleyball.” 

The tournament adequately tested the waters for a Winter Sports Tournament and a Spring Sports Tournament in 2025. Only minor changes need to be made for the upcoming events. “[Changes include] getting specific rules on who can play, the rotations, just a couple of things we saw that could be tightened up,” Bologna said. “This was just for fun. I didn't realize it would be so big with so many teams. I would certainly do it again.”

The plan is to charge participants for the next two tournaments in order to raise money for the athletic banquet at the end of the year. “All of the money goes back to the athletes,” Waworuntu said. In a school not well known for its athletics, the tournament served as a showcase, a bonding experience for the teams, and a tradition worth honoring.