INTERNATIONAL VOLLEYBALL
A historic volleyball safari
Competing in beach volleyball in South Africa as the world mourns the loss of Nelson Mandela by Theo Brunner
U
ntil this past month, the only notions I had of South Africa were precon-
ceived ones. Very little is touched upon in the American media regarding Africa apart from war, poverty and a ridiculous amount of the native wildlife.
I half expected to look out the window of the airports in Johannesburg or Durban and see a group of female lions stalking a sickly looking springbok while I waited for my checked luggage. I learned during my time playing professional volleyball in Europe, however, that you can’t give much weight to the stereotypes you have of a place before you actually get there. With this in mind I came to South Africa ready and willing to jettison any knowledge of the place I thought I might have. Durban, the city our tournament was held, featured a lush green landscape with rolling hills jux- taposed against a rugged coastline. Clean and modern roads took us past beautiful communities along the coast for the majority of the 45 minute drive to the city center of Durban. It seemed to me from the get-go to be a special place, but what really made this a memorable trip was the unique moment in time during which I was able to visit.
Nelson Mandela, former president of
South Africa, international statesman, civil rights leader and national hero, had recently passed away. The week of the FIVB Durban Open coincided with both the memorial cer- emony and the funeral of Mr. Mandela. In fact the tournament had to be expedited in order to fi nish a day early so that it would not confl ict with the Sunday funeral cer- emony for Mandela.
The memorial service was on every radio station and every television channel in South Africa while it was happening. We heard it while we were in the shuttle to the tournament site. We heard it broadcast over the venue’s speaker system while the event crew set up the main stadium. Flipping through the channels on our hotel television took us through full Man-
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dela coverage. Recaps of the memorial service featured a documentary chronicling the life of Nelson Mandela, and interviews with famous South Africans who had been touched deeply by the beloved leader.
It’s diffi cult to describe
exactly how it felt being there during this time. My best effort to do so lies simply in what I felt I observed in the South Africans around me. Small things such as the undivided attention shown as they listened to the memo- rial services, as well as the pride you could sense when they spoke of him. Simply being surrounded by a nation both mourning and celebrating the loss of a
man of Nelson Mandela’s stature, who had touched all of their
lives in ways both tangible
and spiritual, was an experience I will never forget.
The volleyball aspect of my journey
wasn’t so special. In fact, it was the worst tournament of my short beach career thus far.
Nevertheless, the opportunity to tell my children that I was in South Africa at this unique moment in its history as they learn about Nelson Mandela in school is one that I am honored to have had.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Theo Brunner was a philosophy major at UC Santa Barbara and an all-American opposite. He had a breakout season on the beach in 2013, winning an AVP event. (Photos: FIVB)
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