2004 CANADIAN OPEN SEPAK TAKRAW CHAMPIONSHIPS

Wascana Park, Regina, SK September 3 – 6, 2004

(click
here to view more pictures)

For two years in a row, STAC has tried hard to work with local
Takraw players within the Asian communities in Toronto and Montreal to have
the Canadian Open hosted in eastern Canada, but unfortunately it has just not
been able to be realized due to local issues. Most recently, the World Festival
of Traditional Games & Sports scheduled to take place in Montreal July 30
- August 8 had no choice but to cancel, after it was evident that the federal
government would not come through with the final $1 million to the Games that
they had promised. Since the 2004 Canadian Open was to be a major event within
the Games of the World, this left STAC scrambling to confirm a new venue in
Montreal that would guarantee huge crowds and still have adequate volunteer
& organizational support without the Games of the World. Unfortunately,
these two crucial issues could not be confirmed by the latest possible deadline
set (July 9th) and the STAC board of directors voted unanimously to work together
with ASEC International (STAC's provincial member organizational in Saskatchewan)
to host the 2004 Canadian Open Sepak Takraw Championships in Regina, SK, as
part of the Dragon Boat Festival, Sept. 3 - 6.

Unfortunately, due to prior commitment conflicts after the Canadian
Open was forced to relocate on a different date, USA, Malaysia and Vietnam regus
has to withdraw from the tournament. The Philippines could not attend because
of thecomplications that were caused by the typhoon that hit the country just
prior to the Canadian Open. Brazil was also registered, but had to withdraw
when they could not get their visas in time. Out of the Canadian regus registered,
Saskatoon also withdrew due to a prior commitment conflict. Altogether 5 regus
from Regina (2), Moose Jaw (1), Calgary (1) and Winnipeg (1) competed in the
men’s division; while altogether 3 regus from Regina (2) and Winnipeg
(1) competed in the women’s division. So in spite of all the bad luck
going into this tournament, though no international regus were represented this
year, it has been very encouraging to see international interest in the Canadian
Open growing.

The tournament took place on two courts situated end to end under
a massive 180’ x 80’ x 30’ high tent! Though it was a sunny
warm day, it was a little windy and the tent assured players and spectators
to have ideal conditions with additional lighting from floods. The players were
in particular very happy with the unique atmosphere that the tent created. An
estimated 1000 spectators took in the tournament and were delighted with the
action, many of them watching full formal matches for the first time. In the
end, in the Men’s division, it was Winnipeg who took gold, Edmonton won
silver and Regina A went home with the bronze medal. In the Women’s division,
Regina A won gold, Regina B took silver and Winnipeg ended up with the bronze
medal.

The day ended with an Awards Banquet hosted at the Lighthouse
to all Nations Church and sponsored by Lindy’s Diner and the Grace Mennonite
Lao Fellowship. The food was great! It was a feast with some entertainment in
song and a guest speaker, ending with the medals and trophies being awarded
to all the winning regus.

An event like this could not take place without the support of
many volunteers and local sponsors, to all of them we say, “Thank you,
thank you, thank you!” We especially want to recognize all our sponsors:
ASEC International, A-1 Rent-all, the City of Regina, Engelheim Charter, Euro-Tech,
Grace Mennonite Fellowship, Kel-T Graphics, Lighthouse to all Nations Church,
Lindy’s Diner, Long & McQuade, NetPro Sports, Print West and Safeway.
We could not have done it without you!

THE 2004 KING’S CUP SEPAK TAKRAW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS,
BANGKOK, THAILAND

(click here to view more
pictures)

On December 7 – 13, 2004, just a couple of months after the Telecom Malaysia
Sepak Takraw World Cup in Penang, Canada was also represented at the 2004 King’s
Cup Sepak Takraw World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand. The events included
in this King’s Cup were Men’s and Women’s Regu (3 on 3), Doubles
(2 on 2) and Hoop Takraw. Doubles Sepak Takraw was offered in the previous tournament
in Malaysia for the first time as a medal event and now Hoop Takraw was offered
for the first time as a medal event.

ISTAF TECHNIICAL MEETING REGARDING RULES

During the tournament, a very important technical meeting was held to settle
the question of the rules for not only Doubles Sepak Takraw, but Beach Sepak
Takraw and Hoop Takraw as well. For Doubles Sepak Takraw, it was decided that
consecutive touches while the ball is in play should be allowed, just as it
is in regular Sepak Takraw, but that alternating Tekongs (servers) for each
serve, and self-tossing and serving from behind the baseline would continue.

Rick Engel, who attended the meeting on behalf of Canada comments, “I
believe that also rotating the players on the court and alternating Tekongs
(servers) during the game in regular Sepak Takraw (Regu event), just as they
do in Volleyball, would do a lot to create more rallies back and forth and make
the Regu event more exciting. And tossing to the server is one of the original,
unique parts of the game of Sepak Takraw that I think should remain in the game
for both Regu and Double Events, as it is one of those characteristics that
sets Sepak Takraw apart from Volleyball or any other sport. I feel it was a
mistake to go to the self-toss for Doubles, and hope that in the future the
toss from a teammate will be re-implemented, but with the tosser standing the
same distance apart from the Tekong as he/she does in the Regu Event. So I agree
strongly with Myanmar in saying that, as much as possible, we should be keeping
the rules for the Regu and Doubles events the same. That way players can easily
transfer from one game to another, and for spectators, it is less confusing
and easier for them to watch and understand what is going on in both events;
this is why I pushed for keeping consecutive hits for Doubles Takraw for now
… even though eventually, like Germany indicated, it may be better for
the sport to have alternating touches in all Sepak Takraw events. We will get
there, one step at a time.”

EXCITING WOMEN’S SEPAK TAKRAW REGU EVENTS

Women’s competitions, especially in the Sepak Takraw Regu events, are
continuing to increase in excitement as veteran women players in the sport improve
in all skill aspects of the game as well as the consistency at which they play.
Currently women’s events do not include any teams from outside Asia, whereas
in the men’s events there are many new countries involved in the sport.
This is something that needs to be improved upon. Like all new countries to
the sport, however, because there is zero funding dollars, Canada has found
it quite a challenge to establish any kind of a formal National Team Training
Program. But plans are now underway to develop partnerships that can help establish
a 2005 Youth Sepak Takraw Training Program in Regina, where STAC’s office
is located, and especially encourage junior aged girls (under 21) to participate.

ISTAF CONGRESS AND QUADRENNIAL ELECTIONS

This King’s Cup was an important event, aside from the tournament, because
it also hosted the ISTAF Congress with the Quadrennial Elections. Congratulations
are in order for Rick Engel, STAC’s President, who was elected to be one
of the 7 new Vice Presidents of the International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF).
Engel said he looks forward to working even more closely with the Sepak Takraw
family world-wide and that one of his goals will be to help improve communication
between ISTAF and member countries. Several awards were given out to some of
the veteran Sepak Takraw leaders from various countries that have contributed
in significant ways to the growth and development of the sport over many years.

CANADA AT THE 2004 TELEKOM MALAYSIA WORLD SEPAK TAKRAW CHAMPIONSHIPS
IN PENANG

(click here to view more
pictures)

After a special request from the Malaysian Sepak Takraw Federation, Canada put together a regu to compete in the Telekom Malaysia World Sepak Takraw Championship 2004. Confirmation of Canada’s participation all came together in a matter of days and within a week two players from Edmonton, Pat Quinn (left) and Ben Cochrane (centre), and a player/coach from Regina, Rick Engel (right), were on their way to Penang, Malaysia to join 12 other countries in the prestigious event (pictured with the Canadian players is their trustee “liaison”, Adnan). All three players were medalists in the recent Canadian Open Sepak Takraw Championships held in Regina on September 4th during the Dragon Boat Festival, but on two different teams. They had to quickly learn to play together on the same team, but only had one hour of practice prior to their first game to do that.

Rick Engel, player/coach, said they were very happy with how the draw turned
out for Canada, being put into a pool with Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan for
the round robin play. The guys lost their match with Indonesia in two straight
sets, but then won the match with Iran in a Tie Break Set, 17-16 … it
just doesn’t get any closer than that! They were a basket of nerves by
the end of that match, but it sure was entertaining for the spectators! Then
they won the match with Pakistan by default because Pakistan did not end up
making it to the tournament.

In between official games Canada also had the opportunity to play matches with
Australia and Germany just for fun and to gain more experience, which was very
enjoyable for all of them. After the round robin play, Team Canada finished
in 2nd place in their pool and advanced to the quarter-finals … winning
MR 1000 cash in the process (about Cdn $300). However, they were quickly humbled,
being defeated by Malaysia A, 21-2 and 21-3 on live TV. Malaysia A went on to
win gold in the Regu Event, playing Mynmar in a very close final.

Canada with Iran Canada with Malaysia A Malaysia A spiking
against Thailand

“Their serves were like bullets, we just do not have any experience receiving
serves with the ball coming at us so fast - and they are so consistent, hardly
missing anything, that’s what makes a championship team! It was a great
learning experience, we certainly know where we need to focus more training
on for our players back in Canada”, said Engel.

A huge “Thank you” goes out to the Malaysian Sepak Takraw Federation
for providing such a great event as well as a tremendous experience for the
Canadian team. The Sepak Takraw Association of Canada (STAC) is looking forward
to possibly sending a women’s regu from Regina along with a men’s
regu to the King’s Cup World Sepak Takraw Championships to be held in
Thailand, December 7 – 13, 2004. STAC is also looking forward to club
and/or university regus from Malaysia and several other countries coming to
Regina next summer for the Canadian Open, which is hoping to be a Cultural Sports
Event during the 2005 Canada Summer Games right in Regina.

Red Deer, AB Tournament

Camp Grounds, August 21, 2004

Saskatoon’s two regus dominated over most of the
others, here Ott spiking against one of the Edmonton regus. The biggest challenge
proved to be just keeping warm.

As they like to do every summer, the Red Deer Takraw Club combined
a Takraw tournament with camping, barbeque and a dance. Many regus drove out
to the camp grounds with their families on Friday night, August 20, set up their
tents and started cooking. Altogether 16 men’s regus from Edmonton (6),
Calgary (4), Red Deer (3), Saskatoon (2) and Regina (1) competed in what turned
out to be a cold, windy Saturday … then also rainy by late afternoon.
The results were: 1st place, Saskatoon A; 2nd place, Saskatoon B; 3rd place,
Red Deer A. Aside from the poor weather, everyone had fun, with most staying
till Sunday.

Summer Sepak Takraw Program

Regina, May - September, 2004

(click
here to view more pictures)

The 2004 Regina Summer Sepak Takraw Program, coordinated by student Trudy Keil,
was a big success. The program involved over 2000 participants at various locations
and special events around the city 5 days per week, May to September …
in spite of a very cool, rainy, weird kind of a summer we had! Along with the
Sepak Takraw were some memorable cultural performances of Break Dancing and
Tai Chi. “Takraw Tuesdays”, as it became known, was a real hit at
the Rainbow Youth Center, where many of the youth that regularly hang out there
loved the chance to play the game in their familiar surroundings each week.
The summer ended with everyone pitching in to help host the Canadian Open Sepak
Takraw Championships at the Dragon Boat Festival on Labour Day Weekend, after
it was moved from being in Montreal due to the cancellation of Games of the
World (a federal sponsorship scandal casualty).

Many thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors who made the program possible,
in particular, many thanks to: The Centennial Student Employment Program, the
Community Initiatives Fund, the City of Regina Community Lotteries Program and
SaskTel for their financial support that made the summer program possible! Z99
Radio was our official media sponsor and did a superb job of announcements regarding
the program! Long & McQuade helped us out with providing sound equipment
for tournaments & break dance competitions. We are also very thankful to
many community businesses that donated items for prizes to give out at events
and tournaments, they are: the Saskatchewan Roughriders, SaskEnergy, SaskLotteries,
SGI, SaskCulture, U of R Bookstore, U of R Rams and Science-Sherwood Mall.

Takraw Canada

2004 Update

Membership Restructuring / STAC Brochures

One of the STAC’s key initiatives this spring/summer was to strike a “membership
restructuring” committee that would recommend new ways of recruiting membership
and marketing the sport of Sepak Takraw better in Canada. As part of the new
plan STAC now has designed and printed its first brochure and will be working
at redoing the web site with a built-in database program so that members can
be easily registered right on-line and schools can easily find out what other
schools in their area are playing Sepak Takraw.

Sepak Takraw as Part of a 3 Credit Hour Physical Education Course

We were anticipating that the University of Regina would implement a 1 credit
hour course on Sepak Takraw in the spring, but they are now preferring to possibly
include Sepak Takraw as one several sports that will be taught in a 3 credit
hour course starting the fall of 2005, pending review results.

Red Deer, AB Tournament, Camp Grounds

August 21, 2004

As they like to do every summer, the Red Deer Takraw Club combined a Takraw
tournament with camping, barbeque and a dance. Many regus drove out to the camp
grounds with their families on Friday night, August 20, set up their tents and
started cooking. Altogether 16 men’s regus from Edmonton (6), Calgary
(4), Red Deer (3), Saskatoon (2) and Regina (1) competed in what turned out
to be a cold, windy Saturday … then also rainy by late afternoon. The
results were: 1st place, Saskatoon A; 2nd place, Saskatoon B; 3rd place, Red
Deer A. Aside from the poor weather, everyone had fun, with most staying till
Sunday.

Winnipeg, MB Tournament, St. Boniface, Winnipeg

August 28, 2004

It was very nice to see Sepak Takraw get going in Winnipeg again this year,
and good to see some promising young players in action! The Winnipeg Lao Association
hosted the Soccer and Sepak Takraw Tournaments & Barbeque right in Winnipeg
at the Festivale de Voyageur Sports Park on a beautiful sunny day … one
of the few they’ve had all summer! Altogether 6 men’s regus from
Winnipeg (4), Toronto/Regina (1) and USA (1) competed in the 1-day event. Unfortunately,
due to the fact that many of the Sepak Takraw players were also playing in the
soccer tournament, not all the games could be completed in the single-group
round robin tournament. Regardless, the results, such as they were: 1st place,
Winnipeg A; 2nd place, Toronto/Regina; 3rd place, Winnipeg B.

2004 Canadian Open Sepak Takraw Championships, Wascana Park, Regina, SK

September 3 – 6, 2004

For two years in a row, STAC has tried hard to work with local Takraw players
within the Asian communities in Toronto and Montreal to have the Canadian Open
hosted in eastern Canada, but unfortunately it has just not been able to be
realized due to local issues. Most recently, the World Festival of Traditional
Games & Sports scheduled to take place in Montreal July 30 - August 8 had
no choice but to cancel, after it was evident that the federal government would
not come through with the final $1 million to the Games that they had promised.
Since the 2004 Canadian Open was to be a major event within the Games of the
World, this left STAC scrambling to confirm a new venue in Montreal that would
guarantee huge crowds and still have adequate volunteer & organizational
support without the Games of the World. Unfortunately, these two crucial issues
could not be confirmed by the latest possible deadline set (July 9th) and the
STAC board of directors voted unanimously to work together with ASEC International
(STAC's provincial member organizational in Saskatchewan) to host the 2004 Canadian
Open Sepak Takraw Championships in Regina, SK, as part of the Dragon Boat Festival,
Sept. 3 - 6.

Unfortunately, due to prior commitment conflicts after the Canadian Open was
forced to relocate on a different date, USA, Malaysia and Vietnam regus has
to withdraw from the tournament. The Philippines could not attend because of
the complications that were caused by the typhoon that hit the country just
prior to the Canadian Open. Brazil was also registered, but had to withdraw
when they could not get their visas in time. Out of the Canadian regus registered,
Saskatoon also withdrew due to a prior commitment conflict. Altogether 5 regus
from Regina (2), Moose Jaw (1), Calgary (1) and Winnipeg (1) competed in the
men’s division; while altogether 3 regus from Regina (2) and Winnipeg
(1) competed in the women’s division. So in spite of all the bad luck
going into this tournament, though no international regus were represented this
year, it has been very encouraging to see international interest in the Canadian
Open growing.

The tournament took place on two courts situated end to end under a massive
180’ x 80’ x 30’ high tent! Though it was a sunny warm day,
it was a little windy and the tent assured players and spectators to have ideal
conditions with additional lighting from floods. The players were in particular
very happy with the unique atmosphere that the tent created. An estimated 1000
spectators took in the tournament and were delighted with the action, many of
them watching full formal matches for the first time. In the end, in the Men’s
division, it was Winnipeg who took gold, Edmonton won silver and Regina A went
home with the bronze medal. In the Women’s division, Regina A won gold,
Regina B took silver and Winnipeg ended up with the bronze medal.

The day ended with an Awards Banquet hosted at the Lighthouse to all Nations
Church and sponsored by Lindy’s Diner and the Grace Mennonite Lao Fellowship.
The food was great! It was a feast with some entertainment in song and a guest
speaker, ending with the medals and trophies being awarded to all the winning
regus.

An event like this could not take place without the support of many volunteers
and local sponsors, to all of them we say, “Thank you, thank you, thank
you!” We especially want to recognize all our sponsors: ASEC International,
A-1 Rent-all, the City of Regina, Engelheim Charter, Euro-Tech, Grace Mennonite
Fellowship, Kel-T Graphics, Lighthouse to all Nations Church, Lindy’s
Diner, Long & McQuade, NetPro Sports, Print West and Safeway. We could not
have done it without you!