Pakistan’s haul of seven medals in the recently held inaugural Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia, has gladdened the hearts of the sports administrators of the country in particular. It has come as a very pleasant surprise for the Pakistan sports fraternity in general. The tally of medals included two gold, two silver and three bronze.

The wrestlers in particular have made the country proud by bringing home as many as four medals. Ghulam Haider captured the gold in the 65-kg weight category by overpowering Pahmi Pami Ginawan of Indonesia in the final.

Mohammad Ali had to settle with the silver after losing to Yun Seok Lee of South Korea in the 75-kg final while bronze medals were clinched by Usman Majeed and Mohammad Taseen in the 85-kg and the over 85-kg weight categories.

Pakistan’s other gold came in the handball event when they edged out Kuwait 2-1 in the final. In the earlier games they had registered victories over Japan, Indonesia and Qatar.
Pakistan also featured in the gold-medal kabaddi match but they were downed by arch-rivals India and had to be content with the silver.

Mohammad Imran Qureshi earned a bronze medal for the country in the 75-kg bodybuilding event after Khalid Ali had failed to advance in the finals of the 70-kg event.

The heartening performance of the Pakistan’s athletes in the Beach Games has provided the joy to the country’s sports fans that had not been coming their way for years.

The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), whose President, General Syed Arif Hasan, has been proactive in bringing about the changes in the ranks of sports administration since taking over its leadership in 2004, deserves the credit for the success accomplished in the Asian Beach Games.

A firm believer in professional management, he has been particularly inclined towards training and grooming of the athletes, something that was non-existent or unheard of in the era before him. He has generated funds from the platform of the Pakistan Sports Trust (PST) to keep the POA and its affiliated units afloat.

His consistent policies are paying dividends now. He has been encouraging the innovative ideas and he was instrumental in facilitating the participation of the 41-member Pakistan squad in the first-ever Asian Beach Games.

The concept of Beach Games was new and it was quite refreshing to find Pakistan’s athletes adapting themselves better than their competitors. With the second Beach Games due to be held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, in a couple of years time there is ample time at the disposal of the POA to work out a strategy that could yield even better results than the one in Bali.

The officials of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) are delighted by the success at Bali and they have planned to hold the Beach Games after every two years. In fact the venues of the next four editions have already been announced.

After Sultanate of Oman in 2010, the third Asian Beach Games will be staged in China in 2012 to be followed by one in Philippines in 2014 and in Thailand in 2016.

With the kind of success achieved in the inaugural event, should Pakistan not be getting ready to play host to the Beach Games in 2018?

While you enjoy your comfortable stay at East Village Apartments, make sure to experience some sweet leisure time at the Tompkins Square Park, one of the most popular destinations in New York City. The park is named after Daniel D. Tompkins (1774-1825), Vice President of the United States.

The square shaped park is located in the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and is spread over 10.5 acre (42,000 sq. mi). Just like most of the landmark locations in NY, Tompkins Park also has a rich history behind it, and is associated with various events, though some of them not very positive.

On January 13, 1874, the Tompkins Square witnessed a major riot as the police clashed with labor protestors numbering in thousands. This incident was a major event in area of labor conflict. In a similar incident in 1877, around 5000 people clashed with the National Guard as they amassed to hear communist revolutionary speeches in this very park.

By the 1980s, Tompkins Park became a centre-point for New Yorkers’ social problems. The park was frequented by many homeless people and even became a hub for drug-use and various other illegal activities. This led to a riot in August 1988, when the city police attempted to free the park of such elements.

During the 1990s and 2000s, however, Tompkins Park went through a major facelift and witnessed a gradual gentrification of its surroundings. With its many playgrounds, basketball courts, handball courts and built-in outdoor chess tables, the park today attracts youngsters and decent family crowd from across the globe.

Among the major landmarks in the East Village neighborhood, Tompkins Square Park is today home to various events such as Howl Festival, Charlie Parker Jazz Festival and Tompkins Square Dog Run.

Surprisingly, one of the most well loved sports in the world is also relatively young. Despite the game’s youth, it has gone through a wide variety of changes and evolution as a part of its rich history.

Believe it or not, but at one time there wasn’t Asics or Nike women’s volleyball shoes or even volleyball uniforms for sale anywhere, let alone online!

To fully understand and appreciate how much the game has changed and how much work was put into to make it successful, you need to search back to the very origin of Volleyball, and study when and why changes were made.

Just over 100 years ago, in 1895, William G. Morgan developed the first game of Volleyball. At the time, Morgan dubbed the game “Mintonette”. “Mintonette” was created for business men as a game that involved less physical contact at the chapter of the YMCA where he worked at in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Morgan borrowed aspects from several games to create his own game. The first aspect was from tennis, borrowing the net. Instead of the standard net, however, he raised it to be 6 foot 6 inches high, so it was just over the heads of average men. Other sports he borrowed from include basketball, baseball and handball. During one of the demonstration games of the sport, one of the spectators commented the game was more about volleying, and the games name was changed to Volleyball.

That was only the beginning.

In 1896, the first official game of Volleyball was played at Springfield College. This game signified the first real take-off of the sport, and led into further games being played at a variety of different Colleges. In the year 1900, Volleyball had taken off enough where a special ball was designed just for the game. Another feat also accomplished in 1900 was that the YMCA took the sport from America to Canada, the Orient and the southern hemisphere. Five years later, Volleyball also spread to Cuba. This spreading was what signified the start of the Volleyball era. Unlike most sports, Volleyball moved International in its early days, allowing for the game to evolve to meet the players needs world wide.

In 1907, Volleyball received its first recognition of being one of the most popular sports at the Playground of America convention. This was the first recognition the sport received, and helped to further its popularity. In the following ten years, the YMCA continued to spread the sport to Brazil, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. In 1913, the first official Volleyball competition was held in the Far Eastern Games.

1916 saw Volleyball have its first true evolution. In the Philippines, the set and spike offensive pass was introduced, and game play was altered to involve this new form. The Filipinos developed the “bomba”, which is the kill, and the named the hitter the “bomberino”. In this same year, the NCAA was invited by the YMCA to alter the rules of the game, and it was initiated into Colleges and other schools as a part of the standard physical education courses and intramural programs. A year later, the scoring system was also adjusted so that a game ended after 15 points instead of 21. This allowed more games to be played within the same span of time, in an attempt to make the sessions a little shorter for the players.

Three short years later, in 1919, the American Expeditionary Forces donated 16,000 Volleyballs to the troops, which provided a stimulus for growth in foreign countries. With this rise in growth of the sport, new rules began being developed. A year later, the three hits per side rule and the back row attack rules were put into place.

By 1928, players and fans of the sport realized that “official” tournament rules and regulations were required. The United States Volleyball Association was formed, and the first U.S. Open Volleyball tournament was held. The U.S. Open allowed for squads that were not YMCA sanctioned to participate, which was a breakthrough at the time. This evolution permitted lovers of the sport to fully enjoy the game without having to be tied to the organization that created it.

After 1928, the game of Volleyball was forever changed. With the “official” rules set down, and a tournament that wasn’t private to the YMCA, the popularity of the sport was allowed to sky rocket. The Men’s U.S. Open was held every year thereafter, with the exception of three years. 1943, 1944 and 1989 did not have the yearly tournaments, due to wars and other obstacles.

In 1934, Volleyball saw another extensive change through the recognition of official referees to oversee the games. This change in particular drastically altered the calls and the fairness of the game.

The 1940’s held several special events for Volleyball. Not only was the forearm pass introduced into the game, the first world championship Volleyball game was held. It was during this time that the volleyball movement saw fruition, and squads from all over the world could find out who was the best. This became a yearly event, allowing for more publicity of the sport, which aided in its growth. Around this time, over 50 million people were playing world wide, in over 60 different countries.

By 1964, Volleyball had spread enough to warrant introduction into the Olympic games. The first games took place in Tokyo, where a rubber carcass with leather panels was used for the ball. This ball became the one that would be used in most modern competitions. As a part of the Olympic games, Volleyball was allowed to grow even further, until it secured a place for itself as the second most played game in the world.

Despite this high level of popularity, it wasn’t until 1986 that the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association, or the WPVA, was formed. With the growing rate of professional interest by both sexes, Volleyball was finally allowed to reach its full potential for popularity. Elementary, middle and high schools, as well as colleges all invested into the game by providing courses in Volleyball in their physical education, so that the sport was known in most households around the world.

While still trailing behind Soccer for popularity, Volleyball has done extremely well for a game with roots so young.