Volleyball Tournament Hosted by Texas Nonprofit Inspires Sense of Brotherhood

On Sunday, October 27, the newly formed Texas Qazaq Foundation made its public debut by hosting a volleyball tournament at Spike Sport Club in Missouri City, just south of Houston. 

The tournament, titled Dostyq Cup, hosted six teams from the Houston Greater Metropolitan Area, Austin and Chicago that battled it out in a two-hour preliminary round followed by a two-hour finals round. Chicago Bars (bars meaning snow leopard in Kazakh) triumphed to first place, beating out Houston’s KZ Sleep, who held their own, led by team captain Sabyrzhan Darmentayev.

Even though only one team could come ahead of the others, no one harbored any ill feelings, as the tournament lived up to its name of friendship.

Gaziz Musali, a software engineer living in Austin, traveled three hours with his team, Austin Brothers, to compete in the event. Although his team lost every game, he was happy with how the tournament turned out. He emphasized that the day was more than just about winning. “It’s a friendship cup,” he said, adding “Just to be with the community was the most-important thing for us.”

Timur Kusdavletov shared a similar experience. Kusdavletov’s team, Kaspi Bar Ma, finished out the event in third. The placement wasn’t ideal, but as he explained, he felt, “Excited but frustrated. We were so close to getting into the finals.”

But the opportunity to meet with friends he hasn’t seen in a while made the team’s placement worth it. “Just having fun. Community building, the relationships, meeting friends and family,” he said, was the real reason he felt compelled to join his team in the tournament.

Alash Mendybayev, a founding member of Texas Qazaq Foundation, joined his own friends in forming the team Happy Nomads. And although his team placed fourth overall, he earned recognition as the tournament’s best spiker. Mendybayev spoke about the tournament’s main goal of fostering team spirit and how a volleyball tournament is ideal for building on that. Volleyball is a very good instrument for community building,” he said, explaining. “Its six players, in every situation, support one another.”

Mendybayev also shared his enthusiasm for joining such tournaments in the future, a sentiment expressed by others throughout the day. “Hopefully, we’ll have more events like this,” he said. “Hopefully Texas Qazaq Foundation will unite not only Kazakhs but everyone who has the same spirit as we have—a nomad spirit.”