ALL PLAIN OUTSIDE, ALL GAME INSIDE

By Robert Balajadia

The Okkodo Bulldogs play a stylish brand of volleyball. The teams make-up is well rounded in all aspects of the game, which is relevant given the amount of All-Island talent (5 total) that flood the roster. Everything about the Bulldogs is high-profile except for the obvious, their uniforms.

Plain blue, or plain red t-shirts with white numbering. No school logo, no last name, and for 2015, no losses, going unbeaten for the entire 2015 regular season.

“It’s not about how we look, it’s about how we play,” said Bulldogs team captain Gary Aromin on the unis.

The story behind the vanilla design isn’t as deep as you might think, but superstition and cost efficiency were big enough reasons as to why the team decided to keep it simple. The boys won the 2014 title in that same fashion so changing it now just seems wrong.

“We are a pretty superstitious team. Winning last year may have influenced us to keep it simple this year, but our main focus is that we don’t want it to reflect on how we play,” said Aromin.

Bulldog Gary Aromin and the boys are more focused on their play on the court rather than how they look doing so. (GSPN photo)

Not that they didn’t have the option to. At the beginning of the year, head coach Don So brought up the idea of improving on the uniforms, but the team collectively declined on changing the design. Instead, they were dedicated on improving their game while keeping more money in their wallets having saved on not belching out for a new look.

“We at least tried to get our last names in the back of the jersey, but coach ultimately decided that we just go completely plain,” added Aromin.

With not even the school name or logo on the jersey, it’s pretty tough to figure out who these guys play for if seeing them for the first time. Though after watching a game, you’d never forget their faces or what they were able to do on the volleyball court. The boys of Okkodo have embraced the plain outfits and somewhat enjoy being mysterious to the opposing crowd.

“We always do our best to not let the crowd get to us, and not knowing our names sure might help if the opposing crowd doesn’t know who you are. We can’t say the same for our home crowd though, they are always calling us out by name,” laughed Aromin.

The Bulldogs will face off against the JFK Islanders in the semifinals Tuesday, May 19th, and are hoping to be playing for the 2015 title come Thursday May 21st. If the team is able to notch two titles in their plain blue or red shirts then expect the plain design to never change.