ISLAMABAD: Soon after the Tarawih prayers end each night in Ramadan, a playground in Islamabad’s D-17 sector comes alive under bright floodlights.

The quiet residential corner fills with the thwack of volleyballs flying across the net as players leap for smashes and spectators line the edges of the ground, cheering and clapping late into the night. Matches often stretch until 3am, just hours before Sehri, the pre-dawn meal before the day’s fast begins.

Volleyball, one of the cheapest team sports, has long been popular in Pakistani towns and villages. Pakistan’s national team currently ranks 44th out of 101 teams in the FIVB Senior World Rankings and seventh in Asia.

During Ramadan, however, the game becomes more than just competition. With daily routines slowed by fasting, nighttime offers a rare window for activity, socializing and community gatherings.

“It has been four years since I started playing here,” said Ismail Khan, who hails from North Waziristan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has represented Pakistan at the Under-19 level.

“Late-night matches in Ramadan have become a tradition. We are busy during the day and fasting, so the night is when everyone is free. That’s when we come together.”

This year, the D-17 Volley Club has organized a Ramadan tournament that has drawn teams from across the capital as well as nearby towns and villages. For many participants, the games are about more than winning.

Khan says the atmosphere during Ramadan is unique.

“It feels different in Ramadan,” he told Arab News. “There is more energy.”

The appeal of the matches extends beyond local players. Whyn Whyn, a volleyball player from the Philippines visiting Pakistan for the second time, occasionally joins games at the D-17 ground.

“This is my exercise. And through sports, I meet many people,” she said, adding that she often spends evenings rotating between different grounds in Islamabad.

Around the court, spectators gather on motorbikes or stand shoulder-to-shoulder near the sidelines, watching each rally unfold. The crowd’s cheers rise with every powerful serve or well-timed block.

“In Ramadan, the atmosphere is different,” Naveed Mahmood, who regularly comes to watch the matches, told Arab News.

“There are more people compared to other months. We stay here until Sehri.”

Children are frequent visitors as well, weaving through the crowd or sitting beside their parents while watching the games.

“I come here two to three times a week to watch volleyball,” said Muhammad Haroon, 13. “My father also plays here and watching him has inspired me to play as well.”

For Munawar Khan, the tournament’s organizer and a doctor by profession, the idea began five years ago with a simple aim: to keep people active during a month when daily routines slow.

“In Ramadan, people don’t have much activity during the day,” he said. “They are fasting and working. At night, they feel free. So, we decided to install floodlights and organize games.”

Over time, the initiative has grown into something larger.

Now, as the night deepens and the crowd lingers by the court, the rhythm of rallies continues beneath the lights, a small Ramadan ritual where sport, community and late-night energy meet until the approach of dawn.

“People from all walks of life come here to play,” Munawar said. “It brings the community together.”