I was eleven when I first played volleyball and I fell in love with the sport. I instantly aspired to join my school team. I was a sixth grader surrounded by almost sixty older girls with much more experience in the sport; however, I did not let that stand in my way. I tried my very best to make the team, but it was not my time. I was very upset, but I did not let that discourage me, I used it as motivation for the next year. The summer before the next tryout, I went to volleyball camps at my school in an attempt to better my skills so that I could be successful in making the team. Yet again, the improvements I had made were not sufficient and I did not receive a spot. Although I was heartbroken, all I could think about was what I could do to make the team the next year. That summer, I …show more content…
I could have let the pressure tear me down, but I used it to motivate me instead. I did my best to show the coaches that I could be as asset to the team, as well as being a leader on the court. My hard work finally paid off and my name was on the roster. Now that my first goal was accomplished, I was determined to become a starting player. I initially sat on the bench at the beginning of the season and that encouraged me to practice harder. By mid-season I advanced myself to a starter position and was able to help lead my team to many victories. As that season came to a close, I talked to the high school coach who agreed to let me practice with high school during the off season. That summer I participated at my schools camp and also attended NC State's summer volleyball camp. While there, I not only continued to fall in love with the sport but also fell in love with the campus and atmosphere of NC State from a young age. At my freshman tryouts, I was determined to impress my new coach with the skills I possessed, but I was rejected. I was overcome with sorrow and was disheartened but I continued to keep an optimistic
I needed to work 110% more than everyone else. The next day finally rolled around and two kids in my class named Jonathan and Travis were taking crap about me trying out, they just kept going on about how the team is already good and we don’t need anymore midfielders. I just ignored them and went on with my day. I also saw the coach in the hall after school, his name was coach Haven. He saw me with all my brand new lacrosse gear and didn’t say
We were going to win the game. That was the end of it. I knew it. We were the winners of that game. I stood up and yelled in a voice that even frightened me. I didn’t scream about moving our feet, or calling the ball, I screamed about how big of winners we were. I was done with moping. For seven minutes of my life, I had forgotten that I could do anything I set my mind to, and I had given up. The worst seven minutes of my volleyball career were those seven minutes in the third game of the final match at Brighton Volleyball Tournament. I had put my determination down to wallow in my disappointment. Disappointment needs to build determination. I had decided a long time ago that there were certain things in life that I could do better than other people. Those were my gifts. I use my gifts to my full potential.
In 2014 I was determined to make the high school soccer team. Every day at 8 am at the beginning of a dreadfully hot August morning, I would get to the turf fields for 4 hours and participate in “hell week”. After a long week, I made the JV team. I was never put into the game and felt like my hard work was put to no use. My sophomore year rolled around and I tried extra hard to impress the coaches. Anything and everything was a competition to make it to the top. By the end of the week, we all gathered around the paper that had names of the players who made it. I didn’t make the team. After tears and telling myself to move on, I went to the field hockey tryouts. I knew nothing about the sport and was terrified that soccer wasn’t my go-to
Playing for the Fredonia volleyball team has allowed me to be a part of something that is bigger than myself. Each day, I had the ability to improve as an athlete and leader in order to give back to Fredonia. From the first day of preseason, freshman year, I chose hard work over complacency and fought to represent SUNY at Fredonia the best that I could. Whether it was on or off the court, I knew that I was not only a student from Fredonia, but I was an athlete who shouldn’t bring any negative attention to the school. I hosted many recruits for the team and my coach gave me the majority of them, saying that I was someone who would be a positive role model for the students and parents to meet. Many of these recruits chose Fredonia and have said that I was one of the reasons that they liked this school so much. I dedicated many hours to becoming the strongest that I could be and believe that I will leave a lasting mark on the volleyball program. During my senior season, I was very excited to have broken the total assist record for Fredonia volleyball. The record was broken under my name, however it is a statistic that my teammates helping me earn.
I practically was born with a ball in my hands, and whether it was bumping the ball around the house or knocking over things that just happened to be in my path, I was always with my precious volleyball. My family is also rooted into into the sport. After my mom’s high school team at Central won the state championship, she went on to play at Southeast Missouri. She has been an inspiration to me, and at 10 years old I began to play club volleyball thanks to her. Being one of the youngest on my team, I never got much playing time, but that year of watching and learning helped me settle into a team the year
Malcolm X once said, “There is no better than adversity. Every defeat; every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.” I stared closely at the scoreboard, watching the seconds count down. I grasped that I would not be playing in this game or the next, or the one following that. This season would be a learning experience, an experience that would strengthen my mind and spirit. My first year on varsity soccer was truly a challenge. I struggled for the first time in my soccer career and faced many difficult obstacles, along the way. The season began, and I was immediately labeled as a “reserve” player. I was a bench warmer and a useless substitute, who had minimal playing time.
Volleyball represents my most meaningful commitment not just because I have invested so much into it, but also because it it’s a passion of mine and has been a part of my life since elementary school. The impact my coaches and teammates have had on my life has helped make me the confident and determined individual I am today. Volleyball also takes up a lot of time and there are many sacrifices that come with the sport and playing on a team. To keep up my skills, I have had to give up a lot of my free time and parts of my summer. Balancing school with practices was also a challenge, but participating in one of my passions made it worthwhile. I have persevered through difficult times and learned new lessons along the way, so there is nothing that could make this sport less meaningful to me. (148)
It was the most competitive three days of my life, basketball tryouts. This is the first time my friends and I were trying out for a school team, we were all hyped for basketball season. I entered the tryout excited and consequently energetic. Adrenaline was pulsing through all the players bodies, there were 6 foot tall 8th graders with years of experience competing against 6th graders who have never touched a basketball before for the same spots. I was in between, I was a 6th grader that had experience along with some skill. That was also my downfall, I went in overconfident and consequently cocky. I wasn’t planning on getting cut, I walked into the tryout overwrought, nothing could stop me from being on the team.
I figured I would get more playing time, at the varsity level, and improve my game dramatically. Little did I know my first varsity season my junior year would completely change my life. My first varsity game I was feeling all kinds of emotions. Nervous was the biggest and most common emotion that day. Coach was reading off the lineup and sure enough I made it in as the fifth batter.
Ever since I was young my parents said “Drew you should try new things, even if it means you fail at something.” I never really listen to them until one time in the study grade when I decided that it was ok to fail. I asked my parents “ Can we look for a club basketball team that I could try out for?” Thrilled in hearing that I wanted to try something new, they found I tryout for a team called the Cincinnati Royals. A couple of other friends agreed to try out with me, but I was still very nervous because it was my first tryout. All three of us made it through the first round of cuts and were called back for another tryout. I remember being more nervous for the second tryout than I was for the first. My palms sweated the whole night, every shot I took clanked of the rim, it wasn’t my night. My two other friends were told that they made the team, but I unfortunately got cut which I expected given how I performed. At first I saw this experience as an overwhelming failure, but I soon realized that I challenged myself, and I could learn from the criticism the coaches gave me. Taking the new stuff I learned from the tryout, I found a different club basketball team that I was fortunate enough to make, which I got to meet new people and play a sport that I loved. Although I may not have gotten the
That journey would create some of my most profound memories to date. It wasn’t always a smooth ride; during my early teenage years, I began to slump. My tournament results were subpar, I wasn’t enjoying myself on the court, and consequently my ranking was on the decline. We tried changing to several different coaches who all said the same thing, my on-court patience wasn’t developed, and I had to be willing to "suffer” more during matches. The problem, we were told, was that because of my innate talent, I wasn't motivated to push myself the extra mile.
When I was in the 7th grade I wanted to challenge something aside from the piano, like a new sport. At the end, I decided to join the school volleyball team. My team were all amateurs at volleyball, and we were not strong. At a match on our first year, we were completely beaten by a strong team by 25-0.With every loss, we shed tears of frustration and regret.
I started playing volleyball in seventh grade, and I had completely fallen in love with the sport. Growing up in a small town, our school always struggled to find coaches that were not related to players. In middle school, I would always be so angry that the important named kids got to play in the A team, while I was stuck in the corner with the B team. Eventually, eighth grade year I decided to join a club team, and increase my skill for freshman year. I enjoyed club, I had actually made the one team, and I had virtually no problems with anyone or anything that season. But, just as soon as freshman year rolled around my attitude changes a lot. I’ve gained the perfectionist trait from my mother, and with this mindset in a sport, you’re almost guaranteed to struggle. Freshman year I had just come off of club, so I knew so much more about the sport and its movements. Naturally I wanted to be perfect, I personally believe that I had done really well as a freshman, but when I messed up I became silent.
I had played on the volleyball team all through my junior high days, and was a starter on the “A” freshman team when I reached high school. As a sophomore, I couldn’t believe it when I got the towel thrown in on me. I was devastated when I was cut from the team. Volleyball was my life; I absolutely loved the sport. How could they do this to me? Everyone told me things would turn out fine, but how did they know? A close friend of mine wrote me a letter stating, “I know that right now it is hard to accept the paths that God has chosen for us, but I am sure whatever you decide to do with what has been thrown in your way you can surpass everyone else”. I thought about what that really meant, and decided she was right. I had been thrown something I was not sure what to do with or how to handle, but with a little advice from my brother, Chris, I decided to take a risk and try something new. I chose to become a member of our school’s cross-country team.
As I walked onto the volleyball court, I noticed people were screaming and cheering all around me. They were all around me, and yet they all sounded strangely distant. I was nervous. I was worried that we might lose, but worst of all, I was worried that I might end up letting my teammates down. Negative thoughts continued filled my head and I drew closer and closer to my position. Once again, I found myself asking whether or not I truly belonged on this team. Now, this certainly was not the first time I questioned my place on the team, but little did I know that it would be the last.