Saying that you love something is easy, like how you love the new dress your best friend is wearing or how your friend is in love with a show on Netflix. When you actually love to do something, it’s not about stating how much you love it, but showing that you love it through the effort you put forth. When you love something you battle through your failures and mistakes. Love is when you play like it's the last time you will ever step foot on the court. Throughout my life playing volleyball has been the highlight of my extracurricular activities, so in spending my time to get better at this sport I have recognized the difference between loving and liking something. In the time it took me to actually love volleyball, I went through a vital journey …show more content…
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 …show more content…
I felt depleted, I thought that I had finally gotten the hang of my emotions on the court.
In return she stated, “Mistakes will always happen, you can't ignore them, but you also can't get caught up in them. I know it is hard, but you have to learn because that is how you get better in sports if you want to continue playing.” This thought whirled around my head for the following months; if I wanted to really excel in volleyball I had to finally fix my attitude, for the better. Like a pestering fly, it kept in the back of my head; a mother’s badgering voice egging me to dig deeper, and answer a question that had nagged me for years. Did I really want to play volleyball, to put all of myself into continuing a future that would include playing volleyball? On the day of my first tournament of my 4th year playing, I found my answer. It was a cold and dreary day in January. Ice and snow filled the streets of East Saint Louis. Just as an inexperienced driver tests out driving on the slippery roads of winter storms, my team and I experimented a new and unfamiliar way of playing
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.
Not everyone would agree that volleyball is America’s favorite pastime, but I think they're in denial. I spend virtually all my time practicing, playing, or watching volleyball, so that counts for something, right? The fast pace keeps spectators captivated in the simple yet overly complex game. Okay, it's not true that volleyball is “overly complex”
I have played volleyball for 5 years. I have played school volleyball for five years, and club volleyball for four. Throughout my years of playing, I have recognized a significant difference between club volleyball and school volleyball. I have played for two clubs in my four years of playing club. The first two years, I played for a club named Platform Elite. The last two years, I have played for Iowa Select, and this year I am playing my club season with Infinity X. Personally, I prefer club volleyball over school volleyball. Club volleyball and school volleyball can be compared in three different categories: price, competition, and “politics” within the sport and its’ players.
As most children did, I had the choice to play whatever sport I wanted. Considering my height, 5’10, most would assume that I played either basketball or volleyball. No one expected me to play tennis, and was surprised when I said that I did. During my elementary years, I played softball for seven years, and when I hit eighth grade, I decided to play tennis. My decision came about because of my sister. I had always followed closely in her footsteps because I looked up to her a lot, so when I saw she was playing; I wanted to try it out too. I had never really thought about what it would be like to play tennis. I didn’t hate it, or really know what it would be like to play it. And little did I know that playing would demand so much time, energy, and effort.
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)
Giddens, Sandra; Giddens, Owen. Volleyball Rules, Tips, Strategy, and Safety. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2005. Print.
The focus of this section is on volleyball skills; a presentation of factors that contribute to the dynamics of the game, gender differences in the game and determinants of winning or lowing matches. This framework provides a simpler way of understanding how the serve and serve reception play a role in the game of volleyball.
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.
...tting, digging and serving. But, practice time isn’t enough for this terms volleyball lessons to improve my skill level as it is only for 10 weeks. “The structure of your practice is the main reason for your success or lack of success as a coach” says Bobby Knight, and if practice is set by a coach/teacher along with my fellow class mates or team for this period of time every week, it will greatly effect practice every week to a higher practice plan for an achievement to an autonomous level.
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.
It was also important for me to make sure I was very approachable to everyone on the team and the younger volleyball players. This means that I was easy to talk to and made sure to leave all my problems at the doors of the gym and forget about them as I worked hard at practice or during a game. Being a good teammate means that I always had a positive attitude on the bench. When on the bench it is easy to become disconnected from the game and become negative as you are not getting playing time. I avoided these things by cheering for my teammates and making sure they feel supported as they make decisions on and off the court.
I had mixed feelings towards volleyball for a majority of the season. Earlier in the year I was chosen to be a floater meaning that I would play on both the
This limited my view but I was a home body. I also played club volleyball. Club volleyball is team that you try out for every year and the team that you get on will travel to other places to play other teams. You would play in tournaments the whole day and your team would try to win the whole tournament. If you win the whole tournament of course you would get the title but also you would get a specialized T-shirt for that tournament. The experience I received from that was great plus college coaches would come and watch you play especially if you contacted them and told them you were playing that day and where. The two reasons I decided to play club volleyball is because I had fun and I met new, different friends each team that I would get on. The different teams and coaches would later on shape my character as
It seems strange that a simple sport can do so much to a person, but it is not just a simple sport. To an outsider it is just volleyball, but to a player it is love, commitment, and family. It is a way to connect with people who become people in your life that are unforgettable. I have spent the past five years playing this sport with many different girls and I watched them as they grew up and went on to college and other things in life, and now I am that girl. I am now a senior in high school playing volleyball for the last year and I could not imagine what my life would be like if I had never tried this
“Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong” Julie Andrews. The sport of volleyball takes practice, and it also takes a major amount of team work (7). To play the play the game there needs need to be a knowledge of the rules, and how to play the positions correctly (5,7). The uniforms, rules, and positions have evolved greatly.