All students at CHS know about volleyball. To some, it’s one of the best units in PE, with teams made between grade levels. Juniors are paired with freshmen and sophomores with seniors. However, many students have not pursued volleyball beyond PE. I decided to dig deeper into the sport of volleyball, and detail my experience. 

As an incoming freshman, I first experienced volleyball outside of gym class when trying out for the boys’ volleyball team in March. This year, over half of the students trying out for the boys’ volleyball team were freshmen, which I’ve been told is a lot more than previous years. Despite the large number of incoming freshmen, whether or not there would be a freshman team remained undetermined due to the uncertain coaching situation. The students trying out assumed that they would need to make either JV, Varsity, or be cut altogether. 

Because of this, the first day tryouts started out nerve-racking, and many of us made silly mistakes. The ball bounced off our forearms in crazy directions and our serves wouldn’t make it over the net. As tryouts progressed, however, we became more comfortable and developed a groove. The returning players showed off their fundamental skills, and the new players tried to follow their lead. Once the coach announced that there would, in fact, be a freshman team (meaning there would be no cuts), the new players were relieved and happy.  In the end, two of the freshmen made Varsity, seven of the freshmen made JV, and the rest made the freshmen team. I ended up on JV, and when the season started, my interest in volleyball had not changed. My passion for the sport remained, and I wanted to become the best I could. 

So how did I pick volleyball? Previously, I had not given it much thought, but after talking to friends, I decided to give it a shot. The experience in gym class furthered my confidence in pursuing volleyball. I imagine that the main reasons why people pick a sport is because they have been playing the sport a long time, they enjoy playing the sport, they have friends playing the sport, or their parents are forcing them to do it. In my case, I had played in gym, and my friends said that they would do it. This was reason enough for me to tell my mom to submit my physical forms to the nurse, and attend the coaches preliminary meeting. 

There is practice everyday after school and sometimes on Saturdays. We run drills and scrimmage against other schools. With matches on average two times a week against other schools, volleyball keeps its players busy. I started off at the lowest level, with little experience along with most of the other freshmen. But our team has progressed quickly, due to the extensive practice and coaching. While there were some returning players who were miles ahead of us freshmen, the coaching was still tailored to our current skill levels. This built team spirit, which enabled us to improve together.

To anyone who’s looking for a sport, and to become part of a team, try volleyball. It may not be the easiest sport to pick up, but it won’t take long before you are hooked as I was.