Personal Narrative: Middle School Volleyball

In high school, I was involved in volleyball, basketball, and softball. Throughout my whole venture, I had this one coach who followed me through every sport. Her name was Coach Lolly Arevalo. She was five feet tall, dark skinned, big green eyes, and a little muscular body, she had a masculine voice that terrified all the athletes every time she scolded us. “Do not stop till I blow this whistle,” those words motivated each and every one of us not to stop. The very first game I had my freshmen year in volleyball was a big, extraordinary moment in my life. When we walked into the gym that night to warm up before the other team arrived, butterflies began to flourish in my stomach as the excitement began to kick in. The bleachers were filled with people wearing red and white shirts, friends holding fan signs with your name, and family members who wanted to see you play the game you love. The excitement I was developing become even more known when the other team arrived. The girls looked as though they wanted to smash your face

I was doing everything I could to make Rock Ridge’s volleyball team. I was working out almost every day, I went to every volleyball open gym, and I went to many clinics and camps. Making this team was very important to me, and I didn’t know what I would do if I didn’t. I’ve been working very hard to get a spot on the team. However, nothing could mentally prepare me for the three-day long try-out process.

This was my first volleyball camp at Michigan Tech University this summer and I was ready. Coaches sorted us into teams, taught us some intermediate skills revolving around the technique of the game, and scrimmaging from time to time. My team leader was Ali Gerring, a recent graduate from Kingsford. We did bump-set-spike drills and six different rotations to get ready for our big scrimmage the next day. You could see the sweat glistening on our faces, and smell the hard determination to improve. You could hear players call for the ball at every court yelling, “Mine, mine mine!”

Being a scrawny fourth grader, my pigtail-wearing self decided that I wanted to try out for club volleyball. Whenever I watched a varsity game, I was captivated by the way they played. From the moment I tried out, I knew this sport was going to be something I loved. When

In my sophomore year of high school, the successful club volleyball season was coming to an end. I was eager to be a starter on my high school varsity team because my coach had promised me a spot weeks before tryouts. Every practice I came walking in, confident as ever, ready to challenge myself to become a better player. My team mates supported me and gave me self assurance that I would be a great athlete.

Growing up you learn that no one is perfect from famous childhood actors like Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and many more; but growing up in this society you learn at a young age if people see your failures and imperfections you automatically get teased and judged for it. Countless nights I’ve devoted myself to playing volleyball only to get my dreams crushed consecutively from sixth to eighth grade, finally making the team freshman year. This essay I will explain the effects of always being told by kids and coaches to give up or you’re not good enough.

Even with all these insecurities in volleyball I decided to try out for my high school team. I wanted to play as many sports as possible in high school and figured what better way to start off my career than with a sport I became slightly familiar with in middle school. Volleyball camps and tryouts began a couple of weeks before the beginning of my freshman year. I started with the camps thinking it would help me gain skills that would help me in tryouts. The camp definitely helped but I shortly began to realize that this was way more serious than any volleyball I had participated in before. I realized I was going to have to put in a ton of hard work if I was going to succeed in making the team because I was not only going up against other

Mark Zuckerberg once said “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks." Without the opportunity of taking a risk, I would have never learned the skills imperative to succeed. One significant risk I took during my high school career, was joining my school’s volleyball program.

Joining the varsity volleyball team was my greatest accomplishments as a freshman. Unfortunately, I was the shortest on the team. My teammates and coach often berated me because of my height, thus causing me to become discouraged. To me my height represented my playing abilities, it was as if my team was degrading me for my playing ability, rather than my height. I began to practice harder than ever before, I practiced from my freshman year to my senior year, continuously. Four years of consistent exercise and practice of basic volleyball skills enabled me to become the best player on my team, yet I was still receiving offensive remarks from my team regarding my height. After recognizing that no matter how stupendous my playing abilities were,

Volleyball kept me motivated - it made me work tirelessly to make the team. Though I knew I wasn’t the best player, my team constantly supported my efforts to become better. But, I struggled most with spiking because of my height and for that reason, I thought

Playing sports from a young age, one would speculate to discover their niche, and be able to pursue an athletic college career, however that is not always the case. As a child, I explored an assortment of sports including basketball, soccer, cross country, and subsequently volleyball. Moreover, it was not until my discovery of volleyball that I found a sport I truly loved. Although I loved the game, my skill level didn't quite come to par. I never touched a volleyball until 7th grade, let alone learned how to pass, set, and hit accurately. Wanting to improve, I assisted my dad in rigging up a net in the backyard and practiced every day of summer, occasionally utilizing my family members as teammates. Throughout middle school my passion flourished for this new game to the extent that I decided to join a travel league to continue playing year round. However, when I entered high school volleyball my

While learning and taking volleyball throughout this term I learned many different skills and concepts. Some of the skills I learned from this course were serving, forearm pass, setting, blocking, and spiking. Personally for me, I think the biggest skill I learned was setting. In taking this course, I think I have grown with the game better and have been taught new skills to apply to the future of playing volleyball. A skill that I believe perform well on is passing, while a skill I feel as if I could improve on is blocking. Lastly, if I could change one way in which I approached this course it would have to be to come in with a more confident attitude. I know that I'm not the best at volleyball, and that gets in my way sometimes, but I have

Tonight, is one of those nights. One of those nights where I sit down and reminisce about my life around this time last year. Volleyball was my main priority around this time last fall and the only thing I cared about.

For me, communicating my feelings is sometimes difficult, especially when I am playing volleyball with my sister. My sister gets a little high strong when we are playing in a tournament together. I, on the other hand, am more calm and laid back. This weekend we played in an open tournament called the Oasis Classic which is a very high level tournament for sand volleyball. The players that participate in this kind of tournament are the highest level of women players in the Denver Metro area. The first game we played two ladies named Darsee and Dominique, who we beat in two sets. The second team we played were Cat and Katie who have both played college and professional tournaments. We lost to them but we gave them a really close game. The third

Playing on the varsity volleyball team is an adrenaline rush like no other. To be able to play the sport you love with teammates that are like family, in front of a crowd of actual family members is the ultimate feeling. Playing is even better when you, a small town nobody, beat a ranked team in the first set. We had just beaten Humboldt 25-17 and I was on top of the world. We were playing like our lives depended on it and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.