Personal Narrative- Varsity Volleyball Essays

It all started when i was in fourth grade. It all changed what inspired me came by whole big dream that i wanted to be successful at. I was at school just a normal day, and it was times to go to PE, and my coach got out a circular ball that i had never seen in my life. It was kinda colorful, it had some weird word written on it, but i couldn't see from where i was standing. My coach handed us each one of these balls, and coach called them volleyballs. My coach told us what to do and what not to do, so i was at this net, and just gave the ball a high five because that's what he said to do. Coach came over to me, and kinda directed me through and told me it was called a serve. That day i went home thinking about it, and i decided i want to do

While preparing for tryouts, I was expected to condition for two hours every day, playing and exercising vigorously. Once tryouts came along, I was in my best shape physically, but mentally, I still feared I wasn't good enough. Luckily, I was wrong to doubt myself because I made the team. All three teams spent hours practicing together, which made me nervous because most of the girls were more experienced. Even though I made more mistakes than the varsity players, they always encouraged me. Because of this, I became a better player and person. As the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu stated, “If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.” By allowing me to make mistakes without making me feel like a complete failure, the varsity players set a good example of leadership. Since they were understanding and did not assume an attitude of superiority, I was inspired to be humble and compassionate toward others. Honestly, I am glad I persevered through the tough times because it has taught me the necessary lessons to be a great role model. I hope I can motivate girls to not only play volleyball but to also express the importance of transferring the life lessons learned from the game to their everyday

Ever since 8th grade, I have worked hard a lot more when I play volleyball. Right when the varsity coaches asked me to join their practice, I knew that I had to work hard and that it will pay off. Now, at every practice, I would play my heart out even if I was playing with a fractured finger or a rolled ankle.

I started the first few weeks wanting to impress the head coach to prove to him I deserved a spot within the starting nine on the varsity level. I practiced hard, never goofed off, and went to the cages with my dad on the weekends. I wanted to make the varsity level to show my family and myself that I could do it and that I was good enough to compete at the varsity high school softball level. When I was younger, I made the team I wanted, I never considered failing to be part of me. The big week came, the teams were posted all seven freshmen had made a team but yet to find which side of the paper their name

It was my sophomore year, and the day had come to find out who made the varsity lacrosse team. We piled into the locker room to discover rows of brand new helmets. The list of the varsity players was written on the whiteboard. The team was excited, the locker room buzzing with noise. My heart dropped as I realized that my name wasn’t written there. My friends were admiring their new helmets and I had to hold back tears and disappointment. I know now that I still had to be developed at the junior varsity level, but it wasn’t easy to understand back then. At practice that day, I played out of pure spite, every move filled with rage. You aren’t good enough, I thought. I left practice that day without saying goodbye to my friends.

When I was in 6th grade I tried out for O.V.A. (volleyball) for the first time. From doing it I learned that when you put your heart into something you will accomplish it.

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

I had to let go of my dream of becoming a professional baseball player. I was filled with feelings of lethargy and emptiness, but in time those feelings gave way to a new type of strength in me; I began reflecting on myself objectively and decided to make the best of the remaining two years of high school.

My jumps became higher, my hits harder, and my blocks more effective. I apprehended that the moments of failure when my coaches chose not to place me on varsity were not something I could manage, but my dedication and my play were something I could. Once I realized I could only control myself and my play it created all the difference. Prior failures pushed me to become better, not by others standards, but by my own. Senior year I achieved the all tourney team at a tournament and ended my volleyball career with my best game by far, not to mention I endured my most enjoyable season yet. Maybe I didn’t accomplish signing my name to a college career, but I did achieve becoming my best athlete and overall my best self. Overcoming failure in volleyball forced me to become more positive and taught me to overlook the small failures in life. I may not have a lifelong career in volleyball, but the lessons I learned from failures in the game are sure to last a

I finally told my mom that I wanted to volleyball and to find me a team. So she made some phone calls and got me on a team. When she told me that I can play and that my first practice was next week my stomach dropped. The next week was here in no time. That day at school volleyball practice was all I could think about. I don’t remember anything we did that day in school except for in pe I was playing basketball by myself and Kylie, a girl in my PE asked if she could play with me “No I said rudely” I was not in the mood for making friends. What if my coach is mean and hates me? What if i’m the worst on the team? What if all the other girls on the team are mean?

The whole team and I had practice every day in the afternoon, and I was excited to learn and play every day. Time to time I was seeing some results like: I could serve, bump, and hit. I was thrilled to play, and obviously be around with my friends. It was the moment I got super into volleyball, that I couldn 't wait to touch a ball. Everyone told me that I improved so much, and that I should never quit.

On the last day of volleyball tryouts, I felt nervous. I knew if I didn’t make the team it would be okay. I went thought the whole tryout thinking “ I know i’m not going to make it.”I went to go help set up the nets in the gym. I went up to my friends and I said “Good luck.”

Suddenly, I went from loving volleyball to hating it. The first day of practice wasn’t going to be perfect, we all had to get back into the groove of the sport. The skill was still there, just needed some touching up. My coach just didn’t understand that we needed to get some practice in before we could be anything great, he figured that we had spent all summer practicing and preparing ourselves for the season, which again wasn’t the case. Most of us had full time jobs all summer that we were forced to have. My coach didn’t even want us working, he thought we should have spent all summer in the gym practicing. During practice,

This year my volleyball team was up and down the whole season, it was like a wooden roller coaster, rocky. We started out atrocious, we got better, then it all went down hill. This worked out for the better since we all learned the consequence of partying when committed to a sports team. There were certain parts of the season that specifically stuck out to me and impacted me the most.

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.