ok so I don't know how many of you know about one of my passions in life. ever since i can remember I've always been obsessed with playing volleyball. when I was in high school, I never played much but I would mess around in practice with the varsity team some. one time, i went up for a kill and landed on my ankle and was in extreme pain the next couple of weeks. i may have broken it. well, when I got to Texas I lived in Jester which was right next to the Greg. I don't remember the first time but I know I strolled into the greg probably planning on working out when I saw people playing volleyball for fun. I jumped in and that pretty much started it. I went to the greg as much as I could to "work out" but really I wanted to play volleyball. sometimes there would be really good games and sometimes there would be horrible playing. nevertheless, i played. a lot.
over the months I started getting better and better. it was really exciting. my sophomore year i enrolled in the volleyball class which helped me get way better. i decided to try out for the club team sophomore year and surprisingly, didn't make it. granted, i had not really played organized volleyball and didn't know rotations or different sets. i just knew to set it high and out for a 4. a bunch of randoms made the team that year and they ended up having a ton of drama. well the next semester i enrolled in the vball class again and by that time I was pretty good.
junior year, i was going back and forth between cowboys and volleyball. i didn't even know if I could make one much less both. the final tryout for vball was the day before the meet and greet for cowboys. at the tryout they started handing out green sheets for people to fill out and i was one of the last people to get one. i made it. i was so excited. i was a texas athlete. texas fight. that first semester was awesome. we had a really good team and a great coach. that was probably the most fun semester of college just because of volleyball. i looked forward to every tuesday/thursday. i would be playing a lot of volleyball that semester. with 6 hours of practice a week and 3 hours of volleyball class. it was so much fun. we even got to go to michigan for a tournament in which we did really good for being the only team from the south. we beat the host michigan state, ohio state, earlham college and i think that was it. we almost be purdue and this wesleyan college but came up short. we lost to iowa in the playoff in three games. so lame. that next semester we had all the drama and our team disbanded. we were given the option of staying but i didn't. that decision would probably come to bite me in the butt. i'll explain later.
that next year i was going to be the starting setter/captain of the second team but due to my stubbornness and ridiculousness, lost the title of captain and was flirting with losing my starting spot. let's be honest, the kid behind me was not good. he was not as good as i was and the coach knew that. while skill may be, well to me, 75% of the position the other 25% is all of the other stuff (attitude, commitment, blah blah). that kid received all 25 points of that. i was almost apathetic because our team sucked but over the weeks we started improving a lot. in november i got sick and couldn't play for a while. coming back to school in january i was so excited for the season. seriously, it was the only thing i could think about. i wanted to come back with a vengeance. after having such a bad christmas break, volleyball was going to be the thing that brought me out of this slump. and then i didn't make the team and i was crushed and confused. i thought i was better? didn't you tell me that i was the best player on the team? wow. it was pretty much downhill after that. i didn't even know what to think i was so shocked. not making the team was something that i didn't think was an option. the kid who was my second string got it over me. it was later when i found out the ENTIRE TEAM was in shock when they saw that he got it over me and they apparently wanted me instead. if anything, that is the only thing i needed. as long as my TEAM and not my COACH wanted me there, i was fine. honestly, i hold no grudge against him. he said that he did what was best for the team. i think a simple talking to would have sufficed. i explained how i felt about the team and he still say no. i was afraid that their new started would get hurt and he would be stuck with the other kid setting. who knew that this would be what would happen. at nationals. hmm. but seriously, i hold no grudge against the coach. he's a great coach but i definitely disagree with that decision that he made. even if he would've known what wouldve happen i don't know if he would've picked me.
concerning the decision i made, i didn't know who all was going to be on the team spring semester of junior year. at the time, i was second string of the second team and the first team's starter quit and they pulled up the starter from the second team and he ended up being their starting setter for that semester. of course, they didn't announce this to anyone. i could've still had practiced with the team and could've played every know and then which was exactly what i was doing on the second team. more importantly, if i would've stayed i would have most definitely volunteered to be president of the club after omar and pat left. i'm pretty responsible and could've done a good job at it so that would've have assured me a spot on the team for the next year. i could've convinced them that having one president be on the second team would be better for the club since the decisions being made just benefited the first team and not the second. if that would've happened, none of the stuff i just typed would've happened. i would've played that last semester and things would've have been great.
what sparked this post was the fact that a good friend is currently on the second team. i looked at his pictures of the team and its filled with freshman and sophomores. if i was on that team, i would be the starting setter and the captain, most likely. it almost makes me want to go back to school just so i can play volleyball, like a real athlete. just take random classes and play volleyball at the same time. i haven't played legit volleyball since i went to austin the beginning of september and went to open gym. so much fun. oh well. maybe sometime down the line i will get the opportunity to go back for grad school in which case i will definitely play then. hmmm
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