Volleyball

A good friend of mine recommended that I should write a piece about volleyball. So I will.

Volleyball isn't a sport usually associated with men, nor is it popular in Kansas City, where I grew up. But because I went to a Catholic school growing up, they offered boys volleyball. Watching my older sister play, I definitely wanted to jump in and try the sport. It was made available to the boys in fifth grade and many of my friends joined as well. Needless to say, we were pretty good. We won three city parochial league championships from fifth to eighth grade and began playing club volleyball in eighth grade. I developed into an above average player and played nearly every position that I could, and excelled at it.

Men's volleyball was not offered at my high school, but my school offered a Power Volleyball class that could be taken as many times as possible. Let's just say that I definitely took advantage of that opportunity. I took the class a total of five times out of eight possible semesters. I also wa sa teacher's assistant for two more semesters of the class where I still got to play. I had plenty of practice chances and kept my talent at a high level.

After playing football for one year and running cross country for two years, my senior year of high school I decided to be a manager for the high school volleyball team. This was one of my greatest memories and I was unbelievably happy with my decision. I joined three other managers, who I was good friends with, and we had an absolute blast. The girls were all fun and kept things loose and relaxed around the program.

I entered college looking for a chance to play volleyball. K-State was my dream school and they happened to have a Men's club Volleyball team. I began to practice and play with the team and by my sophomore year I was the President of the club. With the help of the treasurer, who did ALOT of work for the club, we began to make the club grow. We became more competitive and started playing in a lot more tournaments.

This last semester, I took a Coaching and Officiating Volleyball class at K-State. At the same time, I occasionally helped coach my brother's 7th grade volleyball team. By the end of the semester, I had coached two of my brother's matches, and finished with a 120% in the coaching class. Both my instructor and the head coach of my brother's team gave me positive reviews about my coaching ability and gave me some encouraging advice about becoming a coach.

Volleyball has been and will remain a big part of my life and I may eventually coach it when I am a teacher.