said in my last post, volleyball is currently my life. High school training begins in June, season starts in August, and ends in November. Club tryouts are in November and the first practice is the week after Thanksgiving. Club takes me all the way to June, where I again begin high school training, along with beach tournaments. It is a long, vicious cycle that I have come to love over the last year or two of playing. The first time I ever played the sport was less than two years ago, on my eighth grade team. We may not have been any powerhouse by any means, but this team definitely kick started a whole new life for me. After the middle school season, I decided to take the sport into my own hands and try out for clubs. I do not mean to brag or anything like that, but I am naturally athletic - it is just the way I am. So I picked up volleyball very quickly, thanks to my natural athleticism but also thanks to my sister who was already playing it. Club season last year was beyond fun last year on 14 White at my club, that I will not state the name of (for privacy purposes). The white teams at the club was like a "B" team, but was still considered a national team. I worked my butt of that season, along with that summer and my freshman year of high school volleyball, in which I made Junior Varsity. It definitely payed off, as I was moved up from the white team to the black team the following club season of my freshman year - I was finally on an elite team, a team that is the best in the state, a team that last year was third in the entire region. It felt more than amazing to be on this team, because of the caliber of play, the beyond talented and friendly girls on the team, and most importantly, my coach. I could never use a different name to describe her, as she is a unique, one of a kind, kind-hearted personality that could never be substituted for anything else, but I know I must. This coach - Jessica we will call her, as it was the most popular baby name of her birth year - absolutely changed my life. Both inside of volleyball and out, I cannot imagine my life without her. Coaches to me are some of the most important people in my life...every single one of them has left a mark on me somehow, whether it was a soccer coach or volleyball coach. But none will ever match how much Jessica means to me. And with my 15 Black club season coming to an end only one week ago, I cannot put into writing how emotional I was after our last game of our last tournament of the season. I cried and cried and cried, and hugged Jessica as if it were to be my last hug in the world. There is always next year, and I know Jessica will be coaching us next year, but it is six months away; and I am nothing but scared that in these six months, both myself and the rest of the team will slowly start to forget how close we were to each other. That really is my biggest fear right now. That I won't be able to see my teammates and my astonishing coach for six months. Yes, I may see them at open gym, or at a high school game. But I will miss our fun practices, our incredibly hilarious moments together at tournaments, and playing volleyball with my favorite people in the world. High school volleyball does not in any sense of the imagination compare to club - it truly is a different game, and I am going to miss playing on 15 Black (now 16 Black) more than anything for the next six months. My next blog will be about how Jessica changed my life, because it truly is too much to put all in this post. She changed my view on the world, changed how comfortable I was with myself, and ultimately changed everything about me - in the best of ways. I am excited to share her story with everyone, and how it effected me. God bless everyone and have an entertaining day.
Yours truly,
Emily
Yours truly,
Emily