THE LIFE OF A VOLLEYBALL PLAYER

Rubina Apoian

Cultural and Visual Anthropology

Dr. Leanna Wolfe

November 6, 2013

“Hi, my name is Ani and volleyball is a passion of

mine. It is something I go to when I want to free myself and get away. Every time I

throw the ball over the net, I feel myself throwing my

problems and giving myself a piece of mind. I can play volleyball all day and I will

never get tired of it.”

“THIS IS MY VOLLEYBALL TEAM. THE AGES RANGE FROM 14-18 YEARS OLD. WE HAVE THREE COACHES

THAT HELP US TRAIN FOR OUR BIG GAMES. THEY USED TO BE VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS JUST LIKE US, SO THEY KNOW THE DO’S AND DON’T’S. I LOVE

HAVING A GROUP LIKE MINE TO PRACTICE WITH. THEY HAVE TURNED INTO MY BEST FRIENDS.”

“Every day before practice, we have conditioning. That is when we do warm-

ups so we don’t get sore during our practices. We do everything from

lunges, running miles, and leaning on the walls to get our legs stronger. As

you can see, it is very painful to lean on a wall for more than ten minutes. Yes, it

does hurt, but I have to admit that it really helps during my games. My knee pads help my knees from hurting and

scraping when I fall on the ground during a volleyball game.”

• “This is when I FINALLY got my jersey!! It was the happiest moment of my life! All the practice and hard work finally paid off and I have a jersey with my own number! Every person has their own number that they choose and I feel like every number is unique. Your number is who you are. Some people on my team even call me by my number as a nickname instead of my own name.”

“My best friend Natalie is on the team with me as well. We were about to go on a road trip with our whole

team to another high school to play against another

volleyball team in a different school. We managed to

sneak in a picture before going on the road. As you can see, I was so nervous that my eyes were closed

during the picture!”

• “Here is where all the hard work is needed! This is my team during an actual game. My friend was trying to spike the ball onto the other side, and I was waiting right next to her in case she dropped the ball. I would be right there to throw the ball to the other team. Everyone was so anxious to see where the ball was going to go. Both me and the girl in pink on the left side were waiting to save the game in case the ball fell.”

• “This is my team the day after our game. We were so happy because we won the game! We decided to take another group photo. As a way to celebrate, we all decided to wear pink because the team we went against the day before had pink jerseys. We wanted to feel like we were winners and we reached our goal. It was honestly one of the best moments of my life.”

• “These are two of my friends on the team. We were at the gym, practicing for another one of our games. We are all required to wear spandex and tennis shoes during practice and the game itself. The reason we have to wear spandex is because it allows us to move freely and tennis shoes help us run around and be comfortable. Knee pads also need to be worn at all times, but my teammates can be lazy and not wear them. I, on the other hand, cannot be without them.”

• “Even though we work very hard, we also know how to have some fun and goof off. Sometimes when we feel like we practice too much, we play around and take goofy pictures. Even though volleyball is a very big part of our lives, we take some time off and spend time with friends. All teenagers in our age range love taking pictures and posting them on Instagram. This picture was actually taken to be put on the social network. What can I say, we were too tired to practice some more!”

“Practicing for volleyball is done about three hours every day after school, Monday through Friday. After class, we all come to the gym, throw our backpacks on the floor and get ready to exercise and play! It can be tough to juggle volleyball and homework at the same time, but when you are playing a sport you love, you learn to make time for everything. I know that school is very important at my age, but I will not be able to live if I don’t play volleyball. I will take tutoring lessons every day if I have to finish my homework, but I will not quit volleyball. I love it!”

Ani is someone I admire because I feel like she is very passionate about what she does. I hope one day I am as passionate about something like she is about volleyball. I know that she will do anything in her power to be the best volleyball player she can be. She works very hard to be the best player on the team. She is one of the most hard working people I know. I wish I can be as hard working as her.