Giving it another shot

I started playing volleyball when I was in 4th grade at St. Mikes. My mom was one of my coaches and most of my close friends were on the team with me. It wasn’t difficult to make the team-it was 4th grade, after all. Throughout the season, I began to love the sport and got to be pretty good (for a 4th grader.) In 5th and 6th grade, I made the team again. During both of those seasons, I got much better and felt pretty confident about moving up to the Varsity 1 or 2 team in 7th grade.
Try outs for the varsity teams were held in mid-August and were three days long. I had grown a lot taller over the summer and thought that I had a great shot about making the team. St. Mike’s is the kind of school where kids get REALLY GOOD at playing sports at an early age, so the competition is tough! There were a lot of girls trying out with me, but again, I felt sure I would make the team. At the end of try-outs on the very last day, we all received an envelope that contained a piece of paper. On that paper was the answer to whether or not I made the team. I will never forget opening that paper in the car after try-outs. My step-dad picked me up and my mom was waiting for me to call her at home as soon as I found out. I even told my step-dad, “I KNOW I made it-I’m not worried!” As I tore into the envelope, I realized how small my slip of paper appeared. It didn’t look like there was any information printed on it about when practice would be or anything. I opened the paper up and to my shock, sadness, and surprise, it said that I did not make the team. It didn’t help that the phone rang a second later with my mom excitedly asking if I made it or not. I was so upset.... It was at that moment that I vowed to myself, my mom, my step-dad and anyone who was within earshot that I would “NEVER TRY OUT FOR VOLLEYBALL AGAIN!” For a few weeks after that, I sank into a slight depression. I mean, I was used to practice with my friends and games and tournaments, and now I wasn’t even on the team! It took a few months, but I finally got over it. In 8th grade, I didn’t even give it a second thought-there was NO WAY I was gonna try out for volleyball.
That all changed when we went to open house here at Stevenson this in past winter where incoming freshman could tour the school. I walked into the gym and saw the volleyball table with a sign-up sheet for people interested in trying out for the team in the fall. To my surprise, my mom, who was touring the building separately from me, had already put my name on the list of people interested in trying out. I didn’t really think about it at that time, but I didn’t take my name off the list either.
Over the summer I didn’t attend any camps or clinics, but I did go to open gym at school to practice. After that first practice, and after I saw how good everyone else was, all of my old fears and insecurities about not making the team came back. Between my mom pushing me to try-out and me changing my mind a thousand times, I finally decided I’d give it another shot. After a week of try-outs and more feelings that I was making a big mistake, the final cut was made and….I MADE IT! I could not believe it! I was so amazed that I actually made the team! A few of my friends from St. Mike’s also made the team so I didn’t feel completely alone on this new team of girls that I’d never met.
Our season is coming to an end next week and I can’t say the season has been easy by any means. Between 10 hour-long tournament days, practice five times a week, drama between girls on the team, long nights of trying to get homework done after a game, and hard work physically, it definitely HAS NOT BEEN EASY! But I have learned so much along the way. I learned that I should never say never (like I did when I vowed to “never” try out again.) I learned that some people that you thought might be an enemy could actually turn out to be the friend(s) that you didn’t know how you lived without before you knew them. In fact, some of our most fond memories are yet to come-like homecoming this weekend!!!! Most of us are going together in a group and I cannot wait! I learned the TRUE definition of “team” instead of thinking about “me” or “I.” And I learned one thing about myself-if I set my mind to something, the possibilities are limitless. Being on the team this season has taught me to never sell myself short or believe that I “can’t” do something. All I can do is give it my best….fate determines what will happen from there. I don’t know if a spot on the J.V. team next year is going to be a reality for me or not. I do know that I will try out and at least give it another shot.