I showed up to the Raptors volleyball practice with no experience in the sport outside of my fifth grade gym class. Although I had extremely limited knowledge of the rules in volleyball, I remembered how to hold my arms for a pass. At least I thought I did.

After convincing her to train and teach me, Junior Holly Adams warmed up with me and I learned to “pepper”. Peppering is a simple warm up in which players hit the ball back and forth in three different ways: bumping, setting, and hitting. Bumping is the traditional pass in which a player uses their forearms to hit the ball up and setting pushes the ball over your head into the air. Finally, a downward and forceful swing can be used to hit the ball over the net to score points. Although bumping should be the first and simplest type of pass, I found much more success in overhead serves and sets.

Somehow, the players seemed like everything came naturally for them. Even though I was doing everything the same, the players were somehow able to direct the ball exactly how they wanted. I don’t understand how they were doing the same thing as I was, but at a much more graceful and eloquent level.I could only accredit their talent to their years of practice and work towards playing volleyball. 

We moved onto another drill in which one player had to return another’s hit but freeze immediately after to isolate their form. With the way the ball hurtled hard and fast towards the ground, I soon realized it can be very difficult to receive. Seeing so many of the players confidently committing to diving and sprawling out to receive the passes shocked me. My partner, Junior Lyssa Lashus, was incredibly patient with me despite the countless missed hits and passes I sent her.

In the last drill, I was placed with a few of the other girls to serve the ball to a few players on the other side, with a consequence of squat jumps if you missed. I knew the idea behind the overhead serving motion was similar to hitting, but I’d never successfully done it before. Although I did my fair share of squat jumps, I was impressed with how many shots I was able to place on their half of the court.

By doing this serving drill I noticed the level of focus the players maintained while also making sure to communicate with each other and strengthen their bond as a team. There were almost no moments in which they were messing around or playing slowly, and I was struggling to keep up with their pace during the drills. It was evident in their playstyle, speed, and communication that the players had created a smooth system driven by their sense of teamwork and intensity.

Thanks to the acceptance from Coach Gritte and Kossa as well as all the players, I was able to follow along and get a firsthand experience of the sport for the first time. As out of place as I looked and felt, multiple players like Holly and Lyssa were very patient and accommodating in allowing me to practice with them. Regardless of my complete ignorance to the sport and the utterly lost look on my face, the girls were very quick to explain and let me practice with them while still maintaining a focused and hardworking attitude towards practice.