Hello All!
It is a wonderful thing to have an activity that you love in life. For me I think that is Volleyball. I have had the chance to play here in Wellington much more than I initially thought I was going to be able to and that has made me very happy.
This might sound funny, but there is something innately beautiful about volleyball. The way a good set just floats in the air waiting to get hit down. The dizziness feeling you get when a set has gone on for more than 20 seconds or so. The universal relaxation after a good pass or set (this is really fun to experience and watch). The feeling in your arms after a tough dig. The angles with which the ball can travel are amazing. The approach and power of a wonderful hit. Volleyball really is an amazing game.
There is also the team aspect, which I think is most important in pretty much all sports, but I will focus on volleyball. Back at Tech, I always make sure to attempt to keep the team morale up. This normally consists of lots of high fives and compliments. I have found in NZ volleyball there is a lot less of the communication in both respects. I still say lots of positive things, but it is the physical aspect that is really different. There are very few high fives and backpats. Maybe it is because I know these people less well, but even on the teams that play together there doesn’t seem to be much more team “spirit.”
The funny thing is though, it (referring to team morale) seems to stay much more centered than what I remember. For example, at Tech you could always tell when people started getting bothered by two many bad passes or shanked balls. That seems to be dialed down here, with no great shows of emotions for wonderful hits or for shit passes. I occasionally miss the pretend gunshots in the air, the wierd noises, the ace (or just random…cough Graham…) dances, the hilarious inside jokes, and of course the pre-game pump up music!!
However, upon coming back from my trip, learning more about myself and getting back I think more of my confidence is expressing my personality I have started adding that more and more into the games I am playing in. This includes the random dancing, gun shots in the air, ace jokes, and to a less extent the high five (the kiwis and others seem fairly resistant to it).
Another great point about volleyball is its ability to be played by a wide range of people. People of all types, sizes and ages. I have seem some really young people playing and some people I thought looked fairly old playing. But I think as long as you enjoy the game, that is what counts!
The thing I have loved is the aspect of coaching and the international side of the volleyball games. There are always people from various walks of life and cultures. The coaching has been fairly good, to be honest I have never really been coached before, and I often have to swallow hard my tendency to resist authority (i.e. I don’t like people telling me what to do) and remember that they are trying to help. With that said, I have learned more about strategy and look forward to implementing that on the Get You Some team this fall!!!
The point of this post is that I love Volleyball and hope to keep playing it for a good long time!
Cheers!
-Mathias