This weekend has been a rollercoaster of emotions. From confession on Friday, to all-day volleyball on Sunday, I finally felt as though I was living life to the fullest. My confession on Friday is part of my spiritual pursuit: God deserves to be worshipped for providing me with my blessings. Gratitude is something I have been struggling to practice, but with confession, I am forever grateful for Jesus, who died for my sins. I spoke to the priest and he encouraged my journey.
The day after, I had my first ever adult volleyball tournament. I played with a group who I was very skeptical at first, but was grateful to have the opportunity. The reason for my skeptisism was due to lack of humbleness on my end. I am not a good volleyball player; I often times shank a pass, hit the net, and aren’t fast. This comes at the detriment of whatever team I am playing for. That being said, I thought I was “above” the team I was going to play for. The format was co-ed 6s in sand. This was new to me. I played competitive 6s indoors my whole life and with high level players. Now I must adjust to lower level plays and on sand. Sand is great for me because I am slow, but I also dive without fear of injury.
The fact I was playing with a lower level of players I am used to brought about my poor defense. We ended up designating the 6-spot defender as the “short” player. “Short” being a reference to any ball played just behind the attackers. The other two in the 5 and 1 spot were designated as deep. Anything heading for the corners was their ball. This worked out for us, but we still played poorly.
I will attribute this to my own mistakes and our mood playing. I made a lot of mistakes and it took me a while to adjust to outdoor playing. The wind and sun were now a factor and I could not jump as high as I normally did. This lead me to several hits into the net. To be more specific, I believe my mind overcompensated for the sand. I kept hitting into the net, so I was over the ball. Still, an adjustment needs to be made.
Mentally, we struggled as a team. I appeared to be the loudest and most excited, whereas out captain was providing constant feedback. I love feedback more than anyone else (and this often shows in play), but most people who are casual enjoyers of the sport, do not handle it well. The feedback was about our playing and while it was true and not targeted towards anyone specific, it could appear as bashing by the others. This is what I assume occurred. The team was quiet and only smiled after I celebrated the point or came up afterwards with an encouraging high-five.
I enjoy going out, but this night was a blast. My friends were social and drank with me. My girlfriend was eager to have fun that night. We grabbed drinks, we took shots, and we danced a lot. Of course, there were some of my exes, but it ended up adding to the night. Truly, a fun way to spend my night
This was the highlight of my weekend. I got to play with my double’s partner from last week and learn more about beach doubles. This format is becoming the love of my life. Currently its because I am good at it. However, I understand this might change shortly when I begin to do tournaments and lose. I met a new beach player and she came all the way from California and she was fantastic. She taught me a lot and I am glad I got to play with her. We just got too lazy at points and lost a few crucial points due to that. I also got my passing down and now can receive with my platform rather than my hands.
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