Volleyball 2009

Shaking hands at the end of a game

OBJECTIVES

This year when the opportunity arrived for me to join the volleyball team I took it. I had never been in a volleyball team before and only knew the basics. I decided it would be a nice challenge as it would help me stay fit and I would be getting more involved in sports at the Regents. My aims for this activity were to improve my volleyball skills by learning from my coach and my team mates and become more school spirited

WHAT I DID

Training was held in the gym on Thursday and Wednesday lunchtimes. We also had the opportunity to play against other schools in the region. Our first match did not go so well as we were not used to playing together and many of us had hardly played volleyball before. As the trainings progressed we started to get along very well and could coordinate well together. My volleyball skills were improving every week , especially my serving. Everyone in the team grew more confident with themselves and with everyones ability to play well. As volleyball season drew to a close we were invited to participate in the ESAC volleyball tournament. ESAC stands for Eastern Seaboard Athletics Conference. This tournament involves schools from nearby regions coming together to compete. We did not win the tournament, but that did not matter. Our team spirit was the best it had ever been and we played so well together we won a few of our matches. We had come a long way since our first match.

CHALLENGES

A few difficulties presented themselves during this activity. Sometimes team members could not make practice due to lunchtime meetings or the fact that they forgot their kit. This meant we had less players and they missed out on practice time. However, no one got mad at anyone for missing practice as we understood why they could not make it. We always filled them in on what we had learned and they quickly caught up. Another issue we encountered was that at the beginning of volleyball season many of the other schools' teams had been practicing for many years and our team was newly formed. We did not let this bother and used it as a way to improve by watching their team tactics. We also always encouraged each other and supported one another when one of us made a bad shot. This kept the team spirit high and resulted in us all becoming very close.

WHAT I LEARNT

I was able to achieve my goals, as my serving and other volleyball skills have improved dramatically and I have become more involved in sports at my school. I also learnt how important encouraging your team mates is as it gives them more confidence in their abilities. Now I am always eager to participate in any sport event since I had the chance to experience how fun and beneficial it can be.

ESAC tournament photos: http://www.gardenrayong.com/gallery.php?folder=ESAC_volleyball_tournament&title=ESAC%20volleyball%20tournament:%20November&text=ESAC%20stands%20for%20Eastern%20Seaboard%20Athletics%20Conference%20and%20includes%20GIS,%20St%20Andrews,%20ISE%20and%20Regents%20schools.%20We%20won%20this%20tournament!