Competition: Love Hate Relationship
Well, my volleyball team has been practicing on Sundays and playing games on Monday nights. We’ve done fairly well this season and have made it into the playoffs. We’ve been playing a 6-2 rotation with me setting half of the time. I feel a lot of the time like our team takes a full game to figure out what’s going on before we actually start to play well. Not a lot of cohesiveness. But, I get good exercise and every now and then get to put in a good hit.
As a kid I grew up with my dad as my coach a lot of the time. I think he tried to be a sort of padding between kids and their controlling parents. He’d always say that the sport was a learning opportunity and that it was for fun. He emphasized the fun. I remember one time he put this girl that no one liked in as pitcher for a softball game. She walked every single person. We were so frustrated by my dad because we weren’t having fun when we weren’t winning.
Well, I’ve since learned my lesson. And now my team’s starting to argue and step on toes because we made it to the playoffs and now let’s start pointing out everyone’s flaws so we all feel terrible about each other because then maybe we can win. It’s kind of making me sick. Kind of behind-the-back sort of stuff.
They’re pulling me from setting “not because you’re bad, we’re just…um…trying a new strategy.” That sucks to hear. Especially because I honestly think I’ve been setting well. I could go off and play a blame game about how I get bad passes, but that would only make things worse. So, now I’m supposed to set the first ball after a serve when I’m in the back row and then play the post position for defense. But, that I can hit and block when I’m in the front row. That doesn’t make any freaking sense. But… whatever. I’m tired of arguing with people everywhere I go. If they want to do things that don’t make sense… whatever.
Well, one more game tomorrow night. I was tempted to tell them I couldn’t play because I feel so jerked around, but that would be bad sportsmanship. So, I’ll show up, play my best, be polite. I wish that people wouldn’t get so caught up in the stupid game so that people get smashed in the process.