Python Boys: First Generation Volleyball
“On April 10, the volleyball boys will officially have their first game of the season. We aren’t sure how the season will go, but we can make sure to wish them luck as they take on new challenges and build a foundation for the future of Comp Sci High boys volleyball.”
Through the years of Comp Sci High, we have had a variety of sports that range from basketball to football and now soccer. However, through its quiet history in the school, a sport that has grown a lot this year is volleyball. But unlike the basketball team, which has a boys and girls team, the sport of volleyball has only had a girls team since the sport was introduced to the school. That all changed during the 2024-25 school year, when the newly added boys volleyball was announced.
Although this sport isn’t new to the school, it is new to the coaches, such as Coach Marisa, who has not had the experience coaching boys. Additionally, volleyball is a new sport for a lot of the boys on the team. I wanted to know what they want to accomplish over their first year playing volleyball and what it’s like to play volleyball.
When talking to Coach Marisa, I asked her about how she is approaching coaching boys. She told me: “With the girls, there’s a lot more intervention that needs to happen when they're talking to each other. Sometimes the nature of girls is that we take things too personally. I have to make sure when the girls are giving each other feedback that they aren't unintentionally ruining their relationships with each other.” Although I can’t personally say anything about this, I know some of my cousins and friends have unintentionally ruined friendships over minor feedback. She pointed out this difference with the boys when she said, “With the boys it's about finding the balance between giving them the space to be hard on each other while also making sure they're not taking it too far.” It sounds similar to what I'm going through on the Monroe Volleyball team. After our recent losses, we kept it real with each other and all decided to work together to become better as a team and as individual players.
On the aspects of teaching the sport, Marisa stated: “The boys just need a little more work getting into certain positions that would make them better at retrieving the ball.” She went a little into detail about how in other sports, the movement between guys and girls are different. However with volleyball, the movement is pretty similar, but is more favored for girls who are known to be more flexible, which can play a huge part in volleyball.
“Overall,” Coach Marisa said, “I love coaching and learning how to adjust my coaching style to better serve both our girls and boys teams.”
As players, we always have something we want to accomplish, something personal or for the team throughout the season or even for a game. When I asked this question to Elizer, one of the seniors on the team, he told me: “What I'm trying to accomplish this season is to win as many games as I can with my team and to just have fun on the court.” While it may be a general statement, it is one that many players can relate to. Even though playing can be frustrating at times, it’s always good to remember to have fun on the court and just play.
Sophomore Aaman gave me a team and personal goal he’d hope to accomplish this year. He said: “Something I'm hoping to accomplish this season is winning our first championship and to try to become one of the best setters on the team.” Both goals that Aaman has set for himself are difficult to achieve. Many people can understand that winning a championship requires a strong desire from the entire team. This comes with the players dedicating themselves to the sport, the coaches helping the players, and overall a team effort. Additionally, being a setter in volleyball is an effort on its own, since setters are the players who have to adjust the most and think the most of any other player on the court.
Now to add on, since the sport and team are new to the players I wanted to know what it’s like to play for a volleyball team. Elizer answered this by saying, “It's really exciting to play for a team and especially because I'm one of the first seniors playing for the team.” In the school community, we all know that towards the end if not the end of the season, seniors get a special night called senior night. This is like a mini graduation for the sport and team the senior played for. Aaman, who played on the soccer team, said “Playing on the boys volleyball team is very different from playing soccer because this sport mainly focuses on your hand-eye coordination which is something I need to work on if I want to become a great setter.” Aaman has already realized that in volleyball, even the slightest difference in the way your hand or arm is positioned can affect how the ball ends up in play or not. For him, he has already realized the difference between soccer and volleyball, and it is something he’ll have to learn if he wants to adjust into a new sport.
On April 10, the volleyball boys will officially have their first game of the season. We aren’t sure how the season will go, but we can make sure to wish them luck as they take on new challenges and build a foundation for the future of Comp Sci High boys volleyball. This will be the first generation of CSH boys volleyball.