Personal Narrative: How Volleyball Changed My Life
I have played volleyball for ten years but did not play competitively until four years ago. I decided I needed more competition than what recreational volleyball was offering so I began to play club. After two years of great coaching I had become a very good all-around player until my knee injury. You never expect yourself to get injured but once it happens you begin thinking what you could’ve done to prevent it. We were playing an away game and our team was down but we were coming back. My coach and parents told me this was probably my best game all season until I landed on a teammates foot coming down from a block. All I can remember is hearing and feeling my knee pop and then falling to the ground. Typically, when I get injured I can suck
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This changed how I now approach situations, by being more proactive instead of waiting to do it later. The nine months without volleyball seemed excessively long. I had never gone that long without playing the sport that I love, but with my time off I was able to learn about the coaching side of volleyball. I was able to grow very close to my father, who is a volleyball coach, which he says helped me to become a well-rounded player. Once I was able to come back it was hard. I had to relearn the approach to accommodate my weaker knee. I spent many long days in the gym trying to get back to how I used to be able to play, sometimes to the point of tears since I couldn’t improve. Eventually I began to play like I normally would making me confident for when I tried out for the varsity team in the fall of my senior year. I was able to return and make it onto the varsity team and then decided to play one final season of club with my dad as the coach. I thought I was safe from reinjuring until one tournament where I landed and my knee popped. It felt like my world was falling apart again. Luckily I had not retorn my ACL but this made me put more work into strengthening both of my knees. I am glad to now be out of this journey and on to a new journey in my
This changed how I now approach situations, by being more proactive instead of waiting to do it later. The nine months without volleyball seemed excessively long. I had never gone that long without playing the sport that I love, but with my time off I was able to learn about the coaching side of volleyball. I was able to grow very close to my father, who is a volleyball coach, which he says helped me to become a well-rounded player. Once I was able to come back it was hard. I had to relearn the approach to accommodate my weaker knee. I spent many long days in the gym trying to get back to how I used to be able to play, sometimes to the point of tears since I couldn’t improve. Eventually I began to play like I normally would making me confident for when I tried out for the varsity team in the fall of my senior year. I was able to return and make it onto the varsity team and then decided to play one final season of club with my dad as the coach. I thought I was safe from reinjuring until one tournament where I landed and my knee popped. It felt like my world was falling apart again. Luckily I had not retorn my ACL but this made me put more work into strengthening both of my knees. I am glad to now be out of this journey and on to a new journey in my