volleyball... the road to learning how to serve

One thing most members in my family share a love of... it's volleyball. Or at least, we did share a love of it when we were younger! I loved volleyball. REALLY loved it. When Katie started 6th grade, she took P.E., and learned how to play volleyball for the first time, and LOVED it. Her P.E. teacher even told her she was a natural at it, and had she ever played before?! Nah, must be in the genes!

When the news came that she could play volleyball in 7th grade, she jumped at the opportunity. Every morning that first week of school, I took her in at **yawn** 6:15 a.m. for her to play volleyball, and really, to try out to see which team she would make for that season. It was either the A/B team, or the Go team (the C team....). She was hoping for the B team, b/c there were several girls who have been playing for years already on a recreational team.... and they were pretty good. She was told over & over again how great she was... how awesome of a setter she was... but she made the Go team. She said the main coach came over immediately after she dismissed them all, and said "Katie, it was a CLOSE decision, as I had to pick between either you or another girl." Katie said "well, that made me feel just a little bit better."

There were over 80 girls who wanted to play, and ALL of them get to be on a team. Which, I'm not totally against, as I think it's a great opportunity for all girls to get some exercise, and learn how to work together and create a talent!

However, there were so many girls on the Go team, they had to create 3 teams. Which means, Katie only gets to play 3 times out of 9 games they play each week. Big bummer.... Plus she only gets to practice once a week, except for the week she plays, then she gets two practices that week. So, in reality, they don't learn THAT much. However, when I met her coach, she was so excited to tell Katie that she was chosen as a setter for her team... I was proud. Katie's a much better setter than I ever was!

Last week, she finally got to play! What was so funny was watching the girls practice their serves. They all lined up at the line, and just went at it. Both sides. Balls flying everywhere. Chaos, really!

Katie was the first one up to serve... talk about pressure for this already nervous gal!

We have been working on her serve for WEEKS!! Her Highland dance teacher used to be a P.E. teacher, so she helped one night, which helped immensely. Another friend who is in 8th grade in our neighborhood has helped her out on the tennis court in the neighborhood... and her tips helped her out as well.

and it went over!!

Sadly her second serve missed the net by a few inches.

Sadly, both teams really don't know how to serve. What confused me was the rules. If one team didn't make it over, the other team got the point, and vice versa. So, if Katie's serve didn't make it over the net, other team scored. If she did make it over, and the other team bumped it back, and our team let it go to the ground in bounds, then the other team got the point. Kind of confusing. We didn't see a whole lot of action of the ball going over the net. Guess it all needs to be baby steps...

here the ball actually came Katie's way, but hit the net and didn't make it over, but still a great "get the ball" shot!

In all, her team won all three rounds they played! They have to win by 2 points though, and it's called a game. We also found out that several players on the B team are getting cut to the Go team soon, so Katie's crossing everything crossable on her body that she'll be able to go to the B team and practice more (translation... 4 early morning practices a week!).

Here is a small video of Katie serving... notice she bounces the ball. A LOT!!!