4. Learning to play a sport.

23/09/2021, 11:16 - 11:31.

    Since I was a kid, the sport that has always fascinated me the most is volleyball. What could be more interesting than a grown-up version of don’t let the ball/balloon touch the floor? I always prided myself in being the best player in school, but I was nowhere near a professional player’s level, and that’s why I decided to join a local volleyball team when I was 15.

    The first day wasn’t the best. In fact, I didn’t train on my first day, nor did I for two months since I had foolishly sprained my ankle precisely while playing volleyball at school. Luckily, my recovery was relatively fast and I was soon training with my new team. With them, I quickly learnt more about the sport than I could have ever imagined: my position improved, I had much more control over the ball when setting, and I could make the ball go exactly where I wanted it to be when I received it! However, overhand serving and spiking was still hard for me, and it took me a lot of training to gain the necessary strength to hit the ball properly.

    Unfortunately, our team broke up. Two of my friends and I showed up for training one day but only our coach was there, and so he informed us that the rest of the team had quit because of diverse reasons. It was a sad moment, because I hadn’t gotten yet to play a proper match against a different team, and I wouldn’t even be able to actually play volleyball anymore. Even though the team dissolved, I still own a nice ball and I try to try whenever I can in my village, since there’s no space to properly do so in my town. I play with my cousins or friends whenever they come on a visit, and even though it’s the professional playing I was used to, I still enjoy it dearly.