Friday August 3^rd 2012

Day Twenty at Mountain Creek State High School

I left this morning at 5:30am and traveled on a bus with 16 teenage volleyball girls. The head of the Physical Education Department is the man who asked me to come along, and he was the driver of our bus. There was also a bus behind us holding about 18 teenage boys and girls with two male staff members. I found out that I am completely in charge of the year 9 volleyball team. I have never played or coached, so at this point I am a bit nervous. I was debriefed on the drive to the town, but I was still feeling a bit curious on what was about to occur. Basically I was handed a folder with all my tournament information, a bag with my jerseys, a bag with my practice balls, and a team of 8 girls. We were dropped off at the school and told good luck. I kind of have a quiet mental freak out session, trying to compose myself while these girls are looking at me for instructions. Thankfully the other bus was able to drop the boys’ team off, then come back to my school for about an hour before the open girls team had to leave for their game. This meant one of the male teachers and coach was able to guide me through the process. He helped me organize the team and get them started on their warm up. Once the game started he went through all the procedures and paperwork I had to complete ensuring the score keepers and referees had all the correct information before the game began. We even had the girls’ team cheering my team on for the first set. This totally calmed my nerves. Once they left, it was all up to me. I started with encouraging coaching, because I really had no other way of instructing them. All day throughout all three games, I tried to provide the team with confidence, encouragement, and energy; and it worked!!! We won ALL three games today. Tomorrow I have two games and Sunday I have one game. I am so eager to see how the rest of the weekend will turn out! I have been provided with an amazing hotel room all to myself. It is so nice to relax in my own place with a larger bed than normal. I am so thankful I have been given this opportunity! I think I can make a great impression with this staff group and it will be very beneficial in the long run.