THE LIFE OF A VOLLEYBALL PLAYER

Rubina Apoian

Cultural and Visual Anthropology

Dr. Leanna Wolfe

November 6, 2013

“Hi, my name is Ani Apoian and

volleyball is a passion of mine. It

is something I go to when I want

to free myself and get away.

Every time I throw the ball over

the net, I feel myself throwing my

problems and giving myself a

piece of mind. I can play

volleyball all day and I will never

get tired of it.”

“THIS IS MY VOLLEYBALL TEAM. THE AGES RANGE FROM 14-18 YEARS OLD. WE HAVE

THREE COACHES THAT HELP US TRAIN FOR OUR BIG GAMES. THEY USED TO BE

VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS JUST LIKE US, SO THEY KNOW THE DO’S AND DON’T’S. I LOVE HAVING A

GROUP LIKE MINE TO PRACTICE WITH. THEY HAVE TURNED INTO MY BEST FRIENDS.”

“Every day before practice, we have

conditioning. That is when we do warm-

ups so we don’t get sore during our

practices. We do everything from lunges,

running miles, and leaning on the walls to

get our legs stronger. As you can see, it is

very painful to lean on a wall for more than

ten minutes. Yes, it does hurt, but I have to

admit that it really helps during my games.

My knee pads help my knees from hurting

and scraping when I fall on the ground

during a volleyball game.”

• “This is when I FINALLY got my

jersey!! It was the happiest moment

of my life! All the practice and hard

work finally paid off and I have a

jersey with my own number! Every

person has their own number that

they choose and I feel like every

number is unique. Your number is

who you are. Some people on my

team even call me by my number

as a nickname instead of my own

name.”

“My best friend Natalie is on

the team with me as well. We

were about to go on a road trip

with our whole team to another

high school to play against

another volleyball team in a

different school. We managed

to sneak in a picture before

going on the road. As you can

see, I was so nervous that my

eyes were closed during the

picture!”

• “Here is where all the hard work is

needed! This is my team during an

actual game. My friend was trying

to spike the ball onto the other

side, and I was waiting right next

to her in case she dropped the

ball. I would be right there to throw

the ball to the other team.

Everyone was so anxious to see

where the ball was going to go.

Both me and the girl in pink on the

left side were waiting to save the

game in case the ball fell.”

• “This is my team the day after our

game. We were so happy because

we won the game! We decided to

take another group photo. As a

way to celebrate, we all decided to

wear pink because the team we

went against the day before had

pink jerseys. We wanted to feel

like we were winners and we

reached our goal. It was honestly

one of the best moments of my

life.”

• “These are two of my friends on the

team. We were at the gym, practicing for

another one of our games. We are all

required to wear spandex and tennis

shoes during practice and the game

itself. The reason we have to wear

spandex is because it allows us to move

freely and tennis shoes help us run

around and be comfortable. Knee pads

also need to be worn at all times, but my

teammates can be lazy and not wear

them. I, on the other hand, cannot be

without them.”

• “Even though we work very hard, we also

know how to have some fun and goof off.

Sometimes when we feel like we practice

too much, we play around and take goofy

pictures. Even though volleyball is a very

big part of our lives, we take some time

off and spend time with friends. All

teenagers in our age range love taking

pictures and posting them on Instagram.

This picture was actually taken to be put

on the social network. What can I say, we

were too tired to practice some more!”

“Practicing for volleyball is done about three hours

every day after school, Monday through Friday. After

class, we all come to the gym, throw our backpacks on

the floor and get ready to exercise and play! It can be

tough to juggle volleyball and homework at the same

time, but when you are playing a sport you love, you

learn to make time for everything. I know that school is

very important at my age, but I will not be able to live if

I don’t play volleyball. I will take tutoring lessons every

day if I have to finish my homework, but I will not quit

volleyball. I love it!”

Ani Apoian is someone I admire because I feel like she

is very passionate about what she does. I hope one

day I am as passionate about something like she is

about volleyball. I know that she will do anything in her

power to be the best volleyball player she can be. She

works very hard to be the best player on the team.

She is one of the most hard working people I know. I

wish I can be as hard working as her.