“3...2...1”

RRRRIIIINNNGGGGGG

First day of high school is over. WOW! That passed by really fast. I never knew school would be so loud and crowded like a Taylor Swift concert or any concert for that matter. Everyone was nice and helped me find my classes. I met some girls that were interested in the same sport as me, volleyball. Just saying the word makes me smile, but if I make the team, I would be speechless. I’ve been playing volleyball all my life. Well, not ALL my life but it seemed like it. I go to the bathroom to change and I am so nervous. Volleyball tryouts are in half an hour and I can’t wait.

A girl on the varsity team told me, “Tryouts last one week. They start cutting people on the third day. By the fourth day, there are about 15 girls left. Then they get down to the bottom 12.” That just made me even more nervous.

Outside the gym, I see roughly 50-60 other girls. Half of them probably played in various volleyball clubs; I can tell by the shirts they were wearing. I play club myself, but I don’t know how good these other girls are or how long they played for. My hands are shaking and my palms are getting sweaty. I’ve been playing ever since second grade. I would be really sad if I didn’t make the team. I've always made the team in elementary and middle school but this is high school and things are different. I kinda get bullied in club volleyball and sometimes school. Everyone jokes around saying I won’t make the team and I want to prove them wrong. Everyone has low expectations for me and doesn’t believe I can do it. They say I'm not good enough and I should just give up. I got to make the team to prove I can do this and that everyone else is wrong.

As I enter the gym, I see the coach. I introduced myself and got a name tag. Everyone else starts entering the gym. I begin to start pacing like a guard guarding a prisoner. It’s just all in my head. I got this. Right. Man I don’t know anymore. I got to stop pacing and get it together. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Okay, calm down and just play your game. I see some girls I know and walk towards them. They’re not as nervous as me. One of the girls sees how nervous I am and walks up to me. “Hey you okay?” I just nod my head.
She tells me, “Don’t worry ‘bout it. You’ll do just fine.”
“Yeah. I hope so.”
*whistle*
"Alright ladies. Welcome to Crosswell volleyball tryouts. I am Delilah, the varsity head coach. We're going to run some drills so I’m going to split you guys up in two groups."

I walk over to the court and listen to what we have to do. Oh. I did this before. In practice. They asked someone to start us off and no one stepped forward. The coach searched the court with her eyes like a lion searching for food and looked right at me. "Megan, do you know this drill."
"Yes."
"Can you start us off?"
I didn't want to say no but I didn't want to say yes. “mmhmm”

I'm on the court and we start the drill. This isn't bad at all. It's just like practice but with a lot more people. I look on the other court and see the girls struggling a lot more than us. We start a few more drills and I'm getting less nervous and more comfortable and confident. I realized that not everyone is at the skill level so it's harder for them.  By watching the other girls, I realized that I’m lucky to know how to play and that I have a chance, whereas other girls are a lot more nervous than I am because they really want to make the team but don’t have the skill.

They test our skills and I’m not doing a bad job. We did a couple of drills that consisted of passing, setting, serving, and hitting. After two hours of drills, the coaches decided to play a game. There were 9 teams of 6. I wasn’t nervous anymore and I was having a great time. The gym got loud and the games were really fun and competitive. Only two other girls on my team knew how to play and where to go on the court, so I decided to help out the other three. When assisting others that are struggling helps me learn myself that I’m in the right spot on the court and I understand the game more thoroughly. We played for an hour and coaches were taking notes.

Day 1 tryouts are now over. YES!!!  *fist bumps the air* One day down, 4 more to go. Hopefully. “Everyone gather in the center. Good job ladies. We’ll see you here tomorrow at the same time. Get some rest and eat healthy. Irish on three. 1... 2... 3...”
“IRISH!!!”
“Kiana, Annika, Madison, Danielle, Gianna, and Megan please stay for a bit longer. We want to talk to you.” Well this can’t be good. We all walk to the coaches and stand in a circle.
“We were really impressed by your performance today and we were wondering if you were interested in trying out with the JV team tomorrow. You have the potential and a great attitude. Not all of you will make JV but if you don’t, it’s okay cuz you’re most likely gonna be put on the Freshman team. So we’ll see you guys in JV tryouts?” Wow thats a first. I’m so excited. I made it.

We all smile and say yes. We exit the gym and head down stairs. I hold my head up high and smile. Hmm.. helping others set a good impression to the coaches. I guess being nervous isn’t so bad at all after all. Take that everyone.