It was finally here, the first day of tryouts. I jumped out of bed tiredly, ate breakfast, packed my bag full of gear, and headed out the door.

“You excited?” asked my mom as she slowing down at a stop light.

“Yes and nervous, but mostly excited,” I answered

We drove the rest of the way in silence. We soon pulled up to Hudson’s Bay High School where my mom dropped me off. The high school is huge. I was getting pretty nervous by how big the school was because of how many people were probably going to try out. I started to walk to the long circular track where everyone was meeting. I said hi to the varsity and head coach, Nyra, who is very sweet, extremely strong, and very dedicated to volleyball. The JV coach, Kerri is awesome, she is very helpful and makes practice fun when you really don’t want to do anything at all. I also said hi to the C Team coach Kami. Kami is my coach today, she’s pretty strict when it comes to volleyball but is also very sweet and loving. Nyra took role, introduced herself, and talked about what we were going to do during the three days of tryouts. As she was talking about tryouts she said that we were going to be doing a timed mile, four times around the track, and that we had to do it under twelve minutes on the last day of tryouts.

The first day we jogged around the bay loop, which is 1.3 miles. Nyra wanted to see how  close we were to running a mile under 12 minutes. A little over thirteen minutes past and I passed the finish line, which was a mark on the ground. It was now time for our lunch break. We ate, laughed, and started to set up the volleyball nets. We then worked on sets, passes, serves, and hits. Soon the first day of tryouts was over and I headed home.

Tryouts day two was here. We started out inside the big, warm gym that could fit three volleyball nets.  Everyone helped set up. We did many sets (a set is usually the second touch, you use only your fingertips), passes (a pass is usually the first touch, you use your forearms to do this move), hits (a hit is the final touch of the ball on your side of the net, you use the palm of your hand to hit the ball down to the ground), and serves (a serve is what you do in the very beginning, you have to do this behind the end line and you use the palm of your hand). Fifty touch passes first, then fifty touch sets, now time for hitting lines, and finally spot serves are when you have to serve in certain spots on the court. Spots one through six.

It was 12 o'clock now and time to eat. We then headed outside and did lots and lots of conditioning. I don't think my body has ever been that sore.  It was soon time to head home. I left the court feeling pretty confident on my timed mile the next day.

That night I prayed that I would jog faster than 12 minutes. I thought it through before I fell asleep. I was going to try very hard to jog the whole time and sprint the last stretch. When the last day of tryouts came that’s not exactly what happened.

I was at the starting point on the track. Extremely nervous but confident I started to jog. It was really hot so I had a little trouble catching my breath but I pushed through. I was on the final lap I started to walk because I wanted to sprint the very last stretch. I was at the last turn and I ran as fast as I could, like there was a huge bear chasing me. I passed the finish line, out of my breath I heard what my time was, 11.27 minutes. I was so happy that I beat the time. Coach Kerri was very proud of us so we did team bonding. All of us seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman in highschool played a game called red rover, never have I ever, and little miss Sally. The games were very fun and very goofy. We headed inside ate lunch and did a traditional game that is super competitive.

During that game Coach Nyra and Kerri were pulling people aside and talking to them in the team room. Nyra came out and asked if I would come back to the team room. Panic filled my body. I was nervous about what they were going to say because I was the very first one to be pulled back. Kerri and Nyra told me that they wanted to know what I thought about having four teams and that they absolutely loved having me around. They also said that I was full of encouragement and they loved people who were like that. They said that's all they wanted to know and told me they loved me. I left that room feeling very good about myself.

It was now time to find out what team I made. Nyra said that she took time to write sweet notes of encouragement on the sticky note with the number showing what team we made. She handed them out. I was not expecting the note on mine at all.

“The world needs more people like you. Those are the exact words on the note.

I then walked over and saw that I made C Team. I was so happy that I made the program. I gave all the coaches a hug and thanked them for everything. I left the gym happy as can be and always remembering to be myself.