"Aiming to be an ACE"

Are you interested in sports? What kind of sport are you interested to?

I never imagine myself to become an athlete one day. Like, I just want to live my life as simple as just like the other ones who tries to strive everyday to survive. A life cycle of a teenage, going to school to study, hangout with friends, go home, and spend the rest of time with the family. As a matter of fact, I am into writing, singing, and dancing back then. But all of that changed when I came across this sport, Volleyball. (Well, I sing, dance, and write when I have time tho.)

Some of you here, especially my virtual friend on the other platform, already knew that I started my Volleyball journey back in my sixth grade. My Aunt was the one who encouraged me to try it out. At first, I opposed it and felt so hesitant because when I hit the ball, I felt so much pain in my arms. But, my Aunt keep on saying, "You can do it." Eventually, I ended up liking and now, loving this sport.

My first Volleyball League

It was a celebration of barrio fiesta of one the neighbor barangays here in our town. One of the highlights of that day was a "Paliga sa Barangay" and that includes Volleyball. My Aunt included me in their team. The net was tied in a coconut tree while the other side was in bamboo. When I hit for a serve, the ball went straight to the coconut tree and bounced back to our court. The audience, including my Aunt's team laughed at me and I was very embarrassed to the point that I called for a substitution and just continued watching the game without me as one of the players.

Highschool Times

I was once a contributor of our school publication but ended up choosing to focus on my Volleyball career. I joined the try outs and luckily chosen to be part of the team. Every after classes, we had our training. At that time, we had a coach who handle the team. He trained us with the basic skills, the proper handling of the ball, the proper positions, and a lot more. I also started to learn how to spike a ball. More than that, our team was given the chance to play in "Inter-school meet."

College Days

When I went to college, I didn't hesitate to join the try outs for the campus varsity. I eagerly attended all the scheduled dates for the try outs up until the official varsity coach announced who amongst us were accepted to be part of the Varsity team. And I am very grateful hearing my name. During the Campus Intramurals, we fought against the other faction and got a win which given us the chance to play for the University Games. We undergo a lot of training to prepare ourselves for that upcoming event. Fast forward, even though we ended up being the second place but I was very lucky to be chosen as one of the participants for the Beach Volleyball Category to represent our University in the SCUAA (State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association) games 2017 held at Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte.

Being part of the Campus Varsity was one of the memorable experiences I had back when I was in college. When I graduated college last May 2019, I was kind of sad because I'm leaving it into just a memory.

Three Years Later

Last August 2022, the Hilongos Volleyball Club held an event for all the youth within our town, including the veterans (old players). They encouraged all the players and aspiring Volleyball players to join the said event. And that's how my new team was created. We joined the said event or to be more specific, we joined the Volleyball league that was organized by HVC. Unfortunately, due to lack of training and of course, because they are new to this kind of sport, we didn't get a chance to advance and be part of the semis.

I was then appointed to stand us the Team captain. I always remind my team to not lose hope because losing in a game is just part of it. "Lingin ang Bola" (The ball is round.) "We might not win this time but soon, we will get that spot and be called as Champions." That's what I always tell them especially the younger ones.

"Focus on the goal not on the obstacles." -Anonymous

Months later, we were able to join some Barangay and Summer Leagues. We experienced both losses and wins. But I am very happy to see that my efforts really payed off. I can now see that they really are improving. As a matter of fact, there were games that we were declared as the over all Champion.

As of now, we can only have games every weekend because most of my teammates are studying. Some of them had a practice games every after school while me, I was just waiting for a call from other barangays that wanted us to join their "Pa liga."

What am I as a Player?

Despite my height, my position is an open spiker. Standing as a Team Captain, I see to it that I was the one who will bring the eagerness of the team to the outmost high to aim the winning spot every games that we had. I was the one who pushes them to stay focus in the game and give them a proper scolding when its necessary. Yes, I sometimes do that especially when I see that they are making a lot of mistakes inside the court because of doing unnecessary things. Honestly, I also made a lot of mistakes too and I apologize to them everytime that happens.

Ending Thoughts:

Michael Jordan once said, "Talent wins games but intelligence and Teamwork wins Championships." A team sport like Volleyball really needs intelligence and teamwork. These are very important in a team. You need to have a connection with your teammates and believe in them that they can get a point for your team. When you are up for the ball, use your intelligence to get an advantage to your opponent.

I may not like a Ms. Allysa Valdez of Ateneo de Manila University or Sisi Rondina of University of Santo Tomas or the Santiago sisters of National University of whoever it is that famous in this field, but I am doing my part and keep aiming to become the "ACE" for our team.

That would be all. Thank you for your time.
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!