Dragons vs Lobos MS Volleyball

Saturday morning once again about ten o’clock, this time the volleyball game is at Dragon School. The school is located in the central part of the district near the district’s main office. From outside the school, you can tell the school is older as it is made of cinder-block and red bricks –a different material than the new schools’ sleek look. The upkeep of the grounds are decent , better than Lobo’s ground with its weeds , and sparse trash around the perimeter of the fences, I don’t notice too much trash but the grass is no kept well like it was at last week’s venue of Stallion Middle School. The fact that Dragon School appears old and not prestige, is odd for growing up in the district it was a common belief that Dragon School was better off than us.  

Anyways I enter the gym, which upon observation is also a cafeteria-just like how my elementary school was.  There is no one collecting tickets, I can safely say so because though I didn’t enter through the main entrance the fact that another entrance was available contradicts with the control environment needed to charge fairly. There is a built in snack bar –which I usually infer as a sign of wealth but this time it is as is expected as this is a cafeteria.  Hanging from the rafters are thirty two championship banners ranging from mid 1990s to 2013 in sports like volleyball , softball, basketball , cross country , track ,football, wrestling , I infer that this abundance of victories can be an omen of the outcome of this game –whether the Dragons won all these championship by superior coaching or teamwork this game will tell. Broken wall panels on both the stage where the aluminum folding seats are placed. This is the first school I’ve visited this season that doesn’t have bleachers. Also there are some insulation visible in the torn gymnasium’s ceiling.

I missed the seventh grade game, so as I find a seat on the stage, watch the eighth graders runs drills. There seems to be some unity building in the Lobo Team as I notice no signs of tension. There appears to be no animosity this week, for unlike last week’s pre-game drills where the Lobo girls appeared to be bickering as observed through their body language. From watching both teams run drills, I infer that both teams are equally matched for they are both good at spikes and bumps, and make mistakes while serving. I do notice that the red uniform clad Dragon team is more ethnically diverse as two of their girls have features common to that of Asian descent, and three of their girls have the light skin and hair characteristic of whites.  The Dragon girls have taller members, will this be an advantage when it comes to playing off the net? I don’t see any medical wraps on any members of the teams. Is this due to coaching methods and safer exercise regimen –back when I use to play middle school volleyball there was at least one girl with a medical brace or wrap on each team-?  The coaches of both eight grade teams appear to be the same age, young adult females. I wonder because of their similar age does the Dragon coach have an identical more emphatic relationship with her girls like the Lobo coach does.

The game is starting, with Dragons having the first serve. I look around the crowd and notice it is mainly composed of middle aged women, though there are some males mainly middle aged with few individuals being of my age group of young adult. I assume there are grandparents present as they appear to be older individuals with graying hair and aged faces sitting and conversing with the middle age parents’ .The main language I hear being spoken is English with some Spanglish spoken by the Lobo fans. Could this be due to the population Lobo Middle has due to his positon in the older part of the city where the Hispanic community is dominate? Once again I am the only one with a poster but that does not mean I’m the only one with spirit. The Dragon’s student council is present for they are sitting in front of me with their student council shirts cheering loudly for their school. They have no posters, but they are using the chairs as noise makers as well as some hi-five clappers (the ones that are party favors).  I wonder why the Lobo student council never go to the games to support. Also I notice that not only are student council members present but so are other Dragon students – I’m sure they are Dragons and not Lobos for I do not recognize them from my time volunteering at Lobo Middle. Is the Dragon Community knit closer than the Lobo country, it would appear so.

I don’t hear yelling from either of the young coaches, so I guess the fact they are closer to the girls age helps them be empathetic and not harsh. But despite the more kindly coaching, the Lobos are losing. Like the pattern we’ve seen throughout the weeks –all unity is dissolved when the Lobos start losing. They are fighting amongst themselves as I can see through their body language, lack of communication and facial expression of narrow eyed and soured look every time the Dragons score a point due to a Lobo mistake of missing the ball. Also the technique I saw earlier in the drills appears to be gone , as now the Lobo girls are just swinging rather than bumping with control and direction. The Dragon girls are communicating and with every point they all go to the center and high 5 one another. The Lobos lose the first game 12 to 25.

The second game begins. I infer that the loss of the first game has discouraged the second team for the Dragons are winning 7 to 14, for the Lobos are making the mistake of not communication –I don’t hear the ball being called – and are not directing their passes –a great deal of time the ball is bumped to the far edges of the small gym making it near impossible for the other members to save the ball. The Lobos have given up, and the Dragons gain victory with a win of 25 to 17. I now believe that as displayed by this game , the reason the Dragons have victories is not  due to superior coaching-as both girls pre-game appeared equally matched- but rather teamwork the Dragon coaches instill in their athletes.  After shaking hands, the dragons huddle up and chant a cheer. The Lobos are huddled in the far right corner of the gym with their coach talking with them. My informant later tells me that the coach lectured them about them giving up, and lack of team work. I wonder how this second consecutive defeat will affect the week of practice and next game- will it encourage the Lobos to win or will it weigh on them and result in another loss.