Almost
ten o’clock on Saturday morning, it’s the first Lobo volleyball game in the
month of October. Today the game is being held at Stallion Middle School. Located
on the east side of the district, Stallion Middle School from the outside is
nicely painted with beige walls and turquoise trimming. Upon entering the
grounds and later the gym I infer that they are better off financially than the
central schools of the district like Lobo Middle based on their gym, ; built in
snack bar, and overall cleaner and better upkeep as I saw no trash, the grass
areas around the school were groomed, the sidewalks and pathways did not have
gum or any damages.
The gymnasium
has a foyer and a built in concession stand- not like at Lobo’s school were we
use folding tables. In the foyer situated is a small table being manned by a
middle aged gentlemen who is collecting an entrance fee of fifty cents for adults,
twenty five cents for students. Once again –as I wonder every week- this practice
of selling tickets so that families may see their athletes play volleyball is perplexing,
why do some schools do so? The fact that the guy who was selling tickets had a
district issued name tag makes me believe that this man is being paid for
selling tickets. Anyways paying the fee I enter into the actual gym. It is a
newer gym which is identical that of the high school , it has double bleachers on opposite sides, the
color scheme is turquoise , orange ,
wooden floors , red bleachers-the only
piece in the gym that is the school’s color-,and has a large graphic of
basketballs and volleyballs that don’t appear to be traditionally painted. Hanging on the walls are banners of
championships the school has won. The school has signs for cross country,
softball, track, but there is no banner of volleyball championship. I wonder if
this a sign of the outcome of the game to ensue? Siting in the bleachers Lobo
supporters brought posters while none of the Stallions fans have homemade
poster. And though the fans don’t have homemade signs, the stallion’s school
have butcher paper posters –most likely made by their student council or cheerleaders
based on my experience in the public school system and from observing my
athlete painting similar posters last year for her school when she was a
cheerleader. I question why do some
schools have posters made, is this a commentary on school spirit? From what I can
hear, English is mainly being spoken unlike previous games when Spanish and Spanglish
were spoken by both students and fans.
I catch
the last few minutes of the seventh grade game. The girls are communicating and
working together and as a result win. The eighth graders start running drills before
their match starts in fifteen minutes.
Looking at both teams I don’t see any girls wearing ankle, knee or
medical wraps, this is different from the few I saw earlier in the season I wonder
if this because coaching methods have improved, the girls are better conditioned
to the exercise regime or is there no correlation and the athletes are just
blessed with good health and fortune? I also notice that the girls on both team
are relatively the same height –a taller girl could be an advantage when
blocking and spiking that ball at the net or front.
The game
is beginning. Both teams supporters are loud, especially the seventh graders
from the Lobo team-I’m guessing they have stayed to cheer for two reasons -1. The
elation of winning has put them in a good mood and thus are more willing to
stay 2. Wanting to celebrate on the bus ride back to school. The Stallions are
winning. From my observation in the pre-game drills both teams were equal in
technique, with that in mind I attribute the lobos losing the game because they
are giving up. The girls appear discouraged with the scoring of points by the
Stallion’s team. They are no longer
talking amongst each other and I can slightly hear them from my position on the
bleachers, arguing and blaming each other with every missed ball and bad play. The stallion athletes are doing a mini dance
with every point scored, and giving one another hand fives after the end of the
most of the volleys. Looking at the Lobo coach I notice there seems to be a change
in her behavior from previous games. She used to only correct the girls in a
gentle manner but now she is also starting to yell at them-though not as much. Could
this change in behavior be due to the fact that the girls are giving up, or is
she maybe acting more like a coach rather than a friend? The stallions win the
first round.
The
second game is starting. The Lobo team from the beginning are displaying mediocre
technique: instead of using their full body weight to power the serve they are
just throwing the ball and hitting it which results in a weak serve that doesn’t
make it over the net, in their bumps they are swinging out of control rather
than utilizing the force of the ball, and there is no real passing going on
between them as the athletes try to get the ball over in one hit. The Stallions
are using teamwork as seen with them calling the ball , them backing each other
up when someone goes up for the block or spike ,and are directing the ball
towards each other.
With
their regression of technique (probably attributed to desperation), the lack of
communication and teamwork (probably due to the fact that from what I can hear
they are blaming one another), the Lobos lost. The stallions and Lobos shake hands,
but checking with my informant –my athlete she claims the stallions where “haughty
with their patronizing smiles “about the victory. The Lobo 8th grade
girls appear to not speaking to one another-this was validated when I checked
with my informant. I observed that one girl left before the huddle in where coach
and athletes talk and analyze – I am going interpret this as a sign of bad
sportsmanship and commentary of the lack of unity in the Lobo Team, as the girl
left in what I would a huff, no staying to deal with the consequences of the
lost with her team members.
After
the talk with coach and finally released to go I converse with my informant.
She brought up multiple points 1.the girls were mad at each other as observed
and gave one another resentful looks 2. Girls mainly stayed in smaller groups
with many of the players from last year’s still looking down on the newer members
regarding them with condescending words, and mistrust of their abilities on the
court. The vibe my informant was feeling
between the newer and more experienced athletes were “why are you even on this team,
you don’t know how to play, get out of my way”.
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