"TGIF" I thought. I finished my homework early instead of usually stalling, I quickly inhaled my dinner so that I could rush to go shower. Then I scrambled bed into early thinking that the night will go by quicker if I just closed my eyes.
This happened every Friday from the months of June til December. All for the sport of volleyball I dragged my mom and my twin at 4:30 in the morning to Kailua high school on Saturday and Sundays to watch my cousin Mahina play the sport I loved. I was six at the time when I first began to play volleyball. It wasn't with no official OIA volleyball club, but with PAL. A non competitive, "for fun" all around just bump and hit team. Anybody could have made it. But I wanted more. I longed to be part of a real team, to have people that I can count on to be there everyday at practice working our tails off to improve and be the best. I wanted to be able to wear that beautiful maroon and gold jersey and call myself part of the Kamal'i girls.
To me, Mahina was a star. She was tall and well built, with a killer serve. One of the best servers in OIA for her time. She had made the All Star team and had gone to play in the Olympics when she was only 16. She had played for all the major teams in Hawaii. We couldn't go to one game without a scout being there to interview her. She was the best, she could hit all sorts of angles on the court, she could even hit a straight line! I was jealous, she was 6 ft. and she had my dream.
"But you're too short." "If only you had grandpa's height." "You cant even reach over the net." I was constantly picked on by my own family. My own flesh and blood that was supposed to be there for me to help me reach my dream. But instead of cheering me on, I was constantly picked on for having what they called on "unreachable dream." I was short I admit it (being only about 4 ft. 7in. at the time) but hearing all this come from my own family only fueled me on to make my dream come true. Everyday I started working out more and more. I sat beside myself hitting my volleyball against the walls of our district park hoping to better my serves and spikes. I joined our elementary school's volleyball team hoping to satisfy my need to play. What I didn't have in height, I made up for in speed.But no matter what I did Mahina was still the best. I was an aspiring volleyball player, but she was an Olympian.
I was still playing PAL at the time when my first big break came in. We where playing an ILH team at the time and to my surprise there was a scout in the stands. Of course I only found out after the fact. Ugh so many thoughts rushed through my head when we went home. "I should have worked harder, maybe if my serves were more on target then he would have noticed me, If only I had dove for that ball.." But no matter what I thought it couldn't change the fact that whats done was done. I felt like my only chance to prove myself had slowly slipped away with every dropped ball on the court.
The next day my mom received a phone call at work that shocked our whole house. It was the scout, he had been actually watching me and wanted to recommend me for the volleyball team Kamali'i, it was amazing if I made the team my coach would be the daughter of Longy Okamoto!!! I was now 8 at the time and I couldn't wait. The day of tryouts came and I was ready. Ready to prove that height didn't matter to play the sport, you just needed passion (and boy, I had plenty of that.) Four days of rigorous workouts and passing drills. I was exhausted but it all payed off, I had made the team!
I finally got to put on that maroon and gold jersey, I felt like I had made history. I was finally part of a competitive team. Each day I felt like I did better and better. Every ball I passed just seemed to be one with my body, as it connected with my arms it just seemed that all I had to do was point my arms to where I wanted it to go. Every ball I hit seemed to just roll with my arm down to the other side of the court with a speed I didn't know I was capable of. My dream had came true I was a true and volleyball player.
I was asked to join many other teams like Jammers, Paulele, and Onipa'a, but as the years went on I continued playing volleyball with Kamali'i. Many of my best accomplishments were made with that team. I was only 14 when I made the 18 age bracket to play, I was the youngest libero and outside hitter they had, and to add more icing to my cake of accomplishment I had made captain too. I got to wear my favorite jersey number (24) with the big C on the side to indicate I was captain. It was a dream come true for me.
For me, my dream is still in progress, I'm 15 now and already only a sophomore at Moanalua I made Blue Varsity for the past two straight years. When I look back at all the years I spent working to where I am now, I thank my family for looking down on me and saying what I was reaching for was impossible. Because otherwise I wouldn't have had to urge to prove what I could do. I found part of my dream and I want to improve on it hoping to make it to bigger things. I have found myself with volleyball.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I thought that this essay truly showed your coming of age experience. I could picture your drive and desire to become a great volley ball player. I only suggest that you have a wider variety of word choice and check some spelling. For example, don't say "at the time" as much.
ReplyDeleteYou're really great, I really don't know what to tell you though.... I loved it, I understood it.
ReplyDeleteIt had a bit of grammer errors, like "... impossible. Because otherwise..." you can onjoin that to one sentence, so it'd make more sense. Or, "...wouldn't have had to urge to prove..." I think you mean "...the urge to prove..."
Other than that i think. it's ok, you can always fix that later.
I like it though, i really don't know what else to tell you, you didn't do all that much explaining...
Maybe you can use a time though, to explain a time or your jealousy, or how you idolize her, like watching her. Ddescribe it. You can add that right?