Have I written about Ava making it on to the Fremont Junior High 8th grade volleyball team? I don't think I have, so I'll back up a bit. First thing to know is that Ava's junior high doesn't have sports, but they have an agreement with Fremont Junior High (located next door) that Academy kids can try out for their sports teams. Ava had been talking about wanting to try out for Fremont's volleyball team for a little while, but I kept telling her I didn't think it was a good idea. I was concerned that it would be too much of a time commitment for her already busy schedule. She spends hours at night doing homework, plus she has club volleyball practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7:30-9:30. I was worried that her school work would suffer and it would be too much for her. I guess I never really let her explain her reasons for wanting to play, because one night I got a really long text message from her asking me to please listen to her reasons. She said that she really wanted to play because it would help her meet some people who would also be going to Red Mountain next year. She actually said "I don't want to go into high school as this nerd Academy kid who doesn't know anyone." She also thought it would give her a better chance of making the Red Mountain team. She also said that she doesn't really have that much homework, but that she procrastinates getting it done, and that she'd try harder not to do that. It's only one quarter of the school year, and she insisted she could handle it. She made good points, and we appreciated her explaining it to us that way. Dave and I talked about it briefly, and then we sent her this photo.
Tryouts were soon after, and lasted two afternoons. There were about 40 girls who tried out, and Ava was one of the 10 or 11 that they chose for the team! She was very excited! Practice will also be on Tuesdays and Thursdays right after school, so those will be busy days for her. After a couple weeks of practice, all of the Tuesdays/Thursdays are actually game days, which will either be at Fremont or at other junior high schools around Mesa.
First game was at Carson Junior High, and I will say that this game was very painful to watch for a few different reasons. In general, they're just a much more inexperienced team who has not had much time together. There really isn't a comparison of club to school at this age level...it's just way better volleyball at the club level (obviously, it's what we're paying for) with coaches who really know what they're doing. This was the first game after only a few practices, so we weren't expecting much. They did ok, and definitely should have beat this team easily, but they were what Coach Mike used to call a "bang ball" team. They were just trying to get it over on the first hit every time, which is hard to play against. Our girls were trying to play actual volleyball with three hits, but this other team seemed to pride themselves on being able to knock it over in one, as if that was the ultimate goal. Regardless, they still ended up winning (but I think it was in 3). Ava is definitely one of the better players out there, but there are a few girls who have played some volleyball. We'll see what this school season holds, but we aren't expecting a whole lot. We're proud of her for wanting to do the extra work and to get more time playing. It'll only make her better. Here's a quick video from today's game, Ava is number 12.
