Lauren's Volleyball Results.

[- -Lauren- -]

So, I found out the results of what team I made for volleyball last Thursday. I haven't been on in about a week and half, and I haven't had the time to post.

:[

I was incredibly disappointed. I made Sophomore. What the hell? :[

I played on the JV/Varsity court ALL WEEK LONG. That pretty much guaranteed I was going to make that team. I found out later, by the head coach, WHY I didn't make this team I had worked my butt off all summer to make.

...My attitude problem. Not because of my skill, as he said I was a definent contender for the JV squad. But I was judged...

...on my LACK OF EMOTIONAL CONTROL. Yes, I have a short temper. Yes, I scream when I'm mad. Yes, I stomp my feet and throw balls when I'm pissed off. AND YES, I CAN FIX IT!

So, I'm working on that right now, no matter how stupid my teammates are in making a stupid move. I just grit my teeth and say they'll do better next time!
AHHHH! I've held it in all week.

I ran a 7:26 mile, got 45 sit-ups in one minute, and 30 push-ups. Not bad. Much better than last year. I'm still pissed off. I cried for what seemed like forever afterwards.

I'm at a much higher level than these girls I'm playing with. It's like telling a skilled mathematician to do a simple 5x5 multiplication chart. Way too easy. I need a CHALLENGE.

This week has just also been incredibly stressful. I can't understand my Algebra 2 homework, my team is frustrating, I'm bombarded with homework and I'm PMSing. How fun.

[Manic Subsidal Boy]

man that sucks eh, thats like me atm, cept i dont play Volleyball

[Apathy]

Your coach's reasoning makes sense to me. In a real game, if you throw balls around and such, you'd get Disqualified, no? I don't watch a lot of High School Volleyball, but It seems like that would be justifiable.

Your push-ups are very good for a girl of your age I believe. Mile time could be better, but eh.

If you manage to keep your temper in control, You'll make it on JV before the end of the season. I know that for a fact. So just try and vent your anger through another outlet, and things will work themselves out in the end.

[Preocupado]

...on my LACK OF EMOTIONAL CONTROL. Yes, I have a short temper. Yes, I scream when I'm mad. Yes, I stomp my feet and throw balls when I'm pissed off. AND YES, I CAN FIX IT!

So, I'm working on that right now, no matter how stupid my teammates are in making a stupid move. I just grit my teeth and say they'll do better next time!
AHHHH! I've held it in all week.


So, it's more about team work than solely about your explosive way of unleashing anger, right?

[Betty]

That sucks but the coach's decision makes sense.

I know what it's like to play with a team that is of a much lower calibre than you are. Our highschool team was composed of a bunch of misfits. The fat girl. The short girl. The other fat girl and short girl. The girl who never comes to practice but there is nobody else to play. Etc.

[ilovellamas]

that makes a lot of sense to me, honestly. When I was in highschool, I was on the tennis team for three years... trying out for singles and doubles yielded very different results. Doubles put me way lower on the team than singles. I don't play well with a teamate. I get very frusterated... I get really mad at them when they make an unforced error, and blow up on myself for letting my partner down. Clearly it's a bad idea for me to competitively play doubles tennis (I play doubles now leisurely, but the couple times I played doubles competetively in higschool, we lost really badly). I can totally see the coach's POV.

[Endymion]

i hate doing multiplication.

[Mota Boy]

...on my LACK OF EMOTIONAL CONTROL. Yes, I have a short temper. Yes, I scream when I'm mad. Yes, I stomp my feet and throw balls when I'm pissed off. AND YES, I CAN FIX IT!
I would suggest marijuana.


Also, I'd consider asking the coach if you'd be able to move up if your attitude improves over the course of the year. Becoming bitter at your coach and teammates because you're oh so better than them is definately not the way to turn the coach to your side.

[All About Eve]

Once again, woot for no tryouts in swimming.

But yeah, ask if improvement will move you up. In terms of actually controlling yourself, I've found that square breathing works really well, even though it sounds lame. You breathe in for a certain number of seconds (save five), hold for five, breath out for five, hold for five, repeat. Works really well.

[Apathy]

I would suggest marijuana.


Also, I'd consider asking the coach if you'd be able to move up if your attitude improves over the course of the year. Becoming bitter at your coach and teammates because you're oh so better than them is definately not the way to turn the coach to your side.

I'd suggest a "Seriously Though" instead of an "Also". :rolleyes:

[Mota Boy]

I'd suggest cultivating a sense of humor and/or sufficient EQ to detect nuance. If I wanted to have to point out "That suggestion was meant to be humorous, follow at your own risk" every time I cracked a joke, I'd post at the Special Olympics message board.

[ilovellamas]

I'd suggest a "Seriously Though" instead of an "Also". :rolleyes:

wait... mota was kidding? he doesn't REALLY want lauren to start smoking pot to make the volleyball team?? what is this world coming to when I can't take everything literally anymore...

[- -Lauren- -]

Alrighty then. So I came off REALLY bad in my my post, but I was also venting QUITE a bit.

My coach has noticed and is extremely impressed at how I've been behaving. Just brush it off, attempt to be positive, and move on. My coach also was talking to my parents and they wouldn't tell me what they were talking about...could be good, considering I played quite well that game.

Tonight's our second game. Oh boy. El Pasco. (No, it's not really called El Pasco. We call it that because Pasco is filled with Mexicans.) Tuesday's game we lost VERY close. 23-25, First game, 21-25 Second game. Err. So close.

Hopefully we'll win today, and I'll actually get some outside sets...because I'm an outside/strongside hitter.

It's not that I have an ego of I'm-oh-so-better. I don't act like it, it's more that I get mad at myself and become frustrated. Yes, I know I am better than the other girls on my team, but that's because I've played 2 years of club volleyball. I've played more and improved more, so I'm a better player. But I don't act all conceited and superior.

[ninthlayer]

I don't understand why people get so bent out of shape over ridiculous shit like this. Good job, your bad attitude got you bumped down to a lower tier because you can't handle yourself in a social situation. Fucking deal.

I don't know if I'm just ultra mellow or way too well adjusted, but I seriously do not understand outbursts like this at all.

[- -Lauren- -]

Not everyone has the same temperament. Mine and yours are completely different.

It really upset me I guess because:
-I ran everyday for 3 weeks.
-Practiced in a non air-conditioned gym for 3 hours with people of a lower skill level.
-Went to every Wednesday practice I could make.
-Worked on push-ups all summer.
-Then practiced at home everyday.

I guess when you work that hard for a goal, and you don't achieve it because of something personality wise versus skill level, it's incredibly upsetting knowing that my skill was there but my attitude wasn't. (What a long sentence.) You've probably never been in such a situation, so it's harder to grasp than for someone who really understands.

[ninthlayer]

Is it that hard to understand that your personality is a huge part of being on and working with a team? Regardless of your physical accomplishments, you have to be able to work with the people that you're teamed with. The fact that you keep referring to the entire team as being lesser skilled shows enough disdain on your part that placing you on the JV/Varsity squad would have been a terrible idea.

[- -Lauren- -]

I do work well with a team, its just I can get frustrated easily, so I go on a rampage.

But I'm fixing that now. I'm not public enemy number one on my team, because I get along with everyone. It's just the coaches have seen me before tryouts when I get frustrated. That must have been it, but I do get along with people.

[ninthlayer]

You didn't present yourself as being so earlier, but if you're working on it then you're working on it and nothing else can really be said about the whole ordeal.

[- -Lauren- -]

Yes, I understand. Being on my rampage I sent a bad impression that I don't get along with people.

We've settled it.

[ilovellamas]

Not everyone has the same temperament. Mine and yours are completely different.

It really upset me I guess because:
-I ran everyday for 3 weeks.
-Practiced in a non air-conditioned gym for 3 hours with people of a lower skill level.
-Went to every Wednesday practice I could make.
-Worked on push-ups all summer.
-Then practiced at home everyday.

I guess when you work that hard for a goal, and you don't achieve it because of something personality wise versus skill level, it's incredibly upsetting knowing that my skill was there but my attitude wasn't. (What a long sentence.) You've probably never been in such a situation, so it's harder to grasp than for someone who really understands.

You know what, I actually relate to your position FULLY. I'll try to explain...

I've been playing alto sax for 12 years, and have been a member of a marching band for 8. I played alto sax in marching band for 7 years, and then last year, my 8th year, I decided to pick up the mellophone. I had marched in the U of M marching band for 2 years prior, and was one of the best marchers in my section of 32. U of M marching is athletic, and requires a lot of exercise, running, conditioning, etc. It's not your standard low step corps style marching... it's highstep and very athletic, and I worked out a LOT. I knew my 3rd year that I was one of the best marchers in the band of 307, and I trained super hard all summer and even the spring before to prepare. I stayed after practices, ran a lot, and came to the field in off time.

All the rookies showed up for spat camp, and I knew I was clearly a superior marcher to any of them, because they'd never marched anything similar to our style before, and I'd been doing it for over 2 years. We had our first auditions, and I kicked major ass, no mistakes, just dead on. I even hit chair all the way down the field for minn march, which barely anyone in the band does. The next day, we found out who made the audition... I went to look at the list, just to see who was out- I wasn't even checking for myself, cause I knew I was in. They took me out! I was sidelined for the game. I went to talk to my leaders, and they pulled me aside and said, "It's your playing. You're just not good enough at the mellophone yet. If it was your marching, you'd be in no question." Here's the thing... in the alto sax section, they never cared about our playing. Nobody in the band cares about the playing, since there are SO many of us, so I didn't think that the fact that I wasn't good enough yet at an instrument I picked up a week ago would be a factor. I was very, very upset. All of the rookies, who'd just learned how to march, made it above me (and there were only 2 people out of 19 out... depressing). I had to sit on the sideline for 2 weeks with a bunch of rookies and watch everyone do pre-game, and I got put in some shitty role for the game.

I bitched and whined for about a day. What the fuck, they kicked me out cause of playing?? After a day, I met with my leaders and asked for some outside help. I took my horn home and went through the songs. I did breathing and ambouschure exercises. I worked my ass off to no end. Two weeks later, the next audition came, and I made it. I made every audition the rest of the year.

So yes, I relate fully. Something where the only thing that you've worked on is physical, and you've conditioned your body for this and far surpass everyone else in physical ability... and then there's some other factor that doesn't seem to matter that suddenly is what puts you below people who you are physically above. It happens, and you have to get over it and keep working and pushing yourself instead of whining about it.

[ninthlayer]

Now that just seems ridiculous llamas, they sidelined you from a band because you couldn't play?

[ilovellamas]

if you've ever seen a big ten band show, you'd realize that the emphasis is on marching and not playing. Most big ten bands don't even have music/playing rehearsals, only marching rehearsals. In our band, they don't even do music checks to see if we can play the music. They also don't expect people to play a lot of the music because it's really impossible to play it all with the marching style.

edit: here's a preview of the tv movie that was shown on TPT last year, our marching style is shown http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/From_backstage_to_prime_time/From_backstage_to_prime_time_Video.html

[Apathy]

I'd suggest cultivating a sense of humor and/or sufficient EQ to detect nuance. If I wanted to have to point out "That suggestion was meant to be humorous, follow at your own risk" every time I cracked a joke, I'd post at the Special Olympics message board.

gee, you started off sounding all smart and then you had to go and ruin it with a "haha! retards are funny!" joke.
I had the impression you weren't serious, and I was poking fun at the fact that it would be hard to tell if you were joking or not, because obviously, we don't have access to your personal information.


Lauren, My advice to you is to just get used to JV and don't feel bad about it. You're an underclassmen, thus, There's a good chance you're not going to make Varsity on any popular sport. Next year, you'll be a junior, and if you continue the good job, there's no way the coach can put you on JV.

Besides, if you're better than the rest of the JV team, and they're still losing, isn't it obvious that they need your help?

Many schools around my house won't even allow underclassmen on the Varsity Team, no matter the sport, other than Cheerleading, however I'm not sure If I'd really consider that a sport.