Mini volleyball and sports movies

Having a younger brother, I watched a passel of sports movies growing up. And I enjoyed quite a few of them. But they generally seem to follow the same basic pattern. Team - or athlete - is down on their luck, something unexpected happens, they work together, and they win the championship - usually in overtime (with dramatic speeches and music).

Although I watched many sports movies, I was never very good at sports. I was a dancer, thank-you-very-much. I went to Kanakuk/Kanakomo Kamps* for two summers. While at camp - oops, kamp - I participated in a
variety of sports. This is because it is a sports camp. My specialty was dance both years (mochiron), but we also had to have a couple minors and several electives. I tried things like soccer, triathlon, water skiing, tubing, blobbing**, and volleyball. By far, the worst sport was volleyball. I don't think any team I was on won a match that whole session. I remember one particularly fantastic game where our coach first tried to bribe us with popsicles (didn't work), then loaded all players onto the court (still didn't work). I remember one particularly spectacular moment for me where the ball went straight between my outstretched arms in the volleyball position.

Well, about a week or so ago, someone in my office asked if I wanted to play mini volleyball*** in an upcoming building-wide tournament. I don't often get to hang out with my co-workers, so I said yes with fear and trembling. Basically, I imagined being the person in the sports movie who muffs the big shot and loses the game for the team.

Last Wednesday, we had practice time, and it was actually all right. Though I had some spectacular fails, I did actually hit the ball several times, and I even hit it over the net many times.

But tonight was the big night. The actual game against actual opponents. I was on Team A - the first BOE team to play. We played against the General Affairs Division. I took my spot on the court with overwhelming trepidation. Well, we won the first match! And I did have some spectacular misses and some decent hits. Then, we changed sides on the court, and we lost over there. So then we changed back for our third match (set?), and we won the game! Yay! I was actually a bit shaken when we got off the court.

Team B lost their game against the department that does buildings, but Team C won their game against the local policy people. I had fun cheering for those games. Afterwards, we went out and had a party. I think the volleyball was just an excuse for a party. If I understood correctly, it seems that I have been selected to play again on Thursday. Gulp. Are you guys sure about that?

Anyway, it was a scary, but fun, experience! And I have finally been on a winning volleyball team! Yay!

*Kan someone PLEASE explain to me how a girl is supposed to say that she went to this kamp? Kanakuk is for boys and Kanakomo is for girls, but they are basically in the same place. Kanakuk is the popular name, but I didn’t go to the boys’ camp. My parents would not have approved.

**One person leaps onto a giant inflated pillow in the water and tries not to fall off. Another person leaps on after them, and so on.

***I think in mini volleyball the ball is softer and the court is smaller (???)