Genni passing up a ball.

Volleyball has been my passion ever since I was four years old. Volleyball has been my stress reliever, something that I look forward to every year, and has also been the sport that has joined me together with some of my greatest friends. I have been playing volleyball for nearly 11 years now, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  With that in mind, here are some facts, and even a little bit of history of volleyball. 

Volleyball originated in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and was invented by William G. Morgan in 1895. According to some in depth research, volleyball has become one of the top five international sports. The top five international womens’  teams in the world right now are Türkiye with an amazing score of 397.46, United states with a score of 358.62, Brazil with a solid score of 350.76, Serbia with a slightly lower score ,350.66, and Italy with 338.97. Volleyball is a very competitive sport that has clearly grown in fame over time. 

Volleyball has really helped my mental health improve a lot. Volleyball isn’t just a skills game; I think volleyball contains a very big part of the mental aspect. If you aren’t mentally tough, I don’t think that volleyball is going to necessarily be the sport for you. I personally struggled for about three years with my mental toughness and strength in the sport, and it was really hard for me to progress skill wise because I wasn’t in a good mental space. Therefore I genuinely think that a good athlete needs good skills, and good mental health too. A volleyball player is no exception.

Volleyball is a really fun sport. There are different places where a volleyball game could be hosted too. Volleyball can be played on a court, on grass, at the beach, in the pool, and basically anywhere else you may want to. Many countries don’t have the resources that America has with the sport. For example, Puerto Rico’s volleyball courts are cement courts. If a player were to dive for a ball, they would get hurt, and go through a lot of obvious pain from the harsh cement. When I lived in Puerto Rico, I remember having my volleyball practices  on the harsh cement, and getting injured a lot, and overtime the volleyball teams started raising money to upgrade their courts and their equipment for the players too. A lot of hard work is put in to gain money for the sports team and to upgrade some equipment, and better courts for training.

Volleyball is an intense sport for sure, I think that when I play volleyball, my accumulated anger gets out. I feel at ease a lot of the time after my volleyball practices, and games which is why I feel like volleyball is my stress relevant. Volleyball can be rough depending on the coach that you have, and the level of training that they give you, but in the end it’s always fun.