Aubrie's Volleyball Adventures [Week One]: A Surprising Start

After two days of volleyball practice, none of which I had personally witnessed, I had no idea how Aubrie was going to do in her first volleyball start. She plays in a girls volleyball league run by a local Nazarene church*.  Reports from practice weren't very promising, so I went in with low expectations, with the hope of being pleasantly surprised.

One thing I did know: Aubrie looks great in a pink t-shirt and knee pads.

Aubrie served first for her team, and nailed the first three before dropping one outside the lines. She ended up getting one more point during game 2. This was great considering the night before we practiced serves using a kid's inflatable ball. No equipment failures were going to hold Aubrie back!

Aubrie launches a serve behind the back line.

Slideshow here.

Not to be biased, but I thought Aubrie was the best player on her team. Ok, I'm biased. But she did strike balls that were clearly hers pretty cleanly, and called for them every time. The balls she missed would be difficult for any level player. One came straight down from the ceiling, another landed between her and another player and one was stuck in the net.

Aidan, Ginger and I had a great time cheering Aubrie on. Though her team lost two games to none, we're confident we have a little volleyball player on her hands -- though she's not quite convinced she herself is quite good enough. Ironically, despite Aubrie feeling bad about her performance, she earned a start for enthusiasm. Most of all, along with progressing her skills, we feel Aubrie becomes more confident in her abilities and cheerful overall.

Aubrie in action

Shout out to the Nazarene church of Chicago Heights for running this professional and fun program for the girls. The church is also teaching the girls about the gospel of Jesus Christ after each practice, which is pretty cool way to combine religion and athletics.