It’s The Only Thing

It was the Summer of 2018. Beach Breakers homeschool sports gave me the go-ahead to launch a boys volleyball team. Davin loved to play, and another homeschooler, Aubrey, loved to play. The only way for them to play competitively in the Fall was to start a varsity team, so that’s what we did. Taking this step was squarely outside of my comfort zone. New situations make me uneasy and I don’t like taking risks. I was a nervous wreck in the days leading up to tryouts. I couldn’t stop worrying about the turnout and whether or not we’d even have enough players to field a team. Then, even if we did, I’d be responsible for four practices a week and finding other teams to play. An underlying sense of dread was my constant companion, but that yin was countered by the refreshing and exciting yang of starting a new adventure.

There was a decent turnout at the tryouts, two seniors, Dylan and Jared, who made me feel more at ease. Brant walked in late. He was 6 foot 3. There was an 8th grader named Albie who was over 6 feet tall, a cute kid named Austin who knew the basics and was eager to learn, and a pair of brothers, Timothy and Elliot who were dancers with some athleticism. Add in Davin and Aubrey and those nine made up the team. We had enough players to form a team! This was actually going to happen. My nervous fear was becoming nervous excitement. Those nine players stuck it out that season for those nine games. Nine players. Nine games. Nine losses. We didn’t win a set and I couldn’t have been prouder. I blogged about the awesomeness here “Winning Isn’t Everything.”

In 2019 we won two games against another homeschool team and finished the year 2 – 13. Progress! We practiced in 2020, but due to Covid most schools weren’t fielding teams so we played in an adult rec league, which was tough. Then came 2021. Tryouts went great, for the first time ever I had to make cuts, but I was also able to add in some solid, younger players, including a public school transfer, an experienced club player, and a basketball player. We looked like a competitive volleyball team. Turns out, we were a competitive volleyball team.

When you truly enjoy an activity, you can experience joy while doing it, regardless of the outcome. If you love music, write a song, and nobody listens to it, you still get some fulfillment out of the creative process. If you love a sport, play it, and lose, you still have the satisfaction of honing your skill and being on a team. You can have fun singing or playing a sport, regardless of the outcome, but it’s much sweeter when you can sing your songs in front of a packed audience. It is so much sweeter when you can go 14 – 3, win two tournaments, and see the benefits of years of hard work and struggle. Paul acknowledges in Corinthians that the whole reason we train is to win. Winning is the goal. It’s the only thing. I can’t describe the sense of joy and pride in these guys as we attained that goal in 2021.

We faced an early test at the Endless Summer Varsity tournament in Virginia Beach. This is an invitational tournament for the public and private high schools in the area. It was our 3rd trip to the tournament. The first two times we went a combined 0 – 9, finishing dead last both years. In 2021, this group of ragtag homeschooled students defeated three teams ranked in the top 15 and finished 5 – 0 to claim the Division 2 championship.

Later in the season, we traveled to Tennessee for the East Coast Homeschool Nationals. This was the same tournament that we won our first games in two years earlier, to finish 2 – 3, but this year we were hoping for more. We were missing a few guys who couldn’t make the trip, but we were easily the best team there. We finished 5 – 0 and didn’t drop a set. The team played with class and sportsmanship, and we beat a very athletic team from South Carolina in the finals. Thanks to discipline, perseverance, and growth spurts, this group of young men, most of whom had never played volleyball before, became the best homeschool team on the entire East Coast.

We capped off the season with our final home game, senior night, against Cape Henry Collegiate. They were the class of the conference. They were large, strong, and skilled, with college-bound players who hit the ball hard. We had never beaten them in four years, going 0 – 5, including a 4 set loss earlier this season. Our small gym was packed with fans. This was Davin’s last varsity game, and this was my last game as head coach. I’m a sentimental type and I soaked in every minute. I didn’t know it at the time, but there would be a lot of minutes. We alternated close sets with them, going back and forth until the final, deciding 5th set. We took an early lead in the 5th and held on for the win, beating the vaunted Cape Henry for the first time in our history.

The crowd went wild and I leaped onto the court after that final point, cheering spastically. Then I stopped and looked around at the team and the fans. This is it. I saw the smiles on all the guy’s faces and I thought back to those tryouts over 3 years earlier. I thought back over the journey, through loss after loss, which I wouldn’t trade for anything … And I cried.

Those trophies will surely turn to dust, but the memories will last a lifetime.