If you have ever been on a volleyball team before, you know that playing volleyball creates a special bond. In volleyball, you are not allowed to touch the ball twice in a row and you only have three touches on a side before it goes over the net. These two basic rules of volleyball are the reason why a volleyball team is different than any other team.

I personally don’t know any other sport that relies on its teammates as much as volleyball does. In basketball, the star player can dribble the ball down the court and make a basket; same goes for soccer and football. One player, if they want, can make an entire play all on their own. However, in volleyball, you have to work with your teammates to score. It takes a passer to get the ball to the setter and then set up the hitter to get a kill, making it a true team effort.

Volleyball has provided me with some of my best friends and the bond that came from being on a team together, will support friendships for life. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the majority of my friends in high school were on my volleyball team. Between the pre-game dinners, hilarious warm up dancing, countless sleepovers, and memorable wins, my teammates became my best friends and family.

Also being on a volleyball team has taught me to be tough. When you play a sport that involves you to throw yourself onto hard surface floors for a ball, you learn to get tougher skin, literally. The countless hours of practicing diving for balls has left me black and blue for weeks. You also can’t begin to describe the love of your floor burns, because normally there was a really good save involved.

The experience of being on a volleyball team changes you. Any prior knowledge of what a team means changes after playing volleyball. The bond of a volleyball team is indescribable, because whether you win or lose, you still know your team has your back. Between the countless hours of practicing and weight lifting, and always having bruises and floor burns all over your body, you still love it. The feeling of stepping onto a volleyball court to warm up before a game is a feeling that never truly goes away.

Volleyball has provided me with some of my best friends, valuable life lessons, and a love of the game. Being on a volleyball team has impacted my life for the better and I am still thankful for it every day.