Many of my friends were really excited today as it was the opening day of the Major League Baseball season. My friends were ready to cheer on their favorite teams. I have no interest in baseball, so I really thought nothing of it. Then, I started thinking about my excitement for the opening day of volleyball season. As I shared this excitement with my friends, they looked at me a little bewildered and said, "when is opening day for volleyball season?"
I realized that there is a very large awareness issue with volleyball as a sport. Most people are none the wiser about when it starts, or even why it is such a great sport. I started to think about the reasons that people enjoy some of the more popular sports (basketball, football, or baseball) and I realized that the same things that make those sports exciting exist in volleyball as well. Here are some of the reasons I have heard people use as to why they like their favorite sport:
I like the high flying dunks - I understand this as it is really exciting to watch someone do a fantastic dunk. However, I find it equally exciting to watch a hitter smack the ball and have it go straight down. Or, watching them hit another player with the ball. What these athletes can do is simply amazing. Oh, and for the high flying part, you should check out Leonel Marshall from the Cuban National team with the 50 inch vertical. No, the 50 inch vertical is not a typo.
I like the teamwork in football how everyone works together - Volleyball is one of the last true team sports. In a sport like basketball, one good player can take over the game without really using the rest of the team. In volleyball, it requires the entire team since the same player cannot it the ball in two consecutive hits. In fact, when the entire team is playing together and they are capable players, it is fun to watch how well it works and see the beauty of a true team sport.
I like the strategy of baseball and seeing the pitcher/batter duel - When playing volleyball with six players, there are so many hitting strategies and ways for the setter to run the offense that it is more fun to watch. There are the quick attacks from the middle blocker, and there are hitters coming from the back row jumping a good distance just to hit the ball, and the strategy of a front row setter taking the opportunity to dump the ball on the second hit. There is also the strategy of reading the hitter and knowing where to block. Is the hitter going to hit down the line, hit angle, or tip over the block? As you can see, there is plenty of strategy once you know more about this great sport.
As you can see, I realized that many of the things I love about this great sport are similar to the reasons that people love the other more popular sports. Hopefully, this article has sparked an interest in you to learn more about this sport.
In conclusion, most of the articles that I have written have been about the "how-to" of volleyball. In this article, I wanted to share some of the great things about this sport and increase people's awareness of it. Pass it on to those that are looking for another great sport.
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