by Joel Young
Volleyball Coach
It was a tense moment in the match: the score was 23 -23 and Coach O’Brien called a needed timeout to settle down the team, refocus them, and remind them to make a good pass, set it up, and hit it─just as the team had been doing the entire match. It was quiet in the huddle when the normally quiet Sam S. stepped forward.
“We are not going to lose,” Sam said. “We are winning this game right now.”
The boys knew it and turned and walked out on the court and promptly won the next two points to complete our first boys’ varsity volleyball championship. It was a wonderful and fitting moment to an incredible season.
This group of eighth and seventh graders came to the first practice in February ready to learn the game of volleyball and come together as a team. Several of them had played last season on the first junior varsity team to win a pennant in the sport. The core of this team was focused on winning a varsity championship and a banner for our gym. With several first-time players, the team worked on skills and began to win each match. In fact, this group of boys won match after match and dropped only two games in an undefeated season. But the team truly came together in the last two matches of the season. Each player supported everyone on the court. The boys on the bench cheered every play, good or bad. They picked each other up, and when starters came out new players came in to try their best. They were truly working as a team.
Coaches Mary O’Brien and Joel Young saw this growth in the last week of the season and knew that this team could all the way. We were proud of their growth, focus, and teamwork. They were so fun to coach and we commend all their hard work and dedication. This group set the standard that the core of seventh graders, who will be next year’s varsity, will want to continue next volleyball season. So let’s hear it for the San Francisco Day School volleyball champions of 2010!
The 2010 Roster
Eighth graders:
- Sam S.
- Jack G.
- Zach H.
- James P.
- Luke H.
- Alex W.
- Taro D.
- Connor A.
- Gabe L.
Seventh graders:
- Eddie L.
- Michael F.
- Adam K.
- Theo U.
- Jack D.
Click here to view photos of the game.
