Why You Should Join RHS Girls’ Volleyball!

There are many sports around Rosemead High School’s campus that many people try out for, whether the sport they want to join is basketball, soccer, flag football, or wrestling. But what if you want to commit to a sport that doesn’t involve too much running? Or what if you aren’t too aggressive, but have tons of adrenaline on the court? And what if you aren’t into that many sports in general, but you’re starting to look for one? Then you should join volleyball!

Our RHS girls’ volleyball team, specifically our junior varsity and training team, is absolutely beginner-friendly! The coach for our team, Coach James, is very encouraging and funny, but he’s also very good at game strategies, and he knows when to be serious and when to pump us up. He also does an amazing job at finding out what your exact skills and weaknesses are, so you can figure out what position you want to play when the actual season starts. And, if still you aren’t aware of what position you would want to play, then don’t worry, because the main things we’ll teach you on the court are the basics: how to bump, set, and spike. From there, you can determine what position you like most, whether it’s being a “setter”, which is setting the ball to the person who then spikes the ball, who can also be called an “outside, middle blocker, or opposite hitter. Although when playing this position, it’s very important to always go for the second ball and to really call for it in case your teammates try to go for it as well. 

Or, if you aren’t that proficient at setting, but you’re very good at passing, then you would be an amazing libero or DS, also known as a “defensive specialist”. When you play this specific position, it’s essential to read the ball as accurately as possible so you can pass it to the setter and prepare for defense when the ball goes to the opposing side. Your job is also to help the people around you if they accidentally cause the ball to go out of bounds, and most of the time, it can be very helpful for the team if you try to dive for the ball. It might seem scary at first, and it might hurt quite a bit, but the more you learn different ways to do so, it’ll feel like second nature. But one downside, however, is the fact that you can’t set the ball to the ten-foot line.

 If you’re skilled at passing and setting, but don’t envision yourself playing in the back row, and if you’re tall enough to get your hands over the net, then you would be great as a middle blocker! A middle blocker’s main job is to block and spike the ball when the setter sends the ball to them, but they can also set or pass to the outside or opposite hitter if the setter isn’t able to get to the ball and call for help.  Of course, the back row can also help set, but it’s recommended to try to pass the ball if you can, especially if you’re far away from the setter.

If you feel as if you aren’t proficient enough for JV and varsity, then our program offers a training team, where you practice 30 minutes before our junior varsity team, and hone your skills with them as well! Although you won’t be able to participate in our games, you will still ride in the same buses as we do and cheer for us as loudly as you can while we go against rival teams. Just like if you were in junior varsity, you can be moved up at any time during the season, so make sure to be prepared!

On the other hand, if you feel as if you already know all of this, and maybe have played for a traveling club off-campus, another program, or another sport and are athletic, then you would fit right in as a varsity player. Our coach, also known as Coach Emily or Coach Em, is very keen on teaching the more technical aspects of the game, such as spiking the ball to a specific target, perfecting your passing technique so it always goes to the setter, and increasing your vertical jump. Nonetheless, she’s just as uplifting and humorous as Coach James, but she’s a bit more serious. And with her guidance, you’ll really improve in almost no time and maybe go to CIF! She also teaches you to have a strong, positive mindset and attitude because if you aren’t able to keep those things up, then there’s a chance that you’ll not be your usual self on the court, and you might even feel burnt out and not like the sport anymore. It’s extremely important to keep this mindset going for these reasons and to always talk to someone if you need help, and to remember that you’re a human first and an athlete second.

If this sport interests you, or maybe you just want to try it out because you saw it on TV, then we hope to see you next year! We also make sure to hang out a bit before practices and maybe even some team bonding activities on the weekends, if possible. You can go to our next year’s tryouts by logging into “Home Campus” to fill out information about yourself and taking pictures on the application to show that you’ve gotten your physical, have insurance, or something else that you can use, like a Medi-Cal card.