The next match Beth didnt play at all. She kept working and going to practice but she wasn't put in to the game. I had mixed feelings about the next time she was put into the game (if there was a next time).
We continued to practice at home too. I just didn't get the sense that her heart was in it any more. I felt like I needed to say or do something to help her get her confidence back or at least the desire to play.
Beth is kinda funny.
I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, though.
If she is interested in something she is something akin to an unstoppable force. You don't want to get in her way. She will do anything or work as hard as necessary to get what she wants. By the same token if she isn't interested or has lost interest in something she is the unmovable object. She is extremely hard to motivate and will do only the bare minimum necessary. It has been true with her in school, piano and everything else. When she wanted straight A's, she made straight A's. When she wanted to learn piano, she learned piano. When she wanted to play volleyball she learned the game and all of the techniques on her own.
I got the sense that her motivation for the game was waning and that was bad. She would spend what was left of the season on the bench or just going through the motions of the game and getting little or no playing time.
I felt like I needed to do something to help her want to do this again.
I wasnt sure what to do.
I didnt feel like threatening to pull her off the team was the right approach though. A few days passed and we were in the street practicing and she was half-assing it and going through the motions as she had been doing ever since that game.
I finally stopped and walked over to her and asked her if she wanted to play volleyball anymore. She gave a disinterested shrug and said "Yeah, I guess so".
I said "Do you, really? I'm serious. If this isnt what you want tell me and I'll understand".
She said "I do, I guess".
Thats when I kinda lost it. "Then play the game. Get out there and play. Play volleyball or get off the court and quit wasting every ones time" I said.
I came out pretty sharp and I could tell that she was a little misty eyed after I said it.
Then she said "Ok. I will" with a little bit of venom in her tone.
We played a little while longer and went in.
Beth is a tough person to read. I didnt know if anything I said had actually registered with her or if she was just giving me a little but of her normal attitude.
The next match was at Pleasant Grove Middle school. As with all of the matches the team from the fartherest out plays first. Since Rudd was the farthest geographically we got to play Hueytown first.
Beth didn't play.
Rudd played poorly, they didn't call their balls or work together. It was 6 individuals on the court. There was no team work at all. The sad thing is that it was a game they could have won easily if they would have worked together. Rudd lost and went to the sidelines to prepare for the next match against Pleasant Grove.
Beth didnt play the first game.
The girls played better but not great. There was some more cooperation between the girls but again it wasn't a lot. In the end it was enough to win the game 25-23. The second match was about to start and I could see that the girls were huddled on the sidelines and Ms. Binder was talking to Beth. She had her by both shoulders and looked like she was encouraging her. I leaned over and told Melinda that it looked like Beth was going to be put in.
The butterflys came up in my stomach.
The truth is that I was probably more nervous than she was. The Lady Indians took the court and sure enough Beth took her position. As usual she looked over at me and I gave her a smile and a thumbs up. I said a silent prayer that things would go right for her and she would have a good game and get to play a while.
I was totally unprepared for what came next.
The match started and the first couple of points were volleyed back and forth and went to Pleasant Grove. Pleasant Grove served again. I went back and forth a couple of times and came to Rudd. The first girl to hit it bumped it up. The setter hit and put a perfect set on the ball.
It came to Beth.
A thousand thoughts went through my head. Would she hit it. Would she duck. Would she watch it hit the ground thinking it was someone elses ball?
No.
She moved under it, bent her knees and went to spike it as she had tried and missed so many times before. She jumped slightly and her arm moved to the ball.
The sound of her had hitting the leather on the ball sounded like a gunshot.
The ball sailed over the net very fast right at the head of the girl on the Pleasant Grove side of the net.
She put her hands up and covered her face and ducked.
The ball bounced off her her hands and went out of bounds.
She had scored.
Beth scored and spiked the ball. The Rudd side of the court erupted in cheers. Beth looked over at me and a tiny little smile crept up at the edges of her mouth.
It. Was. On.
It was as if the heavens opened up and the gods of volleyball had possessed my daughter. She spiked three more balls, all for scores. She served 5 serves for points. She returned three balls that she had to dive for that no one else had a chance to get. What was even better was that her team responded. They began to communicate and they worked together. She got high fives from her teammates and their parents were yelling "Go Number 20". She looked over at me in the middle of the game and instead of mouthing "Im scared" she smiled and mouthed "Its hot in here". I smiled and thought to myself that right now the hottest thing in here was her.
Poor Pleasant Grove never stood a chance.
The final score was Rudd 25, Pleasant Grove 17. When the game was over the team gathered around Beth and congratulated her on the game. The parents all patted her on the back and told her how good her game was.
I couldnt express how proud I was of her. What was best was that the twinkle was back in her eye and she was happy to be playing volleyball again.
There have been good games and bad games since that evening at Pleasant Grove. Beth has played fairly well for the most part. She hasn't gotten discouraged even when things don't always go well. I think she has learned that she can play and just has to keep working hard. Her dedication to the game has increased and we are now looking at playing club volleyball to keep her in the game and help her to continue to develop.
There might be another chapter to this story in the future. We'll just have to find out where it goes from here.
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