Actually playing again, and putting the wheels back on

So after about a month of not playing, we are now playing again. Last week we had a terrible loss to Bolderburg. Just terrible. It is one of those teams I saw and assessed and said we should kill. But instead we lost 3 tough sets to them close. Frustration could not explain how frustrated I was. So through this week we intensified our practices. Running, intense drills, challenges and complete tiredness. It was great. And it made a difference. We played Zonhoven this weekend and won 3-1. We had quite a lot of fight which was great because we tend to lack in that area. Today we have a cup game and I really want to win it. If we win, we are in the semi-finals of the Antwerpen cup and will play our rival team. I want to win the cup.

So my little girls team has had two tough losses in a row. And it has sucked. When I first saw the girls play I thought, "hey they are really good," they man handled the other teams. And since then they have improved a lot. Well last week we play a team who was back setting their players! I couldn't believe it, 12 years old! And let me explain the rules, they play 4 v 4 and every girl learns how to set, hit and play all the positions. The court and net are shrunk just a little bit. SO back to the game! So we play this team and we played them close. The girls lost a little focus and might have been able to win had they not. But unlike back home, at this age they just play for fun. No parents thinking their daughters are all stars, no girls with I'm better than attitudes and a loss isn't the end of the world. They actually enjoy playing! So at the end of the game I was a little disappointed, but I did see lots of improvement from the girls and they were having fun playing volleyball. And plus I was thinking, "that team was just an anomaly." Wrong. This week we played a girl I called the "monster". She was just under 6 feet tall with a longer wingspan and was crushing the ball on several occasions just outside the 3 meter line. She also had a personal coach that was coaching her from the sidelines opposite of the team coach. She had about 10 kill blocks on us. Yeah, 12 years old..... I think. Get out the birth certificates! But, even with monster our girls still had a chance. They were somewhat close on all the games up to 15 and they played great. They were hitting, trying to block, serving. It was great watching, but then my life would turn into shadows when monster, 3 feet above the net, was smashing down at my girls faces. But at the end of the game Jana, Kate, Feane, Brigit, and Eveliene just laughed it off. Another day of fun volleyball.