By Raffles Volleyball Exco’22
Ever watched the Volleyball Tokyo 2020 Olympics? Ever ogled over the Japanese Volleyball players, Ran Takahashi and Yuji Nishida, for their good looks and amazing skills? How about the famous volleyball anime, Haikyuu? If you loved watching volleyball as much as we did, but have not had the chance to learn more about volleyball, fret not! Let us explain what this spectacular sport is all about!
So, what is volleyball?
The core of volleyball is simple: don’t let the ball touch the floor. To truly play the game, one needs to work hard on the many unique skills that volleyball requires—digs, sets, spikes, serves, and even dives. Mastering these foundations are crucial and may take some time to build, hence they require utmost level of dedication and patience. Any small mistakes in stance or movement could send the ball flying in the wrong direction.
A game of volleyball typically lasts between 60-90 minutes, during which you will be running around, jumping and even diving to prevent the ball from touching the ground on your side of the court. However, volleyball is not all brawn and no brain as it is also a game of deception and strategy.
Volleyball is a team sport. Within the court, no matter a faulty receive or failed set, your team covers for you, as you do for them. The team cheers for each other in good and bad times. Even with mistakes and doubts about your ability, your team continues to support you, encouraging you to put down any feelings of discontentment and look forward. That, my friends, is what volleyball is all about.
After reading all this, do you now feel the urge to discover the dazzling world of Volleyball?
What we are looking for
As most of us joined the cca without prior experience in volleyball, it is not necessary for you to have top-notch skills straight away. After all, practice makes perfect! With time and effort, your skills can definitely improve. What is more important is the willingness to learn and the ability to work hard to improve your skills every day. Attitude is key, and we believe that a positive mindset towards learning and making mistakes will ensure a fulfilling experience here!
Raffles Volleyball accommodates people with various strengths in skills – there will always be a position suited for you. Our teams usually include a setter, a subset, two middle blockers, two outside spikers and a libero in our starting lineup. These are specialised positions for attack and defence. So do not worry if you are not 1.70m tall or may not spike the best! You will definitely be able to find a suitable role in Volleyball!
Volleyball Girls’ team, batch of 2022 (Photo credit to Raffles Photographic Society) Picture taken in accordance with SMMs during the prior phase of Covid-19 measures.
What we do in Raffles Volleyball
Training sessions take place every Tuesday and Thursday, from 5pm to 8pm during the off-season, with an additional 9am-12pm session on Saturday during the competition season. Training sessions usually consist of physical training, drills and gameplay. While it may sound exhausting, most of us look forward to training with our dearest batchmates and coaches, as well as batch dinners after at the J8 rooftop (while observing SMMs, duh)! There is no better way to nurse your sore arms and legs than bonding with your teammates over dinner and bad jokes, right?
Once in a while, our team will set aside time to meet up and play volleyball outside of school — be it at the Sports Hub or at beach volleyball courts. Moments like these really allow us to understand each other on a deeper level, which is all the more important because this would translate to enhanced on-court chemistry and teamwork. We are confident that you will be able to fit in well and enjoy your time here, just like we have!
If the Covid-19 situation gets better, you can look forward to the National School Games (A Divisions) in April and yearly events such as Team Raffles Games and Old Rafflesians League (ORL), where alumni members come back for a fun day of volleyball with one another. We can also participate in friendly matches with other schools to provide us with some much-needed exposure to different volleyball gameplays.
And that is what volleyball truly means to us. Forget the glitz and glamour of National Volleyball players duking it out for each and every point, forget your favourite anime series that details highly unrealistic (but extremely entertaining) matches. Volleyball is family. What more could you ask for?
*Cover image taken in accordance with SMMs during the prior phase of Covid-19 measures.
