JUNIOR JOURNAL All about sacrifice Reaching your goals in volleyball or anything else worth doing in life
is never easy, but facing the hardships is part of what takes you to greatness by Emily Podschweit
love the Olympics. Not only the competi- tion and victories, but hearing about the hardships, setbacks and challenges. It’s easy to understand that hard work, mastering the skills and knowing the game inside and out can lead to great- ness, but what propels you to the top?
I Tough times
Overcoming per- sonal struggles was part of the challenge for each Olympic athlete who competed in London. If they didn’t fi nd a way to conquer the
quest, they wouldn’t have chosen to be part of the Olympic journey. And in each of their journeys, similar lessons were shared. Lessons of mental toughness, determination, love, friendship and sacrifi ce were evident in all of the athletes, beach and indoor, who wore USA uniforms in London. There were celebrations of victory, disappointments with defeat. But through good times and bad, these athletes pushed through whatever doubts they may have had and kept their dreams alive.
Inspiration
I know it doesn’t work out for everyone. In fact, only a select few earn that rare op- portunity to compete at the Olympics. But just watching the athletes who made it to London was a tremendous inspiration for me. All of you will have to decide sometime in your career how long you will continue to play. My hope is that you’ll use the stories of our Olympic athletes to give you that push you need to keep going.
Blood, sweat and tears I had a volleyball camp shirt from my for-
mer church, Heritage, in Rock Island, Ill., that said, “Blood, sweat and tears, it’s all about the sacrifi ce.” My coach at the time talked about how to fi ght through hardships in all aspects of our lives. Of course, hard work was a huge part of that message – as well as mastering the fun- damentals. But what stood out was the belief that we, all of us, are going to face very tough times in our lives. It’s our job to fi gure out how to deal with those hardships and fi ght on. Understand this: On the way to pursuing your goals, you’re going to fall down. And when we fall, it often hurts – and it sometimes
22 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
even hurts others. You might feel extreme pain, either physical or emotional. But with each obstacle, you have a chance to pull ahead by becoming wiser, stronger and even kinder.
Propping up your teammates When I watched our Olympic beach teams, I saw the results of long-term com- mitments and friendships. Loyalty – staying true to your partner and your combined goals – seemed to be a driving force for success. The players valued and cared for each other. The enthusiasm and love of a great play, a great win, a medal made me very proud. These are our teams. These are our USA Vol- leyball athletes.
Learning from April and Jen April Ross and Jen Kessy, who won the silver medal in London, have mastered the fundamentals. They demonstrated all of the things that you have to do to be successful. They called out shots. They covered the block.
“Just watching the athletes who made it to London was a tremendous inspiration for me.”
They remained poised and in control. Kessy and Ross stayed together even after
they didn’t qualify for the Beijing Olympics. They used coach Jeff Conover to help guide, direct, challenge and push them to secure their spot four years later. They never gave up. What they did was work even harder to achieve their goals.
Learning from Kerri and Misty Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor have mastered competitive greatness. The interviews I saw highlighted a loyalty that they have to each other that kept them work- ing together to achieve the highest honor in Olympic beach volleyball history – three gold medals.
Learning from Jake and Sean Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal’s journey to earn their second Olympic berth was intense. Their story is not of an Olympic medal – they fi nished fi fth in London – but of the journey that got them there. If you need to be inspired,
look no further. Gibb survived a cancer scare while competing with a great friend and beach partner by his side. He and Rosenthal found ways to push each other through to the next win – and to the Olympics.
Stay positive
I know many of you are in high school or middle school volleyball and have to balance friendships, school, club decisions, family and everyday worries. Sometimes it may seem rough, unfair and even mean, and I’m just talking about the relationships. Add in an injury and you have even more of a burden to carry. But remember: All of this will shape the person you become. It’s never easy, but if you stay positive and help others, I know you’ll continue to play the game you love.
My own struggle As for me, I made the USAV Beach A1
National Training Team and moved to Her- mosa Beach, Calif., a few days after graduat- ing from high school. I had a terrifi c summer training and playing with the USAV beach staff and athletes. I wasn’t selected to compete in Cyprus for the FIVB Beach Volleyball Youth World Championships, but maybe I will next time if I continue to work hard, train hard and if I use my disappointments to increase my determination.
A new challenge
I now live in Miami as a freshman at Florida International University on a sand volleyball scholarship under coach Rita Crockett, a 1984 Olympic silver medalist for the U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team and a 2011 inductee into the Volleyball Hall of Fame. I’m looking forward to playing sand doubles in college at South Beach in Miami and working hard to better my game and my friendships. After seeing what the Olympic athletes have done for each other, I get that this has to be one of the reasons for success.
A quote to live by
I encourage you to fi nd something to hang on to that will remind you of who you want to be and what you want to achieve. Some of my inspiration comes from what I refer to as “my life quote.” It goes like this: “I am too optimistic to be fearful, too positive to be doubtful, too determined to be defeated.” If that works for you, feel free to use it. Or fi nd your own. Either way, go for it!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88