1. THE LIFE OF A
VOLLEYBALL PLAYER
Rubina Apoian
Cultural and Visual Anthropology
Dr. Leanna Wolfe
November 6, 2013

2. “Hi, my name is Ani Apoian and
volleyball is a passion of mine. It
is something I go to when I want
to free myself and get away.
Every time I throw the ball over
the net, I feel myself throwing my
problems and giving myself a
piece of mind. I can play
volleyball all day and I will never
get tired of it.”

3. “THIS IS MY VOLLEYBALL TEAM. THE AGES
RANGE FROM 14-18 YEARS OLD. WE HAVE
THREE COACHES THAT HELP US TRAIN FOR
OUR BIG GAMES. THEY USED TO BE
VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS JUST LIKE US, SO THEY
KNOW THE DO’S AND DON’T’S. I LOVE HAVING A
GROUP LIKE MINE TO PRACTICE WITH. THEY
HAVE TURNED INTO MY BEST FRIENDS.”

4. “Every day before practice, we have
conditioning. That is when we do warmups so we don’t get sore during our
practices. We do everything from lunges,
running miles, and leaning on the walls to
get our legs stronger. As you can see, it is
very painful to lean on a wall for more than
ten minutes. Yes, it does hurt, but I have to
admit that it really helps during my games.
My knee pads help my knees from hurting
and scraping when I fall on the ground
during a volleyball game.”

5. • “This is when I FINALLY got my
jersey!! It was the happiest moment
of my life! All the practice and hard
work finally paid off and I have a
jersey with my own number! Every
person has their own number that
they choose and I feel like every
number is unique. Your number is
who you are. Some people on my
team even call me by my number
as a nickname instead of my own
name.”

6. “My best friend Natalie is on
the team with me as well. We
were about to go on a road trip
with our whole team to another
high school to play against
another volleyball team in a
different school. We managed
to sneak in a picture before
going on the road. As you can
see, I was so nervous that my
eyes were closed during the
picture!”

7. • “Here is where all the hard work is
needed! This is my team during an
actual game. My friend was trying
to spike the ball onto the other
side, and I was waiting right next
to her in case she dropped the
ball. I would be right there to throw
the ball to the other team.
Everyone was so anxious to see
where the ball was going to go.
Both me and the girl in pink on the
left side were waiting to save the
game in case the ball fell.”

8. • “This is my team the day after our
game. We were so happy because
we won the game! We decided to
take another group photo. As a
way to celebrate, we all decided to
wear pink because the team we
went against the day before had
pink jerseys. We wanted to feel
like we were winners and we
reached our goal. It was honestly
one of the best moments of my
life.”

9. • “These are two of my friends on the
team. We were at the gym, practicing for
another one of our games. We are all
required to wear spandex and tennis
shoes during practice and the game
itself. The reason we have to wear
spandex is because it allows us to move
freely and tennis shoes help us run
around and be comfortable. Knee pads
also need to be worn at all times, but my
teammates can be lazy and not wear
them. I, on the other hand, cannot be
without them.”

10. • “Even though we work very hard, we also
know how to have some fun and goof off.
Sometimes when we feel like we practice
too much, we play around and take goofy
pictures. Even though volleyball is a very
big part of our lives, we take some time
off and spend time with friends. All
teenagers in our age range love taking
pictures and posting them on Instagram.
This picture was actually taken to be put
on the social network. What can I say, we
were too tired to practice some more!”

11. “Practicing for volleyball is done about three hours
every day after school, Monday through Friday. After
class, we all come to the gym, throw our backpacks on
the floor and get ready to exercise and play! It can be
tough to juggle volleyball and homework at the same
time, but when you are playing a sport you love, you
learn to make time for everything. I know that school is
very important at my age, but I will not be able to live if
I don’t play volleyball. I will take tutoring lessons every
day if I have to finish my homework, but I will not quit
volleyball. I love it!”
Ani Apoian is someone I admire because I feel like she
is very passionate about what she does. I hope one
day I am as passionate about something like she is
about volleyball. I know that she will do anything in her
power to be the best volleyball player she can be. She
works very hard to be the best player on the team.
She is one of the most hard working people I know. I
wish I can be as hard working as her.