Compared to just two years ago, now there are many sports to participate in. One of the new sports teams at AJMS is co-ed volleyball. Ms. Thomas is the head coach of the co-ed volleyball team. She is also involved with all of the sports but mainly coaches girls’ volleyball and co-ed volleyball.
Thomas said, “I’m involved with all of the sports but I coach volleyball and co-ed volleyball so the other sports I just do stuff behind the scenes like designing the uniforms, ordering equipment or scheduling buses and then in volleyball I’m actually a coach.”
Thomas and her team train twice a week. When they train for a game they stretch, run laps, then they begin to pepper. Pepper is just passing the ball to each other.
She really enjoys being involved in the school sports.
Thomas said, “It’s a lot of fun because I feel like I get to connect with students in a way that’s different from learning in the classroom when we play sports, but it’s also a lot of work behind the scenes.”
She always tries to find better ways to improve her team while they play. For example she said, “I always try to encourage only positive feedback so my volleyball players could definitely attest to that and say if I catch any of them making negative comments or saying ‘You should’ve done this’ I make sure to correct it and tell them look we’re a team, we need to stay focused and stay together and stay positive because otherwise it’s just gonna make people nervous which makes people not play well. ”
During a game they always have fun and it’s very fast, whether they win or lose. As well, the players might be nervous at first or face difficulties but they always end up gaining confidence the more they play.
Thomas noted, “We try to focus on the same areas, like the same basics, so at first students can be intimidated by certain exercises or activities but once we do them multiple times throughout the season they get more confident.”
She really enjoys her time being involved in sports here at AJMS.
She said, “Yeah it’s a lot of fun because it is still a way to be involved with volleyball. It’s hard to be involved with sports when you’re an adult there’s just not a lot of opportunities, so getting to still play and be involved in the sport that I love and I’ve loved since middle school is really fun.”
The team isn’t perfect: there is always room for improvement. Students can shut themselves down or can shut others down by the way they played or by not doing something correctly but Thomas always motivates them.
For example she told them, “I think students or players need to have more of a positive attitude. I feel like students are really quick to critique themselves and other players, but they will get down on themselves really really easily. Then I notice that has a negative effect on their performance so I really just think the power of positivity is also present in sports.”
Finally some words of motivation Thomas would give as a coach are to always remember why you play the sport: It could be tiring, painful, and even frustrating, But to always keep in mind why you play that sport.
