Tigers On Fire!

No, the zoo isn't burning. =) Yesterday was the championship game for the volleyball season, and my girls won! Tigers are champions for two years in a row (only one of my team was a repeat customer, since the teams are mixed up every year). By the way, the title was our team "cheer." We started using it last year in the tournament, and it really seems to get the girls excited. I'm so proud of the girls and the progress they made, and I'll really miss working with them. One of them told me this morning, "Teacher, I wish volleyball wasn't over!" Last year my team started with a lot of talent and didn't have to work as hard, but at the end everyone contributed to an extremely hard fought championship-by the end of the year, the other teams had improved greatly and only the determination and team work pulled it off for my team. This year, I started off with one returning player (who ended up as my team captain), 1 other who could serve fairly consistently, and 2 with a little experience, but extremely inconsistent serving. The other 4 had never played volleyball before. Annais (aka "old lady"), the team captain, was our "glue." She was our most consistent server, and could always be depended on to pass the ball back over the net. She was also the team cheerleader-I always noticed a definite difference in team spirit when she was at practice and games, and I heard several comments from spectators about her good attitude. The girls really looked up to her, and I'm happy to say she provided them with a good example, in serving technique =) and attitude. Valeria (from 6th grade) had experience, and was fairly consistent in serving, and always dependable to return the ball. When Annais couldn't be there, Valeria took over and got the job done. Paola, my only lefty, at first constantly served outside the line, but after much practice was able to remember to step, and hit it straight, and became a very consistent server. She was also a big part of our team spirit, always cheerful, and excited to play, and when the 6th graders were late or absent, Paola took charge. Julimar began with inconsistent serves, and very hard time focusing, but by the end was consistently serving well, and paying attention to the game. I'm really excited about her progress. Amarys began the year playing scared (with a family member watching practice and chewing her out the whole time) always popping her serves up to the roof-strength was definitely not her problem. =) But as soon as practices became closed, she was able to work with out being scared, and turned into another very consistent server. Yarelis began with very weak serves, but after LOTS of practice at home, she turned into another consistent server. Valeria (from 4th grade) started out very weak serving as well, but at the end I could always depend on her for points coming off the bench. Alejandra was my smallest player, and therefore had the hardest time with serving, but she was able to figure it out (with the help of Annais and her visual example) and toward the end, though not necessarily consistent, had several very important serves (including a series of 3 to win a game) and contributed to the team effort in every game.
If you can't tell, I'm very proud of this team and what they accomplished. I'm excited about the volleyball they played, but as I was commenting to another teacher that out of the 4 teams I've coached in my years here, this is the best by far not in talent, but in attitude and team spirit. We had a great season, and I'm really going to miss them.
Go Tigers!