The Life of a Rookie

Every season brings in new players, new faces, and new relationships. A Rookie by definition can be defined as ‘an athlete playing his or her first season as a member of a amateur or professional sports team’. Your first year playing varsity is a year that you will never, ever forget. Excitement, a sense of accomplishment and nervousness can explain the way you feel when stepping on the court for the first time in front of the Humber faithful. Some players take advantage of the big stage and can perform well under the bright lights, others take time to develop and need seasoning before they can perform. First year players are not only battling themselves but other first years for court time as well as seasoned veterans. Even certain coaches choose not to play rookies simply for the fact that they are rookies and they believe they need a season or two to be ready for the challenges that college volleyball withholds. The life of a rookie also brings many duties that they must fulfill during their first year. Every rookie before them has had to carry the ball bag off the bus or collect the balls (shag up) in volleyball terms after practice and take the balls to the locker room. Every veteran has a rookie buddy and is paired up at the beginning of the season. Although it’s the veterans job to teach and show the rookies the ropes, a rookie has many jobs to do for their veteran like getting him lunch, or filling his water bottle when its empty. These jobs or ‘tasks’ might sound tedious or even childish but they are traditions that have gone on for years. You’re only a rookie once and the life of a rookie is one that you will never forget.