SPORTS
A8 the courier-times | roxboro, NC
saturday, aug. 8, 2015
Photo submitted by jim schumacher
A host of local athletes participated in a doubles grass volleyball tournament last Saturday to benefit Roxboro Community School’s Raise the Roof campaign.
The old guy on the court
C-T Sports Editor Kelly Snow tells the story of surviving playing in a doubles grass volleyball tournament...barely By Kelly Snow Courier-Times Sports Editor kellysnow@roxboro-courier.com
I
think we’ve all had that moment when we’ve written or said something to someone and instantaneously wanted to take it back. You see, that kind of happened to me last Thursday. I was looking around Facebook and I just happened to see a post from Roxboro Community School middle school volleyball coach and resident denmother Micholene Schumacher asking if there were any more players interested in participating in a doubles grass volleyball tournament Saturday morning in Hurdle Mills. At this point, my wheels started turning. I took pictures at one of these tournaments this summer, and I saw folks a little older than me playing (I’m looking at you Steve Murray and Troy Bryan) and if these dudes can do it, certainly I can hang. I thought it would make a pretty neat little story for the paper (you be the judge) and I would be supporting the cause of building an on-campus gym at Roxboro Community School. So, I sent Micholene a message letting her know that I would love to play if she could find me a partner — and she certainly found a winner. I teamed with Person rising sophomore Avery
Bowman, and I’ll tell you all about her in a bit. Practically as soon as I made the offer, I remembered that I was less than a month removed from a four-day stay in the hospital and many years removed from being anywhere close to my athletic prime — but most importantly, my wife was going to kill me. I already made the offer, and I was past the point of no return. I initially planned on going the “beg for forgiveness” route with my wife, and tell her when I got home from playing, but I made the wise decision of going ahead and letting her know what was on my Saturday schedule. I took my butt chewing like a champ, and then it hit me — in a couple of days, I was going to be on the other side of the net against a bunch of girls who could smash my face and crush my ego with just a flick of the wrist. At that point, I mentally started going through all the volleyball stories I’ve written in the last three years, wondering who might want to take a shot at me.
The pain set in before we even started It didn’t take long for me to realize, I was in for a very long and exhausting day. I looked around hoping to see a few more folks around my age in the draw, but quickly realized that I was the oldest person playing by at least 10 years. That was certainly not a good sign.
Photo submitted by jim schumacher
Avery Bowman digs deep to hit the ball during a game last Saturday.
Just a couple of minutes into warmups, my thighs were aching, my arms were throbbing from hitting the ball and my ego was suffering because I already slipped, fell and was soaked from the dew on the grass. Thankfully, Avery and I got a bit of a break before we had to play because we were the odd team out in our pool. I took a couple of pictures, but a few minutes into that, I thought it might be a good idea to just sit down and take a breather. My 36-year-old legs weren’t quite the same as they were when I was a pretty decent little tennis player what seems like a million years ago. When it was our turn to play again, I was able to get my second wind and help Avery just enough — but she really didn’t need me to do much more than just stand there and not pass out.
Avery Bowman is a stud of a player When Micholene told me that I would be playing with Avery Bowman, I’ve got to admit I was pretty excited. Here’s pretty much all you need to know about Avery. She’s a sophomore, but by age she should be a freshman — and she’s now a two-year varsity player. So, she was starting on a 4-A varsity volleyball team that made the state playoff when she could have still been in middle school. Yeah, she’s good. Avery has a tremendous all-court game and can do practically everything at a high level, from serving, setting, hitting, receiving serve, passing, etc. I learned Saturday that she also has an incredibly strong back because she carried me on the court for six sets. The best part about Avery as a player is that she is incredibly upbeat, and never once got visibly frustrated when I shanked a pass into the other courts or served short or way wide. Playing with Avery made the sore legs and near exhaustion well worth it. We actually did really well. We played three pool matches, went 5-1 in sets and earned the nickname “The Homewreckers” because we beat two sets of
couples. We actually advanced out of pool play thanks to Avery, but unfortunately she had to leave just before our quarterfinal match. We were so well matched that it only took us one try to nail the Top Gun volleyball high-10. Of course, none of our matches were easy or short — the sets were first one to 21 by two, and I think every one of them went to at least 21-18 of 19. I’m not sure I would have made it through those six grueling sets had it not been for her mom, Mary Jane, keeping me in water, apple sauce and sandwiches.
I can’t believe that just happened
Photo submitted by jim schumacher
C-T Sports Editor Kelly Snow makes a pass to teamOnce I was able to make mate Avery Bowman during a game.
it through that first wall of exhaustion during the second set of our match against RCS baseball players Cody Morast and Tucker Hord, I actually played okay. I had a few shining moments — including making a diving dig on a ball that sat up just long enough for Avery to get a kill, and I felt led to have a completely obnoxious celebration like I just scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl. But there were also more than a couple of less-thanstellar moments — way more than a couple. The highlight of the day for me on the court came when I actually returned the jump serve of RCS super-sophomore Mackenzi Thornburg. Mackenzi was the North Central Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a freshman and has the most ridiculous jump serve I’ve ever seen. It’s this filthy, top-spin bullet that almost always skims just over the net and sinks straight down. I’ve seen so many players back up when she would serve, only to have it fall right at their feet. So I decided to just step into it, hope for the best, and sure enough I couldn’t handle Mackenzi’s first jump serve. I thought she broke my forearm, the ball flew way off the court, and I’m pretty sure everyone who saw it got a chuckle. She tried it again. I stepped up even more, bent my knees and got just enough of it that Avery was able to get the ball back over the net and we actu-
ally won the point. I came dangerously close to violating the no profanity rule after Avery’s kill and I also considered walking off the court and calling it a day after actually returning the jump serve of someone who will undoubtedly play DivisionI volleyball in a couple of years. I figured it just wasn’t going to get any better, so why not end the day on a high note.
my concrete thighs After Avery left, Mackenzi was the unlucky winner of a game of paperrock-scissors, to become my partner in the tournament, and unfortunately I had nothing left. Mackenzi is a brilliant player and did everything she could to carry us, but I literally would serve (every single time to former RCS great Molly Tatum), and stand at the backline because I just couldn’t move any more. When a ball would go off the court on our side, Mackenzi would run after it because she felt sorry for me. We were down at one time 19-2 in the second set before we actually made the final score a respectable 21-10. That being said, I’m as competitive of a person as one would ever meet and I was thrilled to lose because my 36-year-old, out of shape body was whooped. The tank was empty. The mind was willing,
but the flesh was weak — feel free to insert whatever cliche you want, but I was too tired to blink, much less play volleyball. I actually felt pretty crummy because I wish I could have been a better partner for Mackenzi. It is certainly safe to say that I gained an entirely new appreciation for what the volleyball players from Person and RCS go through. It was an awesome experience and I had a great time playing with Avery and Mackenzi, and just hanging out and talking with everyone there. The hardest part for this old fella’ were the following days. No one bothered to tell me that my thighs would burn for three days and feel like they were filled with concrete or that I would have to sit down and stand up in stages. Many people use to phrase “roll out of bed”, but I literally had to roll out of bed and use my 9-year-old’s head as a prop to get off the floor when I played with the kids the next day. I didn’t get a whole lot of sympathy from my wife or the in-laws, but I got plenty of “you should have known better.” And they were right, I should have, but I had a great time with wonderful people and supporting a great cause. But I do think, I’m a little more comfortable covering volleyball than playing and I think it’s wise if I return to my usual side of the camera.