Ethnography

Volleyball IS A SPORT!

Every sunday, I watch my boyfriend play volleyball with his family and friends in Taunton Highschools Autotorium. There are 4 nets set up for the teams to use. Each member involved in this tournament, pay money $50 for games once a week from September till the end of April. Each week, the games are held for an hour between 4-8 and consisit of four games. They play a new team everytime depending on the scores the previous time. Each team is made of of family members, friends, or both. It's quite interesting, watching how competitive these individuals are, while their loved ones watch in the bleechers.
I sit on the bleechers as I watch people "set-up" as the players call it. Six at a time on the court for my boyfriends team, as they rotate taking turns. The only thing I hear then say is "help me out", or "use all three hits". Help me out, means, one knows they are going to hit the ball, but can't promise it will make it over the net. You get three hits per side to get the ball over to the component, so a player may call out "use all three hits" to motivate the team members to score.
When the server hits the ball, the point is to get it over the net without getting it out of bound. If they get it over the net and the opposite team doesn't return the ball, they get a point. There are times where the ball goes back and forth so many times!
There is no dress code for these games, considering they are open to public for fun. Some people were in volleyball gear, and others in gym clothes. Some took the game seriously, some were doing it for fun. Shocked me to witness some ankle injuries in this sport. "MAN DOWN," I heard, as an old man on another court twisted his ankle and couldn't walk. Didn't think volleyball could be so dangerous!!!
My job is to guard everyone's belongings. I hold my boyfriend's moms jewlery as I watch his hat and sweatshirt. I hand them their drinks when one steps out of rotation. Volleyball is a family sport to them and they take it very seriously.
When they win all four games, we usually all go out and celebrate with friendlys icecream! It's rare for them to lose a game, and if they do; they just play harder the following week.