WMS has recently added a volleyball club after school. Volleyball is one of the most popular sports ever today. Girls and boys around the world play volleyball.

Mr. Murphy runs the club and coaches volleyball at JFK high school and here at WMS. Mr Murphy is an English teacher here too, so students probably see him around the hallways telling people to take out their airpods.
Mr. Murphy explained the difference between volleyball club and tryouts. He said, “I want kids to actually try at tryouts,” compared to volleyball club where it is all about fun. He added, “It doesn’t matter how much you’re losing by, you can always come back!”

This year’s volleyball club is off to a great start. Murphy said he “loves” when students try what he tells them to do, ask questions, and seeing that “the people who show up actually care about the sport unlike other years.” Students should not worry if they do not know how to do something.

Gianna Giron-Gonzalez, aka “Triple G”, is a well known athlete in WMS. She is an 8th grade student attending after school volleyball club. Gonzalez said, “I joined the volleyball club last year; so I kind of just wanted to show off and see what people they will be looking for in the tryouts.”

“I think playing is the best part. I love playing with people who have different skill sets so I can get better and adjust to different people, ” she added.

“There’s going to be people who are good and people who aren’t as good, but no matter what, you still have to treat them with the same amount of respect and help them get better,” said Gonzalez.

Julianne McSorley is also an athlete at WMS. McSorley loves all of the different aspects of volleyball. She said she really enjoys the club but wishes “some at volleyball would try a little more and take advice from people who have played volleyball before.” McSorley added, “It’s a great exercise.”

Volleyball club is also an easy-going way to develop skills, friendships, and sportsmanship. McSorley said, “It’s good to join school sports because it can spark their own interests and it’s good to widen out.” She said the other adviser, Mrs. Traschetti, is “super nice and positive and is always there to help.”

Tommy Oatman is an 8th grade multisport athlete here at WMS. He attended the volleyball club last year. Oatman said, “The coaching staff was great and they really helped improve my performance.” Then he added, “The coaches there were very helpful and gave every student a proper teaching on how to play volleyball.”

“The club was fantastic and I don’t regret joining,” Oatman added
Taylor Cholewa is an 8th grade student who didn’t know she was going to make the WMS volleyball team. Last year, she attended the after school volleyball club. “I started doing volleyball club because last year I tried out for the WMS volleyball team and I actually made it. Volleyball just sparks something inside of me, it is such a fun sport to play. Like with the club I get to practice more and I am able to become more aware. Mr.Murphy is a really great coach, too,” Cholewa commented.

She said, “I think the best part about the volleyball club is when we do 6 on 6 scrimmages. I think it’s the best part because it really puts you into that game mode and you can practice with others and see what it would be like in a real game.”

One of the most important things to remember while in a volleyball club is to always listen to your coach. Cholewa said, “I think the best thing to do is to just listen to your coach. Like if your coach tells you to do something, you should just listen because it’s all about coachability and if you don’t listen you are just showing the coaches that you aren’t coachable.”