Bea's POV
Even if Coach Parsley told us to start our participation on practice tomorrow morning, that didn't stopped us from joining our seniors in their early morning grind. We started with warm up exercises before jogging laps after laps sa Oval then back to BEG for drills. Coach Parsley wasn't kidding when he said Coach Tai would be happy to help us basta ba makasabay kami sakanya. Keeping up with him is almost impossible. He wanted everything to be done perfectly kahit na isang beses nya lang inexplain. We can't even understand what he's saying, buti na lang ate Alyssa always go up first to demonstrate what has to be done.
Nakakapagod talaga and hindi biro yung mga drills. Lalo pa't Coach Tai is really watching us and shouting directions if may mali sa ginagawa namin. But a part of me is also thankful na pinaghihigpitan nya kami because it means na he acknowledges our skills and he takes us seriously.
After the gruesome drills, we were teamed into two. Sample match daw. Napa-sama ako sa team nina ate Alyssa which consists of Jia, ate Jhoana, ate Den and ate Kim.
The other team consists of ate Amy, ate Ella, ate Jamie, ate Ana, ate Gizelle and ate Michelle.
Although the match up was fun, it was intense kasi we were all playing seriously na para bang hindi yun practice match. Palitan lang ng spikes bawat team and I'm trying my best to keep up with ate Amy's block party. She has an edge kasi she knows her teammates well. She knows san i-hihit ng kalaban and she knows where to position herself. Ang lilikot lang ng mga kalaban namin sa court, lalo na si ate Ella. She can attack, receive, dig and even block despite her small stature. What a player! Maganda rin ang mga sets ni ate Gizelle, no wonder she's the reserve setter ng team. Ate Jamie's defense is somewhat okay pero I've heard na she's just starting pa lang as a libero. She used to be a setter daw kasi kaya medyo nangangapa pa. Ate Ana has this really strong spike na I have to give my hundred percent everytime I try to block her. Ate Michelle naman can do anything just like ate Ella.
I've seen ate Alyssa play already since I always watch sa mga UAAP games. I used to cheer for La Salle though. Sobrang idol ko lang si ate Michele Gumabao but sadly, hindi ko na-experience na makalaro sya when I trained with the La Salle team for a short while. Back to ate Alyssa, she has this aura na nagpapa-kalma sayo when you're her teammate. Alam mo kasi na she got your team's back eh. It's like you just got to help her na lang to win a match. I wonder why ate Jhoana isn't included in the starters. Ang galing nya and ang lakas nya pumalo! Everytime na bibigyan sya ng set ni Jia, she would hit it with all she got, with no hesitations. Ate Kim looks so timid pero sya yung tipo na manggugulat kapag nasa loob na ng court. I think her specialty is suddenly popping out of nowhere to spike the ball, lalo na when the blockers least expects her. Ate Den is just simply amazing, Iron Eagle nga. She can dig, she can receive. Sobrang bilis pa. Para syang si ate Alyssa, she got the team's back. She encourages us na paluin lang ang bola and leave it to her kapag na-block kami.
What amazing players.
When the practice match ended, we cheered when we won. Nakaka-tuwa kasi I feel like we became closer since we've seen each other play. Parang nagkapalagayan ng loob ganon.
After that, Coach Tai gave us a break. He said he'll focus on the other players as well as the rookies. Halos masamid naman ako sa iniinom ko kasi feeling ko babagsak na yung tuhod ko tapos magfo-focus pa pala sa rookies si Coach Tai. Panong pagpapahinga ang gagawin ko sa fifteen minutes?
The girls laughed out loud as they watched me. Ate Alyssa speaks up. "Don't worry, Bea, he's talking about the other two rookies and the rest of the team."
Naka-hinga naman ako ng maluwag. "Oh, god. My soul almost left my body."
"You were really great earlier though," ate Amy says as she wipes her sweat with her shirt. "You're so active on the net. Almost made me tired."
