WOODBURY — Ball, set, hit! We can’t forget to cover!
Walk into the Woodbury Middle School gym this fall and hear these calls as the new WMS volleyball team takes the court for its first season.
Volleyball, a sport that has been gaining more popularity over the years, is now being played in middle schools across the state. Jamie Odell, a music teacher at the middle school, wanted to start the team at WMS.
“I asked our AD at the time why we didn’t have a team,” said Odell. “I did some research and asked … if I could start a team.”
Last year, Woodbury Middle School set up a club team as the school gauged interest. After the club was successful, the district made the team an official sport. The Warriors played their first match Sept. 23.
Odell expresses her love and compassion for the sport while she was growing up that she now wants to share with kids.
“This was the first sport I fell in love with as a kid,” Odell said. “Outside of my music teachers, my early volleyball coaches were some of the most influential adults in my life. Teamwork necessary in this sport is like no other.”
Nonnewaug High School volleyball coach Marty Malaspina says it’s beneficial for younger girls to get experience playing volleyball in middle school.
“It’s really important for high school programs to have some type of feeder programs,” Malaspina said. “Currently a lot of our starters are from out of district, where they had experience coming in, but I think this is a great team for our program.”
Keira O’Leary, a seventh-grader on the 18-player team, believes that the experience she’s getting now is going to help her growth before she gets to Nonnewaug.
“I’m going to be playing in high school,” O’Leary said. “I feel like it’s going to make me better, especially with experience and knowing the game.”
Ella Dannenhoffer, an eighth-grader on the team, also believes that the experience is what’s going to help the most.
“I’m going to try out in high school,” Dannenhoffer said. “I think it’s going to affect my playing by giving me more experience and practice to be ready for high school.”
Malaspina, whose Nonnewaug team finished September with a perfect 9-0 record, hopes that the new WMS team will strengthen the Chiefs in the future.
“I think it might take some time,” Malaspina said, “but eventually we’ll have a pretty consistent group of girls that have a strong set of fundamentals coming through, which will help [assistant] coach Sandy [Stone] and I really elevate the program.”
