Spiked

I recently joined a co-ed volleyball team marking the first time in my athletic life that I am playing a competitive league sport in a mixed gender environment.

Last night was our first game and we got rocked 15-7, 15-6. Oh well. I did learn that the idea of co-ed sports and competition can only be used in the same sentence very loosely. I became aware of this during warm-ups. Our team happened to be one of the first teams to arrive at the Marina Green, a great locale just off the St. Francis Yacht Club overlooking the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. I’ll definitely bring a camera next time to capture the insane vista.

As we were warming up, and teams began sauntering onto the fields, I noticed each team was equipped with men, women, and coolers. The coolers caught my eye as I looked around and saw that every team was sipping on beers before the game. I swear one team even had jello shots! Not just some teams…but EVERY TEAM...except one.

Where were our beers you ask? Nowhere to be seen, so not only did we get throttled in our debuts, we also performed poorly while sober. Somebody did bring pretzels (which is better than nothing I suppose), but when I offered to bring a 12-pack next week so we at least look like we’re cool like the other squads, I was greeted with little enthusiasm.

Our attitude towards liquor is going to have to change drastically if we expect to win a single match, and I am taking it upon myself to serve the role as team motivator.

We’ll see what happens.