What Do We Do Now That Our Daughter’s College Volleyball Career is
Over?
If
you have ever been an athlete then you know the let down you feel when your
season has ended. You may be excited to
be finished with early practices and conditioning and a very hectic schedule to
say the least, but there is still a part of you that feels like you are in a
sense of limbo. You miss seeing and
spending time with your teammates on a daily basis and you miss the camaraderie
of long road trips. You shared the highs
and lows of competition for many months and now your weekends feel like they
are missing something.
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| Our wonderful Fredonia Volleyball parents. |
Believe
it or not, many parents of college athletes experience the same feelings, just
in a slightly different way. For 4
years we have watched you grow, not just as volleyball players, but, more
importantly as people. We did not travel
halfway across the state, weekend after weekend to watch you play the sport of
volleyball because we HAD to, but rather because we LOVED to. We enjoyed spending time not just with you,
our daughters, but also with your teammates and their parents and your
coaches. In a sense we became one big
family and we loved every minute, from sitting on the edge of our seats during
an intense match to the times we wanted to strangle the refs after a
questionable call, to the after match team dinners. We were there to dry away your tears after a
tough loss and celebrate with you after the “Big Win!” We enjoyed explaining to our friends that
don’t know volleyball why that one player wears a shirt of a different
color. When you were injured we worried
along with you and of course would whisper to Coach Braun that you were OK to
get back in there and play. When another season came to a conclusion, we
also were a little sad, as we knew we would miss not just watching you play
volleyball, but we would also miss the new friendships we had formed with each
other and with the coaching staff.
Then
in a flash, those of us whose daughters were seniors, sat at your team banquet
trying to hold back our tears, the realization sinking in that we would no
longer be in the stands yelling until our throats hurt or filling up our gas
tanks one more time for a weekend away for that one last match. We now understood what the parents of the
seniors who graduated before you must have felt and were thankful for all of the teammates you
were blessed to have played with along the way.
We were emotional because we were so proud of you and all that you
accomplished on and off the court, for the young woman that you had become: Scholar-Athlete, Leader and Friend!
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| Our "Graduating" Parents |
We
will miss the Fredonia State Volleyball Program and are forever grateful for
the opportunities and experiences that FSU gave to our daughters. For many of us we will continue to follow the
players and the success of the program for years to come. When you are a FSU volleyball parent it is
kind of hard to get rid of us!! Don’t
worry Coach Braun, as you look up in the stands one day soon you may see a
familiar face cheering the team on!