Over the years, junior Brandon Harris has been playing volleyball, he has faced many obstacles that kept him from playing the sport he loves.
Instead, Harris decided to create his own club here for everyone to enjoy.
“I play for an official volleyball team. The main problem is it’s extremely far away. The other problem is it’s expensive. For my team it’s $3,000, which not a lot of kids have the privilege or access to,” Harris said.
At first, Harris felt anxious about playing with advanced players.
“It was a little overwhelming at first. I was dwelling on the fact that all these other players were pulling out intense, very advanced moves that I didn’t learn until later in my time,” Harris said.
Over time he began to feel more comfortable with the sport and with his teammates.
“As I did volleyball, I eased into it and made a lot of friends with all my teammates,” Harris said.
Volleyball is a very fast-paced sport that requires quick thinking, according to Harris.
“My favorite aspect of volleyball is just how high octane it is. It’s so fast pace, that was my problem with some other sports is that I was just waiting for a play to happen. Volleyball is always intense, it’s always going full throttle,” Harris said.
Harris talked about how much of a challenge volleyball is mentally and physically.
“The challenging thing about volleyball is every second of the game you need to be at your top. The second you slip or stop paying attention, things instantly start going downhill. So, if you make one little mistake, it will drown you down. It will pull you down, so you have to be able to rise on top of it,” Harris said.
According to Harris, volleyball is fun because everybody is involved.
“What’s appealing is the octane but also the team aspect of it… There’s so much bigger of a team aspect because volleyball is reliant on everyone,” Harris said.
Harris thinks that the team needs to be connected for it to succeed.
“What’s important is the team relation. If everyone got along with each other and everyone bonds well together. It creates an environment where everyone is excited for practice and everyone wants to do their best,” Harris said.
Finally, Harris hopes that the school and the district will recognize male volleyball players and teams.
“I’m hoping that we’ll get proper recognition from the school, and the school will be more willing to put effort into it. Right now, it almost feels like we’re struggling to get everything together because we’re pretty outcasted. There are so many other sports and everything else going on that it’s very hard to keep up with everyone else,” Harris said.
The adviser of the new Women’s Empowerment club is teacher Margaret Reynolds.
Reynolds talks about how the club tries to not only empower women but empower everyone.
“I think we’ve also made it a very clear point in our meetings that when we empower women, we empower all people. We make sure that we’re focusing on not just women specific issues, but just in general issues that we feel are important,” Reynolds said.
Women’s Empowerment club is open to everyone, no matter who you are.
“I wish people knew that it is for everyone, regardless of gender, identity, sexuality or political belief. Regardless of anything, anyone can join. We encourage all kinds of people to join because it’s all about equality with a specific focus on women,” Reynolds said.
Some of the club’s goals are to spread awareness with fundraisers and news.
“We’re hoping to do several things, we want to do some fundraisers, some feminine product drives, some educational pieces in VNN. Just getting the word out about some issues we think are important,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds hopes to work together with the other clubs and groups of Puyallup High School to help the overall environment of the school.
“We want to work with the other affinity groups, like Black Student Union, Asian Culture Club, Intercultural Council, and the new Native American Students Union. We want to work with a bunch of different groups, to bring awareness to different issues, raise money, and work towards a better school community,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds talks about how she wishes other schools would see what their club is doing and model their own club on it.
“I hope that other schools and districts view us as a guideline I think that wanting basic equality for men and women is so basic,” Reynolds said.
Leadership is very important to Reynolds, she believes it helps students grow not only in school but in life as well.
“I really like being able to give students leadership positions. I think when students are able to show off those kinds of skills, it not only makes me feel good as the guide that helps them, but I think it also helps them learn to take some responsibility and initiative. Which is something I really like to see in my students, especially young girls,” Reynolds said.
Equality and equity may seem strange to some people, but Women’s Empowerment Club hopes to show how it can be helpful.
“Equality is sometimes still so taboo, that people might be afraid to do it. I hope that they see that it’s not scary or controversial, it’s just wanting everyone to be equal and working together,” Reynolds said.
