So, I was down at the community court the other day, just hanging out. Some folks were getting a volleyball game going. Looked like fun, pretty casual, you know? Not like a serious league match or anything. I grabbed a seat on the side to watch.
They were warming up, bumping the ball back and forth. Standard stuff. Then it was time to start the actual game. I expected someone to step back and serve it over, like you always see.
But that’s not what happened. Nope. Instead, the tallest guy from each team went up to the center of the net. Someone else, looked like he was sort of the organizer, stood there holding the ball. I’m thinking, “What’s going on here?”
Then, this organizer guy just tosses the ball straight up in the air, right between the two tall players! Just like you see in basketball. Seriously. Both guys jumped for it, arms stretched high. One of them managed to tap it over to his side of the court, and boom, the game was on. People started scrambling, hitting the ball, trying to score.
My First Reaction
I blinked a couple of times. Had I missed something? Was this some new rule? Or maybe just how they decided to kick things off? It totally caught me off guard. I’ve played and watched a fair bit of volleyball, just for fun, mind you, and I’d never seen that before. Always starts with a serve, right?
- First thought: Maybe it’s a local park rule?
- Second thought: Did I somehow mix up sports in my head? (Nah, definitely volleyball net and ball).
- Third thought: Maybe they just wanted to do something different to start.
Anyway, after that weird start, the game pretty much looked like regular volleyball. They bumped, set, spiked. Points were scored. Teams rotated (mostly). It was a decent, fun game to watch, actually. Lots of energy.
But that beginning stuck with me. Seeing them start with a jump ball, plain as day. So yeah, that was my experience. A volleyball game, kicking off not with a serve, but a jump ball right at the net. Never know what you’ll see down at the local courts, I guess!
