The Rise of the Intramural Volleyball Club
With 45 of AJA High School’s 91 students signed up, the intramural volleyball club is making AJA club history. The new club grew rapidly this year, with students filling the gym during lunch for organized games and team matchups. It offers students a chance to compete, connect, destress from the school day, and switch up their routine.
Dafna Beldie, Liav Cohen, and Benjamin Smolensky, the founders of the club, have always been motivated to start one. It has brought together people from each grade to enjoy the game.
“It’s a good chance for students who don’t get to play volleyball throughout the year to play, and it’s a good way to involve everybody,” explained Liav, one of the club’s leaders. In particular, Liav said he noticed how much boys enjoy the annual volleyball game during community time: “I wanted to give them a chance to play throughout the year.”
Games occur during lunch once or twice a week. Teams were made by sorting players by grade and then balancing the groups. Every team plays each other once during the season before the playoffs in the spring. During the playoffs, the fifth seeded team will be eliminated, and the first and fourth seeded teams as well as the second and third seeded teams will compete. The winners of those two games will progress to the final and play for the title of the inaugural intramural volleyball club champions.
“The club grew rapidly, with students filling the gym during lunch for organized games and team matchups.”
For many members, the volleyball club offered an opportunity to play the sport without the commitments of a regular team. “Volleyball was a fun game, but I never actually wanted to play during a season or a team,” said sophomore Johnny Wilson. “This club gave me a chance to play without the commitments of a real team.”
Libi Cohen, a freshman and another member of the club, said the club gave her a chance “to play volleyball more than just on the AJA volleyball team.”
Starting this club was not without its challenges. Liav described how the hardest part was organizing the teams and creating the schedule. Coordinating when each team should play was difficult because he had to accommodate members who cannot show up on certain days and adhere to Athletic Director Theo Bellamy’s request that the club not meet when the gym needs to be ready for after school basketball games.
Dafna, another club leader, also emphasized the need for better organization in the future. She hopes to address issues such as scheduling conflicts over gym time and a lack of clarity about who was supervising the club during games. Club leaders struggle to find time slots when students or PE classes in other AJA divisions are not using the space. Since many other clubs at AJA also meet during lunch and almost half of the high school participates in the volleyball club, Dafna explained that it is hard to coordinate with other events happening at the same time. In the future, she wants to coordinate better with other clubs and events to make sure every team gets an equal amount of playing time.
Despite these complications, freshman Sophie Shapiro enjoys the “competition and how many students I’ve talked to [who] have found the club very fun.” She also found the schedule manageable with other club commitments, and playing games provides her with a break from work on the days she participates.
Club leaders anticipate many improvements for next year or even next semester. Liav explained two advancements: “The teams would be fairly picked this time because now I know everyone and their skill level, and the games would be scheduled in advance.”
With its competition and student leadership, the volleyball club provides a space to take a break and have fun. From spiking and serving to cheering from the sidelines with friends, participants agree the club is a hit.
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