Volleyball Origination

Volleyball was invented in 1895, with the name "mintonette". It was created by a man named William G. Morgan, it was a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball. Setting and spiking came into play in the Philippines in 1916. Then, in 1928 the USVBA (United States Volleyball Association) was created for standard rules. Two years later, the first mens beach volleyball game was played. Much later, 1965, the first beach volleyball association appeared in California. It wasnt until 1983 when the AVP (American Volleyball Professionals) came about. Its basically just where pros unite. In 1984 the first US Olympic volleyball gold and silver medal was won. Finally, in 1996 two person beach volleyball was created as an Olympic sport. In conclusion, I thought that this was very interesting and cool to know as a volleyball player.
-Olivia Smith-

Cross Country Meet

On Friday, I had a cross country meet, that was taking place in Waterford.  Our whole team got out of school early, hopped on a bus, and headed to the meet.  It was a chilly day, and it was raining.  By the time we got there, it was pouring rain.  I did not want to run, and neither did many of my teammates.  We started to walk the course, and at one part of the first mile, there was a gigantic hill.  Great, I thought.  There was no way I was going to make it up this hill, twice.  We continued to walk to course, and I noticed that there was a bunch of hills.  This was going to be one long meet.  The JV boys ran first, then JV girls.  After them, Varsity boys ran, and then Varsity girls.  I and 6 others were the last ones to run.  Some JV boys said it wasn't that bad, while other girls said it was the worst course. So, I went into it not really knowing what to expect.  The announcer called all the Varsity girls to the starting line.  I was getting a little nervous, but knew that in 23 minutes, it would all be over.  Boom.  The gun went off, and we all started running.  The big hill was coming up.  Then, it was right in front of me.  I started climbing it, and by the time I was at the top, I felt like I was parallel to the ground.  My legs felt like jello, but I kept running.  Sooner or later, the next big hill arrived.  It wasn't as bad as the first one, but I was still in pain.  I went up those hills one more time, praying that this race would be over.  I was nearing the end of the race, I kept telling myself that it was almost over.  The finish line was finally in sight.  I saw the colorful flags, and I started my final sprint.  Just as I was sprinting, some girl came up and shoved me to the side.  By then, I was tired, in pain, irritated, and sore.  I elbowed her back and we went neck and neck all the way to the finish line.  After I passed the line, I fell to the ground and tried to catch my breath.  My final time was, 22:40.  It was a hard course, but I felt like I got something out of it.  I was happy that I got through it and didn't give up.

-Claire Henderson

History of Tennis

Tennis is a very well known sport that has been played for many years bringing joy and competition upon others.  Many people do not know where the sport has came from.  The sport tennis was first called handball, in the 11th and 12th century is when they first created the origins of this sport. They used their hands as "racquets" and a clay ball.  The sport was mainly played in France and by the 13th century they had nearly 1,800 courts in the area.  By the year of 1500, they had invented the wooden stick, known now as a racquet.  In the 1850s, they had created a standardized tennis court and used a rubber ball with racquets.  An indoor game of tennis was played again a wall, known now as racquet ball. In the year of 1874, it was the birth of modern tennis.  The All England Club, started its construction for their project to hold the prestigious Wimbledon Grand Slam grass event.  In 1877, the club had the first Grand Slam.  From then the game of tennis has evolved to where and how the game has became today.  -Caroline A.

History of Lacrosse

 Lacrosse began in 1890. In St. Andrews, Scotland St. Leonards school that was claimed to be the first girls school to play lacrosse. Indians where the first people who started the game of lacrosse. They played with a stick and a small basket on the top which was made to catch the ball. There ball was wooden but then was replaced with dear skin balls covered in the dears fur. The game began to develop in Canada. The game of lacrosse has been carried out ever since 1890 and has became very popular. Mens lacrosse is a lot more popular than women's tho. Overall lacrosse has been very popular ever since then!

-Mackenzi Michael

Swimming

I started to swim in the summer of 2008 at Bloomfield Open Hunt (BOH). It was so much fun and instantly fell in love it it. I continued to swim that year (2008-2009) with the Birmingham Blue Dolphins (BBD). This is a very competitive and well know team around the Midwest. In the summer of 2009 I started to really get into swimming, I got moved up to the 11-12s, 13-14s, and 15 ups practice. This was a great point for me because I really improved over the season, with my main strokes of breaststroke and freestyle. I once again did BBD and that was also a great season for being nine. Continuing, I did BOH and improved by breaking a record that still stands today for the 50 breaststroke. Then BBD once again in 2010-2011. This was the best year. My season when I was 10 was when I broke times and did very well. The 2011 summer was the last summer I belonged to BOH. Then in the winter I did BBD (2011-2012) but quit after two practices because I just didnt love it anymore. In 7th grade though i decided to do BBD again but ending up quitting again. I did school swim (2013) though and had a lot of fun. Then next year in 8th grade, was my last year of swimming. I swam for my middle school breaking two relay records and getting my final 50 free time at 26 seconds.

-Olivia Smith-

USTA Tennis

Are you a competitive person? Are you a person that likes athletic activities such as sports and want some healthy competition? USTA tennis might be right for you! The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is an organization across the United States that supports tennis from young childhood and adulthood. From amateur tennis players to professional tennis players, USTA will always be the option when looking for some heathy tennis competition.  The United States Tennis Association has many things to offer for tennis players such as tournaments, lessons, team tennis tournaments and opportunites to improve the game of tennis. USTA has more than 700,000 members and also invests 100% of its money/proceeds to development of the game and the grand slam event, The US Open.  It is only $25 to join USTA.  If you are looking for some healthy competition at any type of level for beginner to professional level, please consider joining.  I joined the USTA at the age of 8 and it was the best thing that I have ever done in my life. -Caroline A.

Cross Country

Ever since 6th grade, I have done cross country.  I decided to try it, and I fell in love with it.  In middle school, you only ran 2 miles.  Some practices were harder than others, but it was fun.  But, half way through my season in 6th grade, I got really, really sick.  I got pneumonia.  I was out for 2 and a half weeks and missed half of my cross country season.  I missed counties and was really upset.  I did cross country throughout 7th and 8th grade too, and now i'm doing it in  high school.  High school cross country is so much harder than middle school cross country.  Instead of 2 miles, we run 5k's, or 3.1 miles.  That's a huge difference.  On average we run 5-6 miles a day, sometimes more.   Even though its tough, it's great training, and the end results are amazing at meets.  I will continue to run, because I love running.

"When your legs get tired, run with your heart"

-Claire Henderson