“Set, bump, SPIKE!!”
The cacophony of balls pounding the ground, heavy breathing, and slamming of miscellaneous limbs on the floor fill the air. A player jumps up to block a ball and lands flat on his ankle. He writhes on the floor, screaming profanities. The nearest medic is phoned and the player is carted off in a wheelchair.
If you listen close enough, you can hear the thump of adrenaline filled blood streams.
No, this is not a volleyball warm up in the Olympics.
It is the period three gym class. A slightly less elite team.
I know what you’re thinking. I know what you’re doing. “She’s referring to those kids…” Those kids that take gym way too seriously. And you’re moaning. You’re rolling your eyes. Because everyone hates that kid.
Well. I am that kid.
And I’ll be the first to admit it. I thrive off the humid environment the low air-conditioned field house creates.
You hate me; gym teachers love me.
“I love it when a kid says ‘I can’t miss school today, because I’m in the finals of the volleyball tournament’, or ‘because we are doing fitness testing,” said Ms. Zamary, a gym teacher.
The aforementioned story of the boy who suffered an ankle injury during warm up is a fellow gym enthusiast, Max Wimer ‘15, who is one of Ms. Zamary’s students.
“The amount of other people in our class just as competitive as me really intensifies it,” said Wimer. He goes on to explain the events that unfolded. “Ms. Zamary gave us a warm up. I needed to get the blood pumping so I jumped up to block a ball and fell”.
Wimer treats the injury as a small hurdle in his gym career and plans to make a quick recovery in order to return to class as soon as possible. “I ripped a couple tendons, but I’ll be back in two weeks,” said Wimer.
Max’s dedication to the game has allowed him to gain the respect of his peers, and his teacher.
“Max always gives 100 percent,” said Ms. Zamary, “but his language that day was inexcusable. No filter.”
Even though some people mock the people that take gym too seriously, they’re the ones that come out of the class with an A.
“I did get a 10 for effort that day,” said Wimer.
