Everyone Can Be a Great Teammate*

*Modified from prior article

Everyone can't be the star, but everyone can be a great teammate. Alan Williams addresses this in his book Teammates Matter. Williams was a walk-on for Wake Forest basketball and played 59 minutes in four years, but earned respect as a player and teammate. 

Melrose volleyball has enjoyed great success over the past decade, but winning isn't the whole story. Making a competitive team isn’t a chip shot. The competition just to make any team at the high school is fierce, but competition doesn’t end with team selection. Players make sacrifices in return for the chance to be part of something bigger. 

Coaches Celli and Wall have an introductory meeting each year to set expectations and review school rules for the players and families. Participation fees make it more difficult, as fees help defray expenses, but don't guarantee playing time.

The coaches explain how players can contribute in many ways, through determined practice, exemplary attitude, and of course, improvement. They also inform the players that they will earn playing time in varying degrees according to their progress. Not everyone can play as much as they would like. The ultimate goal is having a winning team, playing up to its full potential. Understandably, players and parents often find this difficult.

Although many players have earned attention locally and statewide, few have accomplished more than a girl who played a decade ago- being a great teammate. She wasn’t the star of the team, in fact she often played only late in games after the outcome had been decided. She practiced hard every day and became the best player she could be. She knew she wouldn’t be in the game at the big moments, watching younger, less experienced but talented girls. She accepted this because she valued being part of the team and contributing however she could. Her best friend, Marianne Foley, became an All-Scholastic, while she cheered and supported the team. Both shared the moment of becoming Melrose's first Division II North volleyball champions, a team that went 22-2 and came within a point of going to the state championship, losing to the ultimate champions, Marlboro. And everyone knew Danielle Burke as a great teammate, an unforgettable legacy of Melrose volleyball history.