Compare and Contrast Essay: Volleyball vs. Track

As I reflect on my high school career, the two factors that stand out best to myself are volleyball and track. They each share similarities and differences, but each had an immense impact on me. Throughout my time playing both sports, each one influenced me at different times. This influence stemmed from the passion I possessed for each one, at each time. While volleyball was teamwork-centered and required a lot of communication with my other teammates, track was more of a one-man-show and an individual sport. Fortunately, for both, I was able to compete in the state series and had the opportunity to experience traveling with both teams. Though both track and volleyball had the greatest impact on me out of all the sports I played, I grew to love volleyball whole-heartedly and it truly showed me my true character. 

The main difference between volleyball and track and how it influenced me is how I developed a passion for both at different times. When I first began playing volleyball in 7th grade, I wasn’t too fond of it. I was new to the game, so I wasn’t proficient at it. I had a difficult time understanding how to play, and my fundamentals needed a lot of work. As time went on, I grew to love the game of volleyball. I was able to get the basics down and I eventually acquired versatility on the court; I could play at any position during the game. In my 8th grade year, I began running track and pole vaulting. When this chapter of my life first started, I was on edge. I planned on waiting to see if I liked track enough to continue running the following season. When I started pole vaulting, I liked it a lot because it was a challenge, but it was one that I wanted to keep pursuing. Like volleyball, I needed to work on my fundamentals for pole vaulting, so I was required to learn the basics. In track, after I broke the school record, I began to fall out of love with pole vaulting, and my passion shifted to volleyball. I continued to run track although it didn’t give me as much joy as volleyball did.

When the majority of people think of volleyball and track, they think of volleyball as being teamwork-based, and track being more of an individual sport. I loved track for that reason, as my success was completely up to me and not faltering from other teammates. I was the only one to blame for my failures and successes throughout each season and I liked it that way. On the flip side, volleyball was very team-centered and required a great deal of communication. If one person or a couple of people were slacking, it could result in a loss for the whole team. I had a tough time with this for a few years until I grew older and realized that teamwork is not blaming each other, it’s winning and losing as one. I developed a sisterhood with my volleyball team, and we all gained our skill sets as we had grown older and more experienced. This led us to more success, and we became the talk of the town. 

Both volleyball and track led me to compete at higher levels of competition. As a result of gaining our ability to play volleyball very effectively, we were able to travel and compete in the state series each year. We went on to win district runner-up and regional runner-up for 3 years in a row. In track, I broke the school record my second year of pole vaulting and was able to compete in the state series every year up until my senior year. Each year the regional and state meets were held in either Jacksonville or Tallahassee, so I was able to travel and get experience vaulting against other athletes. Along with breaking the school record, this was the greatest accomplishment of my high school career and it helped shape me into the person and athlete I am today. It taught me how to work vigorously for what I want and to not give up. I will forever be grateful for the relationships and accomplishments that have developed and shaped me over the years. 

All in all, while these sports had a very similar impact at totally different times, they taught me how to perform as an individual and with a team. They also brought me a lot of achievements and I am very fortunate to have had these two sports in my life influence me when I was in high school. Along with traveling to compete at higher levels and forming a sisterhood of a bond with my teammates, I have made many memories in both track and volleyball, as well as all the other sports I played in high school. However, volleyball will always hold a special place in my heart as it truly developed my greatest passion.