Steinbrenner’s regular volleyball season came to a close with a defeat from Plant High School on the 12th of October. But even with the occasional loss, the team did very well this season and is well-prepared to succeed in the playoffs.
“Of course, [it was] disappointing,” said Sabrina Shoemaker, the coach for the Steinbrenner Varsity volleyball team, “they’re a district rival. It’s a solid rivalry that in the last four years, we’ve gone back and forth. So of course, that was a game that was important to us.”
Although not all the fans were incredibly happy about the game’s result, the team’s reaction was far less sharp. “I think the team wishes the outcome was different, but I’m really pleased so far with the way the kids are responding,” Shoemaker stated.
The Warriors were very prepared for the game, but not as ready as Plant. “We did some really great stuff, but Plant, defensively, was digging up a lot of what we were serving them,” Shoemaker mentioned, “and we weren’t able to find our zones enough to find success. We didn’t execute to our game plan.”
Nonetheless, the Warriors were able to make this game special. This was the team’s only home game this month, so the team had to do something special. Since October is breast cancer awareness month, the varsity team was able to do Dig Pink to bring awareness to the problem, just as they have in years past.
“It’s just a great opportunity to remember that we’re players, but we’re also people,” Coach Shoemaker said.
Before the game began, members of the team grabbed roses and either gave them to a family member who survived cancer in the audience, or they set it on a table covered with a pink tablecloth. The ceremony was “…really meant to highlight that we have people in the community to celebrate because they’ve beaten cancer, … people to honor because they’re still fighting, and people to remember because they’ve ultimately succumbed to [the disease],” Shoemaker explained. Under current circumstances, not all family members or friends could show up, so the table served as a way for all three of those paths to meet.
The varsity volleyball team, in addition to doing the ceremony prior to the game, was able to raise over 300 dollars in funds through a 50-50 raffle. Half of the money would have gone to the winner and half would have gone to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation; a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research to eliminate childhood cancer headquartered in Tampa. “The winner graciously donated her winnings back to the pot,” Shoemaker revealed, “so we’ll be able to donate [a total of] $356.”
Anthony Menold // Staff Writer
