Rei Manabe
Volleyball season has started this month! This year’s girls’ volleyball coaches are Mr. Bolaños and Ms. Gulayets, they are both new to this school. Ms. Gulayets has been playing volleyball since middle school in and out of school in Canada. She started playing volleyball from a young age when her gym teacher asked her to join since she was good in gym class. Also, her friends joined so she naturally joined. Her position was outside and middle. She has played competitively and it didn’t hurt that her school consistently won championships.
Mr. Bolaños, on the other hand, has been playing since he was nine years old. He played through his school career and his position was the setter, and he even played at a University in Finland! He isn’t just an experienced player but an experienced coach too as he was an assistant coach for three years, then head coach for the boys for two years and a year for girls. He’s spent most of his life with a volleyball in his hands, that’s for sure! What kept him playing volleyball is that he loves the competition, that’s easy to see. He described it as a quick and easy way to gain points. One game is fast-paced compared to other sports and it’s always easy to tell which team is winning or losing.
Mr. Bolaños hopes to achieve two goals: one short term goal is to focus on developing skills whereas the long term goal is to make Saint Maur a more competitive school. “Currently, the team is lacking basic skills compared to the other schools,” said Coach Gulayets. However, she believes that if the team is smart enough and determined, we can overcome these challenges and become skilled players.
In order to improve the Cougar’s volleyball team Mr. Bolaños and Ms. Gualyets have come up with a plan. How devious! They are planning to separate the team into two groups based on age, something that has commonly been known to be reserved for the boy’s basketball team. And with this, they are hoping the team will improve, have a higher chance of winning a game, and will still get to enjoy being part of a winning-team. “Work together and support together and then we’ll win.” Inspirational words by the Varsity Coach, Ms. Gulayets. Both Ms. Gulayets and Mr. Balaños firmly believe that teamwork is important in volleyball whether it be for JV or Varsity.
Coach Gulayets even dropped a couple of names for players to look out for this season describing them as very skilled with leadership skills. It must not be forgotten that she did mention that she believes in all her players and we know so does Mr. Bolaños.
“Everyone plays an important role. There is no star in volleyball but a team” said Coach Gulayets.
Let’s go Cougars!