As the start of the girls volleyball season begins, so does a generations old tradition. While music is blasted and classmates stare at new recruits in the hallway, initiation is a process all incoming varsity members must experience.
Initiation is a tradition that the girls volleyball team does where they “kidnap” the incoming varsity members, dress them up in crazy costumes, take them to a large and hectic breakfast at a team member’s house and send them to school. Initiation boosts team morale by creating shared memories for both new and previous varsity members. Everyone laughs together at breakfast over the crazy costumes or funny videos or at later practices during the year reminiscing over the memories they’ve made.
“If I had to describe initiation in one word, it would have to be surprising, because the way that we start initiation every year of varsity, it’s very surprising, because the girls don’t know when we’re gonna do it,” senior Mira Pham said.
In initiation, one of the traditions is not knowing when they will be woken up, the day nor the time. This contributes to the team bonding by adding to the nervous excitement for both incoming and returning varsity members.
Initiation day begins with new players being shaken awake at 5:00 a.m. by a current team member with loud music and flashing cameras. Their initial feelings can vary from a range of being eager to dress up someone to anxious wondering what will happen and how crazy the costume will get.
“They wait for you to brush your teeth. You’re not allowed to change your clothes, you’re not allowed to brush your hair, you’re not allowed to put on any makeup and then you just grab your things and you go,” junior Elena Sibersky said.
In the midst of this chaos, there is not much time to process any emotions. Although it’s just a brief moment in time, it drastically impacts the team bonding experience during the season, by creating stronger relationships amongst the players.
“We were all laughing, and it’s just fun to do the dressing up part…it bonds us because we’re all picking out different things for the girls, we’re putting makeup on them, and it’s just so fun, because everyone is doing it so that we’re all being bonded. Because we all had to do it at one point, and we’re all looking silly…so it’s a bonding moment, because all of us are doing it,” Pham said.
After being woken up, the returning team members drive to another team member’s house and have breakfast with the entirety of the team. Just before going to breakfast, the unexpecting team member will be dressed up in costume by the rest of the team.
“They bring out this bin of dusty old costumes that have been passed down from generation of volleyball girls to the next, and they’re like, ‘oh my gosh, I want Sophia to wear this one,’” Sibersky said, “Then they put it on her, and they just keep making it more horrible and more horrible. And then they draw on your faces, and then they send you to school!”
The athletes get their faces drawn on, wear bold makeup, wear chaotic hairstyles and then are sent off to school in a ridiculous costume to wear for the rest of the day. For example, Sibersky had a red short wig, a cow costume, and had “pet me” written on her forehead. Another one of her teammates had a mustache and goatee drawn on.
“At first, I thought it would be really awkward, especially in my classes, but it turned out to be really fun and a great experience,” sophomore Louise Beraud said.
This experience can be intimidating and nerve wracking for some, but it serves as a reminder to players of what they have accomplished and what they have to look forward to as part of the girls varsity team.
“Considering how many generations before me have been through this, and how many girls I know [who] have done this before me, it was a really fun experience just to be a part of that,” Beraud said. E
very girl on the team must go through this sacred ritual, both as the one who is shaken awake and sent to school in a silly costume and as the one who creates the costumes for their new teammates. Initiation creates a shared and memorable experience throughout the entire team.
This generation-long tradition creates an unbreakable bond between team members, strengthening relationships and boosting team morale.
