Coming Up for Air

Sitting in the front row of the packed room in Cornerstone, it hit me. This is my final. Not an essay in a blue book or a multiple test online, but this, a Gala! It also hit me that a whole semester has been compiled into a 46 minute film.

For those who couldn’t make it to the Thursday and join the audience of Steve and Don Shondell, Burris volleyball players from 1982 and 2007, Ball State professors, and all the friends and family that came with their support and enthusiasm, I’ll try to sum up the experience.

The Cornerstone Center of the Arts did a wonderful job with the twinkling lights and Christmas trees. The Events Committee in our class did a great job with setting up volleyball nets that had photographs of the Burris volleyball players and behind the scenes of us this semester, taken by us. In a corner we had the Behind the Scenes documentary, compiled by non-Telecommunications majors. After mingling with delicious appetizers, most of the seminar went up and spoke to the audience about their experience in the project. Despite everyone being tired from the rush to complete the film, no one tripped to the stage.

And then the film began. Not to give anything away for those coming Tuesday, but I was too awed to be nervously sneaking glances at the audience. My friends were amazed at the music and the camera’s shots. One friend said she was surprised to have the emotional response she did. After the light slowly came back on we wrapped it up with a few more speeches and a Q and A session.

Earlier I had compared this experience to scuba diving, and Sam had said how her grandmother first thought immersive learning was about swimming (“Not sub-mersive Grandma”). But now as we are working on our portfolios and looking back, I think we are realizing how we were truly submerged into this project.

Starting Early

Sam E. went to interview Don Shondell a few weeks back, and I decided to tag along, I'm so happy I did because now I have that connection. Sam and I went to the 8th grade Burris game vs. Delta this evening. We got there a little early and had a chance to watch the 7th grade team, I was impressed seeing the potential that these girls had. I was astonished when it came time to watch the 8th grade team. The level that the 8th grade team was playing at was very competitive. Just watching the girls pepper and seeing the ball control they had fascinated me. During warm up when the girls where doing a passing drill, they were passing with such precision, they took the top spin off the pass!

I started playing volleyball in maybe 5th or 6th grade, at this little private school in Ft.Wayne. My 8th grade year, I wasn't nearly the athlete that these females are. I remember just playing the game without really thinking about it, no strategy. At one point, Delta and Burris had this extremely long rally. Morey was playing middle back, and on the first touch instead of passing the ball to setter, she freeballed it into the deep corner. At that moment I thought, "WOW" what a smart play! That is the one play that really sticks out in my mind, but there were other examples of how these middle school girls were playing the game smart, not just at a high skill level. I look back on when I started and how I played, and wish that I had the training these girls have. I didn't even know what it was to snap my wrist until High School.

These girls are so incredibly lucky to have these opportunities. Nowadays, sports are so incredibly competitive, the only way to compete is to become a specialist at a certain sport as early as possible. I wish I would have known that when I was younger, I wish that I would have started to play the game more strategically earlier. The Burris team is very fortunate, and they may not realize it just yet, but they will.

The Stories of Don Shondell

My interview with Don Shondell on Thursday the 13th was quite an eye-opener. For nearly four weeks we have been researching, discussing, and filming from a distance. However, we knew we were missing the key human aspect of our story (in the making). Interviews were to be the next step. Don Shondell was a perfect choice for the first of the interviews. He took me through fifty years of his volleyball experience. His stories ranged from coaching in the army to watching his three sons play announcer at pretend volleyball games to his seven granddaughters volleyball successes. (The eighth granddaughter is too young to play yet, but given the Shondell history, one can assume volleyball is in her future!)

I found Don’s take on gender in sports one of the most intriguing parts of the interview. Men’s volleyball has had a rocky history that continues still into the present. Issues range from a reputation as a “hit and giggle sport”, as labeled by Don’s first athletic director, to facing serious threat of being cut in very recent years despite the program’s overwhelming history of success.

However, the biggest stressor for the Men’s Volleyball program seems to have stemmed from Title IX, the piece of legislation passed in 1972, providing that no state-funded program can discriminate on the basis of gender. In trying to accommodate that, many less acclaimed sports got pushed aside in the effort to equally fund women’s sports. Don talked of scholarships being cut from the men’s teams as well as reoccurring threat of cutting the sport altogether. Obviously as a long time coach and lover of the game, this has been extremely difficult to swallow for Don and so many others. Yet, he spoke of it with no bitterness in his tone. He also mentioned more than once how great it has been for females to finally get their chance, including his granddaughters. In summation, he noted realistically and calmly that he could only do his best and work with what he had, no matter the situation.

My own conclusion was that only a true lover of the game could not only handle turbulent times but prevail during them. Interviewing Don was a joy. I only hope we manage to capture his enthusiasm in our film.