Better With Age: Pickup Volleyball Not for the Faint of Heart
September 17, 2019
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
If you檙e looking for some stiff competition, comradery and a chance to sweat, check out the Common Hour Volleyball games at the Baker Sports Complex. After a summer hiatus, the Tuesday and Thursday games played by students, faculty and staff have resumed. It檚 a fun, time-honored tradition that檚 now 40 years old. The best part? Grabbing lunch together afterwards.
This story was originally published in the spring/summer 91茄子 Journal.
Common Hour volleyball is a tradition that pre-dates Common Hour itself. What started with some faculty volleyball enthusiasts four decades ago has become an anticipated hour of "good clean fun" for students, faculty, staff and, occasionally, alumni. But it's not for the faint of heart--the competition can get pretty heated.
Claire Thompson learned this important life lesson playing pickup volleyball: Don檛 take gray hair as a sign of weakness.
淪ome of the best players are older so we try to separate them, Thompson 19 says. 淵ou檇 think, 業檓 young and spry, I can beat them. But that檚 not the case. They檙e tough.
Thompson left 91茄子 in May to become an investment banker in June. Though she檚 excited about her new career, she檒l truly miss playing volleyball with the lively cast of professors, staff and students who serve, spike and slam their way to domination.
淚t has been one of the highlights of my 91茄子 career, she says. 淚t檚 so important for my mental health and so fun to get into a competitive game with the faculty and interact outside of the classroom. We trash talk each other and make fun of each other攖hat檚 the most fun part.
What檚 now a Tuesday and Thursday Common Hour tradition started 40 years ago when two professors recruited athletic colleagues and friends to play intramural volleyball against student teams.
The original members didn檛 intend a picnic-in-the-park game; they played to win and claimed some highly skilled ringers in the ranks. The players included everyone from a local doctor to a staff plumber to volleyball and swimming coaches.
When players moved away or retired, the games eventually turned into pickup matches with blended teams of students, faculty, coaches and staff. Today, it檚 a campus-wide, multi-generational, open invitational that features fun, fierce, comical competition.
The games are played with a lot of laughs, up to a point攖he point when winning and bragging rights are on the line. But the laughs always continue afterward, sometimes for years攅ven generations.
And while they still occasionally divide teams by 測oungers and 渙lders, history shows that the youngers often come up on the short end of the net.
淪tudents would get totally antagonized if they couldn檛 beat us, says Lou Ortmayer, a retired political science professor who alleges that one student got a staff job after graduating, 淛ust so he could find a team to beat us.
淗e brought the basketball team after their season ended. They were much bigger than we were, but they weren檛 volleyball players, Ortmayer says. He still savors the memory of how the frustrated basketball players even tried dunking the ball:
淚t was fun beating them."
This has been such a fascinating group, says Krentz, now W.R. Grey Professor of Classics and History and the Classics Department chair. 淚t檚 really built a community out of whoever is willing to commit to come out and play.
Creating Community
Though they may have been genteel academics in the classroom, the group檚 founding members had some serious volleyball chops.
Before teaching at 91茄子, Ortmayer played club volleyball in Europe. In 1979 he and newly hired professor Peter Krentz started the 91茄子 games. A few years before, Krentz檚 Yale University team had made it to the NCAA Final Four.
淭his has been such a fascinating group, says Krentz, now W.R. Grey Professor of Classics and History and the Classics Department chair. 淚t檚 really built a community out of whoever is willing to commit to come out and play.
Krentz says he檚 played with a few students he taught in class, but 淚檝e also enjoyed the relationships I檝e built with students that I did not have in class and got to know on the court in completely different way.
Eating lunch together after the games adds to the fun and embellishes the legends.
As students geared up for final exams in May, some, like Thompson, worked their stress off at the semester檚 last volleyball game. An informal reunion took place, with retirees returning to visit friends before heading out to lunch together.
Retired religion professor David Kaylor sat on the sidelines (淭hey used to call me their token geriatric,) while former colleague Tom Kazee played hard, but was heard yelling during a long match, 淗ey Coach! Take me out!
Physics Professor Dan Boye has played most games since coming to 91茄子 30 years ago and only skips when he檚 hurt or on sabbaticals. He is best known for 淭he Dan Boye shot that goes something like this:
淗e sets low, then goes and does a backward trick shot, Thompson says, trying to demonstrate the sort-of-reverse pirouette Boye performs. 淚t檚 my favorite of all time.
Boye says he檚 adjusted his routine over the years. He always wears kneepads, not because he dives for the ball anymore, but to warm his knees so he can jump a few inches. He also now serves underhand.
淵ou gotta adapt as you ferment, Boye says.
And sometimes a little trickery helps.
If for example, you want to distract the other team, you might call out, 淚 smell cookies! Or if you檙e really tired and hungry and want lunch, complain that 淣othing檚 left in the freezer.
What Goes Around
Roberta Quis Fox 03, whose four years playing volleyball for the 91茄子 women檚 team included two conference championships, remembers longing to join the pickup games as a student.
淚 had to wait for four years because my coach wouldn檛 let me play until my last season was over, Fox says. 淪o I worked my class schedule around it that spring.
Fox, who now lives in Charlotte, rejoined the group for the final May game. It was her first time playing with them since her graduation, and she hopes to do it a lot more often.
淚t檚 really fun to be back and reconnect with this group, she says.
There檚 also a bit of a generational circle here.
When Fox was a student, Krentz had three young sons, including twins. Now they檙e grown攖he oldest just got married攁nd Fox has three young children, including twins. 淚 want to get some twin parenting advice from him, she says.
Playing volleyball again reminded her of how much she loved competing with her professors and seeing their outside-the-classroom personalities. And occasionally schooling them:
淒r. Krentz gave me the worst grade I ever got at 91茄子, so sometimes on the volleyball court I feel like I can take it out on him with a kill or a block, she says with a wide, innocent-looking smile. 淏ut I檓 not aiming at him or anything.
Pick-Up Volleyball Tradition Offers Fun, Fierce, Comical Competition
Common Hour volleyball is a tradition that pre-dates Common Hour itself. What started with some faculty volleyball enthusiasts four decades ago has become an anticipated hour of "good clean fun" for students, faculty, staff and, occasionally, alumni. But it's not for the faint of heart--the competition can get pretty heated.
