Want to play pick-up volleyball? You better bring your A-game.

Ive been playing volleyball for over three years now, and I really love it. It's a sport I wish I would have started playing ten or fifteen years ago because it's a wonderful team game and it suits what I like to do. Mainly, diving and hurting myself.

My first real experience with structured team volleyball was when I played 6-on-6 recreational volleyball in the Pittsburgh Sports League in January of '06. My teammates were quite good and we actually won the championship, and that's what fueled my desire to learn and improve my skill-set.

In-order to learn the sport and sharpen my skills, I decided that in addition to playing in the Pittsburgh Sports League, I thought it would be fun to play pick-up volleyball at wherever I could find a game. I signed up for some newsletter about pick-up and that's how I found most of the games.

I figured it would be fun, inexpensive and pressure-free. I soon discovered, however, that playing pick-up wasn't always pressure-free.

Pick-up volleyball is unlike just about any pick-up sport I've ever played. It seems that in-order to really get involved with it, you have to know what you're doing before you even set foot on the court or you might get left-out.

My first time playing pick-up volleyball occurred in December of '05 when I played one evening at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. It was there that I first encountered the vibe. The silent vibe that really good volleyball players give off if they're in the company of someone with an inferior skill-set.

I didn't pay any attention to it at the time but it was a foreshadowing of what was in store in the future.

You don't really get that vibe when you're playing other sports. When you're at the basketball court, in most cases, if someone wants to get a game of 5-on-5 going, they don't care what your skill-level is, they just want to play. In-fact, basketball dudes can be over-heard scouting you before they even approach you for a game. "Damn, my man can't go to his right at all. You can guard him, I'll take the other dude."

That's why you'll often see five Michael Jordans going against a Dad, and his four kids because they just really want to play some basketball.

You can be playing a game of "Around the World" with a little kid and they'll still ask you if you want to play 2-on-2 half-court.

And when you're playing pick-up volleyball, you're hit with terminology that others just assume you know. "OK, let's play a 6-2. Got that? Set it right, OK?" You don't see that when you're playing a game of pick-up football with your buddies. The quarterback doesn't get in the huddle and whisper, "half-back option pass on two. On two, ready? Break!" No, usually, he just tells you to blow past the fat guy and get open near the Buick Skylark.

I remember this one time last year, I was playing at Club One in Shadyside and there was a dude there who I could tell was super-serious about his volleyball. He would scream stuff like, "The setters out! I'm down. I'm out of the play!" I almost asked him if he needed an ambulance. I was hoping a doctor was available. I didn't know what to do.

Back to that newsletter. It was there where I discovered this church on the Northside that has pick-up a couple times each month. Of all the places I've played, it probably has the lowest skill-level. You have a few that know what they're doing, but mainly, it's just a place to go and have fun.

One of my nights playing there, in-between games, this guy came up to me and said, "great game. It's nice to see people playing volleyball the right way." That was probably the biggest compliment I've ever received in regards to volleyball. He was a pretty good player and the fact that he picked me out of the crowd as someone who knew what he was doing really gave me confidence.

As far as that vibe goes, I have encountered that more times than I'd like. I remember back in 2006, when I first started playing, I sent someone an email regarding the pick-up sand games in Highland park. The reply I got was filled with that vibe. The guy, I forget who it was, suggested an indoor pick-up league and that I might be more comfortable there. But he also said that anyone was certainly welcome to play and that as long as you can pass the ball around a little, you should be fine. Well, not to brag, but I do tend to pick up on things pretty fast, and even though I was still a below average player, I knew I'd get it sooner rather than later.

When a few of my buddies and I showed up to Highland to play in this "open to everyone" pick up league, the attitude we basically got was "what the hell are you doing here?"

These were people who were dead-serious about their volleyball. All age-ranges, too.

That Summer playing in Highland Park with that network of very serious volleyball players taught me that if you don't know what you're doing, it's best to stay away. I'm pretty stubborn and determined so I didn't give in to that vibe even if it did shake my confidence. I continued playing elsewhere and I think I continued to improve my skills and I started playing at Highland again last year. But that vibe was still there. That vibe that said, "You're not as good as us. We'd appreciate it if you'd leave the court to the volleyball gods. After all, we play with our shirts off, so we must be good."

Moving on. This past Winter, I found an indoor pick-up league in Monroeville and I played there for a couple of months. It was very competitive, but I did continue to encounter that vibe. Not as much as other pick-up leagues, but it still existed.

In a way, I can see the point of a very good volleyball player. If you're good at a sport, you want to play it on the highest level possible. Believe me, I get frustrated too when I play pick up and I see the same people year-after-year making the same fundamental errors and using the same poor-technique. If you're a regular volleyball player, you know what I mean. The open-palmed bumping that most all of us do when we first start playing and the tennis-like back-and-forth smacking of the ball without any thought of "bump-set-strike." And the people that show up with jeans on and just stand there letting the ball hit the ground or refusing to move even an inch when the balls anywhere near them. Yes, that does tend to get on your nerves. You wonder if these people have been paying attention at all the whole time they've been playing over the years. That's basically a perfect description of what goes on at church.

But at the same time, if you're playing pick-up, you should accept the fact that you're going to be playing with people who aren't necessarily looking to improve their skill-set. They're just out to have a good time and maybe socialize like the people I play with at that church on the Northside.


Those of you out there who are really serious about it, be a little more understanding. We all suck at something when we first start doing it. And you people who have been playing pick-up for a while. Work a little on improving your skills.

As for me. I'd like to think that I've turned myself into a pretty decent player. I'm not great at any one thing, but I can hold my own.

I will continue to play volleyball any chance I get because it's just a beautiful sport.