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Dougherty Valley High School’s girl’s volleyball has a tradition of playing pranks on each other. Small or big, these silly jokes are not only amusing for everyone on the team, but the practice of planning and playing them on one another builds a sense of community among every member.
“I feel like our team is very connected because all of us like to joke around and have fun with one another,” Sara Salem, a sophomore on the volleyball team, said. “I love this, because it made the season fun and enjoyable.”
These pranks have been a tradition for a long time. The members who had been on the team the longest decided to prank some of the newer members, which eventually developed into the unique tradition of pranking one another. The jokes started off small as silly moments within the team, slowly growing into more elaborate pranks.
“For our first home game, our team decided to do a dress day where we all wore white dresses,” Salem reminisced. “When we arrived at school, we found out that the returning varsity players had pranked us, and instead of wearing white dresses, we just had to paint our faces and arms blue!”
“We call it Initiation, where the people new on varsity, we make them dress up,” Violet Bothwell, a junior on the varsity team, said. “It’s kind of like an inside joke, and it brings awareness to the volleyball program.”
Team spirit is a big part of volleyball, and playing pranks on each other is how the team shows it. Pranking each other is a way for everyone on the team to bond over something other than volleyball, and something that has always been a part of their team.
“Because we joke around with another, we have so much more fun,” Salem said with a smile. “Overall, that contributes to a better team, I think that it has also helped bond the team closer together and be yourself.”
These moments build connections for the newer players, while strengthening the relationships for the returning players as well.
“My favorite thing about the team is the relationships I make with each one of my teammates, because they’re always there for me,” Bothwell said. “I can always rely on them for anything.”
