By: Sydney Brammer
Life as a Freshman on the JV Team
As Redwood volleyball is coming to an end, many students have no idea that only one freshman made the JV team. This is a pretty big accomplishment taking into consideration that the majority of freshman make the frosh/soph team, rarely JV or Varsity.
Being the youngest on the team, Castaneda was “not scared of the level of play, but more of the obvious changes that would occur around me, especially socially.” However, as the season developed she now says, “I wouldn’t change a single thing because I’ve already gotten closer with the girls on my team and have learned how to be independent.” Castaneda’s main position is outside hitter, but she’s started to move around the court. She loves playing outside hitter because, “I love getting lots of sets.” She also plays left back and has lots of fun because, “although diving for balls can and has caused me injuries and bruises, it’s fun sprawling out and being hit at.”
Emotions Towards Playing and Perspective as the Youngest
Castaneda says that the way she plays in a game partially depends on the way her team is playing and feeling, “If everyone is yelling for each other and cheering, I’ll be pumped up and I’ll play great. However, when everyone’s down and quiet and can’t pass or hit, I suddenly can’t.” As the youngest girl on the team, Castaneda says, “there are good feelings like when everyone gets excited because of all the firsts I’m experiencing all at once. However, there are always times when the girls talk about things or events that I can’t attend until later.” However, during an actual game, “there is absolutely no different treatment because of grade level.”
In Castaneda’s future, she’s hoping to play on Varsity which according to her, “isn’t too far ahead considering the fact that I’ve been called to play with them several times.” After high school, she is looking forward to playing at COS before any other 4-year she is going to attend.
With all these achievements, where is Castaneda’s drive? Why does she do what she does? Her inspiration comes from her parents whom have played volleyball the majority of their lives and actually had met because of it. She also says, “all the work I put into the sport came from my dad”.
Getting Personal
Castaneda has quite the outside life. She has one sister who also plays volleyball for her 8th grade Green Acres Middle School team. She also owns a Yorkie/Poodle named McKenzie who just recently turned 4. Castaneda plays for the Sequoia Crush club volleyball team in Tulare. This November, she will be going into her third season. Outside of club, she’s played two seasons of city league volleyball which is when she first started playing for a team at age 10, but started playing volleyball around the age of 8. Going deeper into her volleyball career, Castaneda has played grass doubles tournaments- which a majority of the time has been with her sister. Her and her sister have participated in these tournaments over the summers of 3 years and the summer of 2020 will be her 4th year. On top of that, Castaneda has recently started playing in beach volleyball tournaments! The tournament she went to was in Pismo and the summer of 2020 will be her 2nd year participating in this event.
Not only is Castaneda a star on the court, but also in school with a thriving 4.0. Her favorite class so far is Law because “of all the interesting things we learn everyday.” Her least favorite class is PE because “of the amount of workouts that layers onto volleyball.” For her electives, she’s taking the Law and Justice Academy, intro to video, and Spanish 2. She’s also involved in volleyball club and mock trial. With all this talk about the Law Academy and mock trial, Castaneda is interested in becoming a district attorney or public defender as a career when she’s older. Castaneda doesn’t play any other sports because she’s committed to playing volleyball year round. In her free time, she writes novels, points with her acrylics, and plays volleyball with her sister on the side of the yard.
As her first year at Redwood is developing, Castaneda is already greatly involved in this school. She’s focused on her goals and is driven to achieve them. As she continues on her Redwood journey, she’s exciting as Redwood is preparing her for future law work as a career and playing volleyball in college.
Sydney Brammer
Sydney Brammer, '22 is currently in her fourth year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. She has a strong passion for featuring the humans of Redwood, and enjoys putting the spotlight on the underdog. She has written for the Visalia Times Delta and Sungazette Sports. You can reach her by email at sydneybr17@gmail.com.
Fantastic Story!!!