Before you start High School, you are faced with many questions.

What clubs will you participate in? What about sports or even Advanced Placement or Honors classes?

Junior Maddie Burns knew right away she wanted to continue her volleyball career into High School.

“I have been playing volleyball since I was elven years old,” Burns explained. “ Volleyball has just always appealed to me. When I was little I would see the older girls playing and I would just think to myself, ‘I want to be like them’.”

Volleyball season starts in the fall, with open gym and summer practice. Games start in early August and go until a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.

Club volleyball starts a couple weeks after the regular season ends.

There are open tryouts for team selections after which teams will practice multiple times per week and participate in many tournaments.

“I personally prefer club season,” Burns explains.

Club volleyball is an opportunity for volleyball players of varying abilities to continue their development past the fall school season.

Many athletes are faced with the incredible opportunity to continue their athletic careers into college. Burns is one of these many hopeful athletes who loves what they do and wishes to continue playing their favorite sport long into the future.

“I do hope to continue playing volleyball in college,” Burns expressed.

When you ask an athlete what their favorite part of the game is, many might say the thrill of suiting up, or maybe the excitement of breaking a record, scoring a touchdown, making a three-point basket or scoring a goal.

Burns expresses her love for the game through many thrilling and exciting moments.

“The best part of the game, in my opinion, is celebrating with your team,” Burns said. “Whether it’s just off of an amazing play or upsetting another team, the feeling of being in the midst of the cheering crowd with the people you love to play with is truly amazing.”

Whether you play volleyball, football, softball, soccer, golf, tennis, baseball or any of the many sports high school has to offer, the opportunities, memories and people you put your heart out on the court or filed with are some of the things you will never forget.