For the first time in years, Selma High will have a boys’ volleyball team. The team is being coached by Coach Sonny Perez, who has coached and assisted for volleyball for 37 years at universities and many different high schools such as The University of Nevada, Fresno City College, Hanford High, Edison High, Sanger High, and Dinuba High.
“I just found out about the new program at Selma High a month ago. Coach Esraelean has had this in the works for a while now. I was asked by my assistant at Dinuba if I was interested in coaching boys at Selma. I agreed even though it would be challenging since I would be starting a program from inception,” Coach Perez explained.
For the team, the idea of a boys’ volleyball team has been something they have looked forward to for a while.
“It has been something me and my friends have been wanting to put together for a while now after hearing that most schools around us have a boys volleyball team. We thought it would be a good and fun opportunity for us as new players,” junior Justise Montoya explained.
With enthusiasm high, the team has begun practicing. The team doesn’t have lots of experience with volleyball so there have been challenges.
“There have been some challenges at practice, being a new sport, we are all learning the game at the same time but having a really good and experienced coach to teach us the right way to play it such as serving, positions, and defense is really helping us a lot as a team,” Montoya said.
Despite being new, many on the team are confident in themselves.
“We’re catching onto the sport pretty quick. We started off on the first day barely able to hit the ball but by day 3, we were looking like pros,” senior Anthony Botros said.
“I have faith in my guys’ ability because we all have a mindset to win,” junior Roshan Dail commented.
Some team members, though, are content with just dipping their feet into the water.
“It would be really good for us to go out there and beat all the teams but we are just more focused on developing our skills individually and as a team and building our team bond along with trying to win some games,” Montoya said.
Through this year and next year, the team is expected to grow heavily in their competitiveness and capabilities.
“Next year, we will compete in a league and attempt to make playoffs and bring a CIF section championship back home,” Coach Perez remarked.