Under The Radar: A Redshirt Diary

Lifting The Lid

November 7, 2021

Over dinner last night, Savannah, with a little help from Rebecca, laid down the facts leading up to her eventual choice and then the reasons for it. Christina asked Rebecca about how she sold her decision to her parents, getting a clean and direct response, that this semester had gotten so far off-the-tracks because the team's road trips had her off-campus too much to effectively complete some of her courses' contact hours requirements and thus would need to take incompletes, which meant she wouldn't be able to graduate in May without taking the equivalent of a course overload.

Upon returning to the Garden Inn, Marc and Sarah went to his room for some decompression time, with the latter returning to her room when it got close to curfew. The pair spent a couple of minutes saying goodnight to one another, after which Marc made his way to Lauren's room and updated her on what had transpired in Virginia Beach, stating it might be useful to address the unspoken tension surrounding the team over the past week's announcements.

***

Breakfast had a noticeable cloud hanging over it, as the team would be meeting afterwards for a "clearing-of-the-air" session conducted by Marc, with the coaching staff observing and listening. Conversations around the tables were fairly muted, with no one wanting to stir up passions beforehand.

Right on 9:00, Lauren brought the post-meal intervention to order, making a few remarks before passing the baton to Marc while she returned to her seat on the side of the room.

Marc: I asked Lauren if I could address you and perhaps walk you through an "airing of grievances" as there has been a bit of a disconnect within the team over the past couple of weeks, according to her and a few of you that I know better than others. I will bring up three or four topics, one at a time, that were either mentioned to me specifically or that Lauren has noticed which seems to be contributing to the ambivalence or perhaps antipathy between portions of the squad. Those who wish to speak on a specific subject may do so, with those targeted or a representative thereof allowed to respond. Following that, there will be some time for you to bring up other gripes you have. At the end of this, the goal is to have you enter today's match with the appropriate level of team morale and team chemistry, along with an understanding of the issues each of you have with one another. With that, we shall begin.

Marc: The first topic is the now-official move of JMU's athletic teams to the Sun Belt Conference. Who wishes to open the dialogue?

Savannah: Cameryn, Rebecca, Sophia, and I have known since before we left for the summer that there was a likelihood of some movement on this subject by President Alger and Athletic Director Bourne, that they were looking to move James Madison from the CAA to an FBS conference. Lauren acted with the greatest of care to situate our team this season so we could best control our own destiny regarding a bid to the NCAA Tournament as the possibility of our school receiving an all-sports post-season ban by the conference hung over our heads. Thus, the extra midweek matches, which thankfully have come to an end. The four of us and Lauren have been riding the wave of uncertainty since the beginning of August and a portion of us feel as though there isn't an equal level of caring from others on the team for the fate we now will endure.

Danielle: I feel as though this "elephant in the room" has taken a good bit of the joy out of playing volleyball for me. I committed to JMU because it WASN'T in one of the conferences where football was and is king, and that I wouldn't be facing the level of pressure to maintain my spot on the roster or remain on scholarship that I would at a school that WAS in the Power Five or the Group of Five. The relentless concentration on our metrics once we got past the halfway point of the season took away my passion for competing.