@ariellehoulihan
Instagram · One Shot
@ariellehoulihan I’ll start by saying I have been watching Jordan Lucas play volleyball since he was 14 years old. I do not know him personally, we are not friends, and this post is not a biased bay to bay post as he did not play for me or my club. It was very apparent to me from the moment I heard about him and saw him, that he was going to irritate a lot of people. He made the sport his own. It was the moments in between plays, the celebration’s, and the “antics” that made it very hard to look away. It’s funny how good volleyball players change the sport when they are a little bit different than the norm. Throughout his club career our teams matched up with his and overall, we tried to be very clear to our kids. No distractions, just be better at volleyball. But during it, deep down I was confused on how I felt about it all. Was it a distraction? Was it just plain performing? I do think that maybe competing against him I might have been annoyed at times. But then again, I do desperately think volleyball needs people who do things differently. I just couldn’t decide if I liked it all or not. Until one conversation. Once Jordan was in college, I was having a conversation with one of my coaches and he said “Jordan Lucas changed boys volleyball”. I was like uh what tell me more. He went on to explain that as a closeted kid, he NEVER saw other people play or act in this way. He never felt able to be who he was when playing volleyball and how different life would have been for him if he had seen it. It made me realize how the culture had changed over the past 8 years since Jordan Lucas started playing. How many more volleyball kids had found a place where they could feel a little empowered because they didn’t have to hide who they were. This conversation completely changed my mind. Now for my thoughts on this clip. Jail. That’s the only word I have for it. My mouth dropped. An absolute abomination. Popped? So like a hate crime right? I am going to let the volleyball world know that if they have an ounce of foresight, they would understand that the gay community is an asset to the sport. Not a distraction.
