Azaria Barham, a senior in the Academy of Medicine and Public Service (AMPS), a small school at Berkeley High School (BHS), is on the girls varsity volleyball team at BHS. As a right-side hitter, she has a big job on the court, playing in the front and back row. If the team is able to play this year, she will be appointed as captain.
Barham was initially introduced to volleyball when her parents wanted her to play a sport. Following her sister, she took up volleyball around the age of ten and since then has never looked back. Barham grew to love the game and joined the BHS team in her freshman year.
Barham said she enjoys playing volleyball because “it helps me forget about school and all my problems. Everyday after school I have practice and I’ll hang out with my teammates, it’s stress free.” Barham has become close with many of her teammates at BHS and feels that the team has “a very good community. “I feel like I can be myself on the court,” she said.
Tryouts for girls volleyball were meant to be held on December 7 but were unfortunately pushed back due to COVID-19. The BHS team does conditioning workouts but Barham is disappointed that they don’t actually get to play volleyball. If they are lucky enough to start their season, Barham says she is “hoping to play really well and put my all out onto the court. Just finish off this school year really well.”
Barham does not plan to continue playing volleyball after she leaves BHS, so she hopes to have a great final season. But as it is with all BHS sports, nobody is sure if students will be able to play this year.