From helmets to kneepads, Josaleen Garay and Amberly Jaramillo have embraced the challenge of volleyball after football.
With their high school volleyball careers coming to an end, the Granite Hills duo reflected on their rather interesting athletic journey.
Garay and Jaramillo played on the Granite Hills football team during their freshman and sophomore years of high school. After two years of football, they decided it was time to test their skills on the court, joining the volleyball team for their junior and senior seasons.
“I came to volleyball to try something new, to try something new and different,” Garay said. “I’ve always wanted to do multiple sports, so I just thought, like, well, I’ll just do two years of volleyball.”
Entering high school, girls generally have the option to play volleyball, girls tennis, girls water polo, or girls cross country in the fall, but these two girls decided football was for them.
“I’ve always grown up with brothers, so I didn’t really know,” Garay said. “It’s just something I’ve always looked up to, my older brother playing football. It’s just something that I thought was good for me because I love their aggressiveness.”
Jaramillo also echoed this response.
“I joined football because I’ve always seen my little brothers do it since they were younger,” Jaramillo said. “It sparked something in me to try it out, and I wanted to use it. I thought that using high school as a starting out would be a good first experience.”
Joining the team was one thing, but actually stepping out onto the field for the first time as a girl in a male-dominated sport was an entirely different challenge.
“Grizzly Warrior, because that one was hell week,” Garay said about what was most challenging for her. “It was the hardest week of my life ever. It was during the heat, and having to have the pads on was heavier.”
Jaramillo said football was intimidating, but that didn’t stop her from doing her best.
“Definitely, first of all, I’ve never played football in my life,” Jaramillo said. “So starting out as a freshman, it was quite intimidating, but I obviously didn’t let that stop me because I obviously was interested in it and I always tried to give it my best to keep growing as a player.”
Granite Hills head football Coach Carl Scudder didn’t have any problems with Garay and Jaramillo being on the team.
“I didn’t treat them differently,” Scudder said. “They didn’t act differently than anybody else. Obviously, when we went to away games, we had to find a separate location for them to change. But I’ve coached girls before in football, so it’s not a big deal.”
After two seasons on the football field, they decided that they wanted to take a new direction and challenge themselves on the volleyball court.
“So, funny story, actually. I was forced to stop playing football by my parents for the sake of my health,” Jaramillo said. “They didn’t want me to worsen, I guess, since I would have been playing with bigger boys and physicality-wise, obviously, stronger than me.”
Granite Hills varsity volleyball coach Eddie Valencia expressed Garay and Jaramillo as great role models for the lowerclassmen on the team.
“I think the two who stepped up as leaders this year were Josaleen Garay and Amberly Jaramillo,” Valencia said. “They’re always great role models to the younger players. They’re always there for their teammates, and especially for varsity whenever they are down or upset; just being great role models to the younger players.”
Transitioning into a new sport is not easy for everyone, however, for these girls it seemed just right.
“Volleyball has been a roller coaster,” said Jaramillo. “It had its ups and downs, but definitely an experience I am glad I was able to have, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
With volleyball season coming to an end, Garay reflected on her teammates.
“I love all the girls,” Garay said. “They’re all my little family. It’s just, I just love volleyball. I love everybody in it.”
And now that volleyball season is wrapping up, Garay and Jaramillo have another challenge in front of them, playing girls soccer, where they are hoping to repeat as Valley champions, as they won the Division VI title last season.
