Gerald Cabrera has been participating in club and school volleyball for four years. He described it as love at first sight, bringing both mental and physical growth. His favorite part about being apart of the Jaguars boys volleyball team is the impact others make on him with their cooperation and being able to rely on them. In Cabrera’s case, the person who impacted him the most on the team was Adrian Navarro, a junior who is on Cabrera’s high school team. Navarro is characterized as a hardworking player who lifts the team up at their lowest. He believes that he does his best at all times and never allows his personal issues to affect him.
“You can be the best on the team or the worst, but when it comes down to it, we are all playing together attempting to reach the same goal. We are all people, no matter what, so stay positive and work hard to be better as a player and teammate,” Cabrera explains.
Being a Jaguar has taught him to breathe in the enjoyable moments but has also shown the importance of locking in when it is time to be serious. Also showing his teammates that it is okay to have bad days but to separate personal issues from the game. Cabrera is majoring in mechanical engineering at Broward College, yet he will continue to play volleyball as a hobby.
Xavier Soto, another senior on the team, has been playing volleyball competitively for about five years. His reasons for sticking with the sport include the game’s fast pace and the community that it has. He describes the community as supportive, competitive, and unlike anything else he has experienced. Soto believes that his teammate, Gabriel Castro, has had the largest impact on him. They both started volleyball around the same time and play club volleyball together. Growing up together, both on and off the court, and finishing their senior year together has been meaningful to Soto, especially since he gets to end the year with his best friend.
Soto has focused on leaving a positive impact on the underclassmen as well as growing the Jaguars’ boy’s volleyball program. After putting so much time and effort into the sport, he believes that the love he has for the sport will always remain the same and that he will continue to stay involved at Charter as he continues to leave his mark on the court. Being a Jaguar has changed him as a person, and there was once a time (as a freshman) when he looked up to the seniors on his team, the high standards they had set and the role models that they were, and now, as a senior, he hopes that he leaves the same mark on the current underclassmen.
“Something I hope sticks with the underclassmen is our motto of ‘one team, one family.’ It’s something we say during games, whether we’re up or down, to remind ourselves that we’re always in it together. I hope that continues, because what we’ve built is more than just a team; it’s a team, it’s a brotherhood,” notes Soto.
Gabriel Castro has been playing volleyball for four years. His closest friends that he has made throughout his journey include Soto and Godly Thomas. They play an immense role in his life on and off the court. Being a part of the Jaguars boy’s volleyball program alongside them has made the three incredibly close. The team has taught him how to push through tough moments and keep going while also teaching him how to achieve long-term goals without giving up.
Like many of the seniors on the team, Castro plans to keep playing the sport for as long as it is possible. Whether with his family or friends, the sport means more than just a game to him.
“Keep pushing through, even when you feel like you can’t,” says Castro, emphasizing the importance of never giving up on one’s goals, even under harsh circumstances.
Darren Raphael has been playing volleyball for three years. Raphael has grown very fond of the sport. Being a Jaguar has driven him to become a better volleyball player. Navarro has had an immense effect on Raphael due to the fact that he encourages him to improve both physically and mentally. Watching Navarro’s persistence and attitude on the court has made Raphael strive to continue with the sport and develop his skills, as well as push him to always give it his all.
Playing volleyball has changed Raphael since it provides him with motivation and discipline. He has learned he is not only playing for himself but also for his team, and this keeps him disciplined. Every single game before they take the court they have a circle. Small moments he shares with these boys are what drive him to be a better player.
“The team has changed me as a person by making me become more disciplined and making me more motivated to get better because I’m not just playing for myself; I’m doing it for my team,” mentions Raphael.
Raphael is planning to continue playing volleyball after he graduates and to keep up his connections with volleyball. A piece of advice to young generations he leaves is to “work hard, believe in yourself, and dream anything you want in the future, ’cause with working hard you can do everything possible with a good mindset.”
Godly Thomas started playing volleyball when he was a freshman; what he enjoys most about the sport is the community and relationships he has made along the way. He believes it is a sport that is both competitive and fun, and he likes how close people within the sport are with each other and the knowledge that players are able to share.
“I’ve been playing volleyball since my freshman year, and what made me stick with it is the community. It’s a fun and competitive sport, and everyone somehow knows each other, which makes it even more enjoyable,” Thomas remarks.
The most influential part of the sport is the life lessons that he has learned and also the motivation that it has brought to his life, whether it is on or off the court. Through practice day by day, he believes that he has become a disciplined and strong-minded player, and he knows what he must do to control himself under pressure.
Before games the team has time to listen to music and pump each other up which is one of Thomas’ favorite parts of being a Jaguar. Moving forward after high school, he wants to continue to stay connected to volleyball. For the younger players in the volleyball program, he emphasized the importance of being serious about the sport but letting themself have fun at the same time. Thomas hopes he was able to leave an impact on the underclassmen and leave his mark on the court as a Jaguar as he prepares to walk the stage in one week.
