Addyson Hocking, a junior at Lakeland High School, has been tearing it up on the volleyball court as a member of the Hawks varsity team for the entirety of her high school career.
“When I was little, I always wanted to play,” Hocking said.
Volleyball has always been a dream sport for her, and she has been a successful component of coach Kelsie Badger’s last three varsity teams.
Hocking started off playing parks and recreation volleyball, and that is when she learned that she would play for the rest of her life.
As a freshman, Hocking started as a “floater” between JV and varsity. She had to train and develop herself to end up on varsity as a freshman. Hocking did this by constantly practicing with the varsity team to hone her skills and get recognized by the coaches.
Now a junior, Hocking still has to practice as hard as she can to keep her position on the team. Her training regime includes “conditioning, running stairs… then working on individual things.”
Before every game, Hocking calms herself down by listening to music and then works on her “hitting, passing and shuttle passing.”
After Hocking and her team win a game, she loves to go talk to her friends who showed up and loves to celebrate with the team. This connection with the team creates energy and bonds the team together.
However, after a loss, Hocking will go and watch film of the game and try to better herself by working on the things that she did wrong. Hocking picks herself up and does not hang her head low. She goes to practice again and focuses on the things that she needs to improve on and, altogether, gets better every day.
Ziya Munyer, one of Hocking’s teammates, has nothing but good things to say about her.
“She is a very hard worker… some big shoes will have to be filled,” Munyer said.
These are just some of the things that Munyer had to say about Hocking, proving that she is one of the most “uplifting” characters on the court.
Hocking is a prime example, showing that if you work hard, you can get almost anywhere in life. She built herself up from just a little kid who loved the sport of volleyball to only playing in parks and recreation, then varsity as a freshman, to then hold her position as a prime member on the Lakeland volleyball team.
Hocking is hoping that she can end up playing volleyball in college. She hopes to get a position on a college volleyball team down in Florida. She is a very hard-working woman who will most likely be a prominent member of one of the college teams that she hopes to get into. If she keeps up this attitude, she even might make it past college and play for the rest of her life like she wants to.
