No sewing happened on Friday. I was parked on the hard bleachers with a  crowd of other fans, some of us for three hours. Hope played the first three games, and played well, but for the next few she did stats. I had to ask someone why she was on an Ipad while her teammates were flinging themselves around the court. I had no idea there was such a coordinated effort to measure each girl's prowess. 

One of the varsity members is ranked second in the state. Apparently there are metrics that calculate each hit, and she is at the top of the curve. Probably one of the things that do not count as positives are those double hits that are so subtle. At least to non players like myself. 

A seasoned volleyball mom sitting near me mentioned that the setter stands in a particular place, and that she should be the second person to touch the ball. How about that. I had no idea there was a plan. I thought they just stood there and waited to see what would happen. 

Several times the coach called a time out so she could chat with the team. I could not hear what was said but they clearly wanted to win, so their attention was piqued. It worked, by the way. Twice they came surging back from a lagging score to victory. 

I sat next to a woman who is brushing up against ninety. She knew better than me what was going on. Early in the third game she noticed the scoreboard.

"They gave those points to the wrong team."

Almost as if the ref heard her across the gym, the other team's numbers clicked down, and ours went up. I asked if she played volleyball in her day. She sighed.

"They didn't have girls's sports back then."

I wondered if the pinch of exclusion had lost its sting after seventy years. 

John Gottman is a pioneer in the relationship field. He developed strategies for measuring conversations between partners, paying close attention to fouls like criticism. You know, the eye rolling that is so indicative of contempt. He can tell you how you rank in terms of healthy interaction, giving you feedback about what to do instead.

For people who just walk in the door at home and see what happens, this can be a good thing.