VOLLEYBALL
Dublin and enrolled as a sophomore at Jerome, where Sydney is a senior.
Though safe, the sudden separation from all that was dear to him — his parents and friends, his volleyball teammates and coaches, his home and school — left Morales with a heavy heart and a feeling of despair.
“It was rough,” he said. “I wasn’t with my family. The reason why I was here was rough.”
Even when his mother joined her children in Dublin a month later, Morales was still struggling.
“It was very hard for him to leave,” Trudy Badillo said. “He loves his school in Puerto Rico.”
A social teen, Morales would see photos on social media of his Puerto Rican friends and of his peers at his new school and would feel left out and angry, his mother said.
In time, though, he would find the answer to his unhappiness in the sport he began playing at age 8. Teammates, from left, Gage Utrup, 17; Brendan Zimovan, 17; Leonardo Morales, 16; and Tommy Poole, 15 Trudy Badillo with her daughter, Sydney, and son, Leonardo, at home in Dublin
After competing in Columbus in July with his Puerto Rican volleyball club (Borinquen Coqui), however, this time he decided to stay longer.
Looking back, he sees a broader reason for his extended visit.
“I believe in God,” he said, “and God wanted me to prepare for something bigger.”
at an open gym for the boys’ volleyball team.
“I realized that we had played him in club in Chicago earlier that year,” said Poole, 15, who plays club volleyball for Columbus-based Vanguard Volleyball.
Morales’ Puerto Rican club team, which is well-known in the States, beat Poole’s Vanguard squad in three sets at the Chicago tournament.
“I really encouraged him to play club,” Poole said. “It opens up a lot of friendships.”
Morales, a setter and opposite player, tried out for Vanguard and made a 16-and-under squad; by the end of the year, he’d been moved up to a 17-and-under team, on which several of his Jerome teammates play.
He also continued to attend open gyms at Jerome,
eventually making the varsity team, which started its season last month.
Since he began playing volleyball eight years ago in Puerto Rico, Morales has relied on the sport as an outlet, physically, mentally and emotionally. During the fall, after Hurricane Maria, he needed that outlet more than ever: “I could hit the ball as hard as I could and get out all my frustration,” he said.
In time, his new volleyball teammates — he calls them “brothers” now — became the friends and social network he’d missed so much.
“It’s a way for me to forget everything that happened,” Morales said.
For his mother, too, the sport has served as something of a lifeline.
Badillo has gotten to know other players’ parents, who have helped transport her son to and from practices, helped her find a job as an immigration paralegal and furnished the rental house the family moved into in December.
“They opened their arms to us,” she said. “Volleyball has made a huge difference.”
During warm-ups last month before a scrimmage at Olentangy High School, Brendan Zimovan put his arms around his newest teammate’s shoulders in a playful hug.
The 17-year-old junior said the two have bonded over shared loves of weightlifting and Buffalo Wild Wings. They also play for the same Vanguard team.
“He likes to have fun, but then, when it gets to working time, he’s a great player,” Zimovan said. “He works really hard on the court. He’s loud and energetic.”
Dublin Jerome coach Phil Cagnoli said Morales has brought experience to the high-school team — something that can be hard to find in boys’ volleyball.
“My expectations are always low (for new players), but this is refreshing and has been really fun for me,” said Cagnoli, also the coach of one of Vanguard’s 18-andunder teams. “This gives us an opportunity to get him to a place where he can have success.”
The coach takes pride in his players’ efforts to help Morales adjust to his new surroundings.