H. Gül DOĞAN/Bartın Hendekyanı Secondary School

The school gymnasium was not just a court; it was a magical arena where the "Crystal Spikers" whipped up a storm. The team was like a rainbow: Captain Selin guided the way like a lighthouse, setter Defne carried the wind on her fingertips, and Elif rose like a wall on defense.

But that day, a purple mist descended upon the court. Selin’s words wrapped around everything like a poisonous ivy spreading across the floor. When she took the mistake of her best friend Elif and mocked it as if hanging a medal around her neck, the vibrant colors of the court slowly began to turn to gray. The other players retreated into the shadows; their tongues were as if sealed. Under Selin’s sharp gaze, the team’s magnificent energy was beginning to crumble.

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Neşet DOĞAN Mehmet Akif Ersoy Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Türkiye

When practice ended, the locker room was no longer a place of victory, but a cave filled with echoes. Elif stood frozen in a corner like a statue made of silence. The rest of the team was trembling like autumn leaves, fearing that their turn would be next. The cold air Pelin radiated seemed to dry out even the air inside the volleyballs. These girls, who once shared a single heartbeat, had turned into shards of broken glass, afraid to touch one another. Everyone was looking at each other, but no one was saying "stop". The bonds of friendship were about to snap—not from a powerful spike, but from a single heavy word.

METEHAN İLERİ / Şehit Kıvanç Kaşıkçı Secondary School 

 Pınar YİĞİT

Sümerler Ortaokulu

Selin, hiding her fear, her eyes blazing with anger, shouted, "Don't interfere!" The dream of the club had deeply affected her, and without the support of her team, this dream couldn't become a reality. Zeynep curled her fingertips. Lately, she hadn't been as cheerful as before, and her absentmindedness was very noticeable. No one bothered her, but the unspoken tension within the team was growing. Driven by her ambition, Selin couldn't see that her team was falling apart in her pursuit of success.

Özlem EKİCİ VAROL / BURDUR

SUNA UZAL SECONDARY SCHOOL

The next day, practice began like a funeral; a heavy silence echoed louder than the sound of volleyballs hitting the court. Selin was shouting with her usual dominance, but Defne's passes were no longer effective, and Elif's defense crumbled like a wall of paper. When Zeynep's silence finally turned into a sob, all the tongues that had been sealed until then were instantly loosened. With a trembling but determined voice, Elif stood in the middle of the court and said, "Selin, you may have won the cup, but you've lost us." Just as Selin was about to respond angrily, the truth struck her like a slap in the face. Zeynep had been carelessly selected for practice due to her father's serious birth defect. The fierce anger in the captain's eyes vanished, replaced by deep shame; at that moment, she realized she had broken the hearts of her closest friends for the sake of her own dreams.

Özlem YUNUS/ Avcılar Secondary School

Selin’s lips parted, but this time her words fell not like commands, but like regret. For the first time, the walls of the gym did not echo her voice; everyone was waiting for her answer. The net was no longer just a barrier . The ball rolled slowly across the floor. Selin thought about the cup, the tryouts, the applause — but all she could see were Zeynep’s trembling shoulders. In that moment, she realized that while chasing success, she had left her team spirit behind. Zeynep wiped her tears and lifted her head. Elif gently nudged the ball toward Selin. The gym was still quiet — yet it was no longer the silence of an ending, but the silence of a newbeginning. Now it was their turn to decide. To become a real team, they first had to truly hear one another.

Зорица Петровић , ОШ "Вук Стефановић Караџић"

Elif stood in the middle, the ball resting gently in her hands. 

For so long , she had been the wall - strong, silent, unbreakable. But today she felt miserable. 

She looked at her teammates . At their eyes full of hope and expecting the next step.

" I don't want to defend only the court anymore,"she said quietly. " I want to defend us."

The words were simple, but they landed deeply.

Selin lowered her gaze. Alice took a small step forward.

Elif lifted the ball. 

" We fall together", she continued , " but we rise together, too."

Defne smiled first. Then Zeynep. Then Selin. Elif tossed the ball gently upward. And this time it wasn't about proving who was the strongest. It was about proving they were stonger together.

That evening, the lights in the gym were turned off earlier than usual, but the girls’ thoughts stayed awake for a long time.

Selin sat alone on the bench, staring at the floor. For the first time, victory did not feel like winning. Elif’s words kept replaying in her mind. Slowly, she stood up and walked toward her teammates.

“I thought being strong meant never slowing down,” she said quietly. “But I forgot to look back.”

At first, no one answered. Then Zeynep stepped forward.

“Being strong also means caring,” she said. “We all felt lost… not just you.”

Defne nodded. “We play better when we trust each other.”

Even Pelin, who had been silent until now, crossed her arms and took a deep breath.

“Maybe we all made mistakes,” she said. “The question is what we do next.”

Elif held the ball in her hands and looked at her teammates in silence.

“Tomorrow, we have practice,” she finally said. “And maybe decisions that won’t be easy.”

The gym fell quiet — not with tension, but with expectation.

No one knew what the next day would bring.

But all of them felt that nothing would ever be the same again.

ZŠ s MŠ Jakubany

REMZİYE ZARİFE PALABIYIK /KAYSERI PRIVATE ERCIYES COLLEGE MIDDLE SCHOOL

When the gym doors opened the next morning, the air felt different.The words spoken the day before still seemed to hang on the walls, but this time they didn’t weigh on anyone’s shoulders.Selin was the first to step onto the court.She picked up the ball.But this time, she didn’t shout.She looked at her teammates.She really looked at them.“Before we start practice today…” she said softly,“…I don’t want to talk.”The girls were surprised.“Today, I want to listen to you.”An unusual silence filled the gym.It wasn’t a frightening silence.It was the sound of a door slowly opening.Zeynep was the first to speak.“Sometimes I’m not afraid of making mistakes… I’m afraid of hurting someone,” she said.Elifset the ball down.“Sometimes I feel like I have to look strong all the time,” she added.Defne took a deep breath.“Sometimes I don’t struggle with setting the ball… I struggle with giving confidence.”Selin didn’t lower her head.She didn’t avoid their eyes.She didn’t become defensive.She simply listened.In that moment, she realized:Being a leader is not about walking in front…It’s about being able to hear the voices beside you.