One Year Ago

Boy, a lot can sure change in a year. At this time in 2009, club volleyball was just coming onto our radar. Junior High tryouts had just concluded and Kate had never spent much time with the sport. They had about 40 7th-9th graders try out and she was designated as someone who would practice with the 9th graders but play with the JV Team unless a varsity player was out. She was pretty bummed out. I think that's when she realized that nothing is ever handed to you. She resolved then and there to be a real volleyball player. With still only that year of Jr. High ball under her belt, she went to summer camps, helped manage the high school team, and went into club volleyball tryouts this year deciding at the last minute to be a hitter. Bad call. We managed to take hold with Moxie and it was then that she decided SETTER. Good call. She has blossomed. Today she learned she was named to varsity. Now her stated goal is to work at her craft, make HS varsity as a sophomore, and move up in the club scene. Go get 'em, girl!

Tryouts II

How come they can select a club volleyball team after a 2 hour tryout, but it takes 4 DAYS of tryouts to choose one for Junior High?

A Better Sunday

Once the brackets shaped up and the girls played teams more at their level, it was a blast to watch. They won several matches yesterday and those that they lost both went to 3 games and were within a few points. It was a very long day and it was a relief to all that we won our final contest and didn't have to stick around to ref. The team is made up of girls pretty new to the sport, but I was really encouraged at how they came together and experienced success. It's a sport where you can fail and succeed all within the space of 5 minutes. Kate served one into the net at game point in one game and in the next one she reeled off about 7 great serves that fueled a great run.  Really proud of her and really proud of the team. Today was tryouts for the 9th grade team and she was beat but so excited. Is there anything more wonderful than watching your child compete and do well and seeing the bonds that are forming with the other girls. I think not. And on another positive note, I LOVE my new lens. Here are just a couple of the 80 pics I just sent to all the girls. Gotta say...LOVING IT!

A Tough Saturday

It was a tough Saturday at Power League #1; the team struggled and won only one match and that was against a team of 12 year olds who I personally cannot believe were allowed to enter by their parents. This poor team was brutally overmatched by every team they played. I can certainly appreciate a team playing up; heck, we were beat by WVBA's U14's today...but this was sad and cannot be doing anything to help these girls' self esteem or love of the game. Bizarre.

As far as our team, we struggled with serves (which in a 15 point game is very very bad) and with outside hitting. I guess no one wants to hear about all the reasons, so I will only say that I was really proud of Kate and that tomorrow is another day. We need to show up Sunday and get some wins to put us in the middle of the pack.

Pictures and a summary of the weekend tomorrow!

Twenty Twenty Twenty Four Hours To Go...

I wanna be sedated. The Ramones will definitely be cranking as we head down to our first major club volleyball event: Power League #1, which is the only reason I can think of to spend 2 full days in Tacoma. The U17's get Juanita (3 minutes away) and we got Tacoma. Something stinks and it aint the pulp mill.

So Kate has a cold, we have 2 girls out with injuries (should you REALLY go sledding during club volleyball season?) and a number of them missed practice because of finals. And we have a definite lack of height and outside hitters. But I'm hoping the big chunk of teams are kind of like us. These are great girls, but it's not SI or UPVC. I'd like to see us in one of the top 3 tiers on Sunday. I'd also like to see Kate not too burned out. She has 9th Grade tryouts on Monday and Tuesday....

What I need to go do right now is check the spreadsheet to make sure I'm not signed up to bring apples this weekend. Pics and stories to follow this weekend!

Club Volleyball: First Hint of Burnout

For the first time since we started, I noticed a hint of burnout at tonight's practice. Kate is swamped with school and the play and sports; she was sullen and quiet on the way to practice and it showed during her sets. Not completely unexpected, I suppose. She's in a tough stretch right now, but she will power through. The upcoming 3 day weekend will help, I'm sure. Homework, but no classes, no play, just a few practices. We have some girls hurt too; one with a broken arm and one twisted an ankle pretty severely last night. Hang in there, Kate.

Curse of the Wahine

I'm not sure what a Wahine is, but they cleaned our clock at the Sports for Youth tournament at Highline today. Actually, it was a great day. We lost our first match to one Wahine club, but won the next two to finish 2-1 and move into the Gold pool. Sadly, we lost to the second Wahine club but the girls really made some great strides as a team. I didn't really know what to expect; we've only been practicing in earnest since the beginning of the year and we were short a couple of starters. I think it was great that we got some tourney experience before Power League #1 in a couple of weeks. Our issues today seemed to revolve around communication and passing. Kate did really well; all the girls did. It's pretty brutal waiting 2 hours between games, but it was a nice day outside and I discovered that one of the parents is an avid sports fan so I was happy spending some of that down time talking about the Mariners. All in all, a fun day!

Club Volleyball: Tourney Time

Well, some last minute good news tonight as a team has dropped out of the Sunday event at Highline CC and Kate's team was next in line. The bad news is that we will only have 6-8 girls and they are still learning rotations, so it should be an interesting day. I think we have all the positions covered. Kate was named a starter and co-team captain, so I'm really proud of the hard work she's put in. I knew she was getting serious when she began eating a banana on the way to school instead of a doughnut! Today she walked to school at 7, went to school all day, practiced for the play until 6 and then went to VB practice from 7:30-9:30. Now it's 10:30 and she's doing geometry. I went to work from 7-4, watched football from 5-7 and went to VB practice too where I read a Caribbean Magazine. I am going to have to give her the nod for toughest day! More after the tourney on Sunday!

Club Volleyball: First 2010 Practice

Finally! We're moving to 3 a weeks and I finally feel like things are kicking into gear. Looks like we'll be running a 6-2 which should work well in terms of Kate getting lots of playing time as a setter. Now I have to bone up on rotations, etc. I know next to nothing about the guts of volleyball. I can talk your ear off about a 4-3 vs. a 3-4 in football or the benefits of a hit and run vs. a straight steal, but all this talk about the libero or being the center back setter are all new. I seem to be the only parent who sticks around all practice; maybe that comes from coaching soccer. It's at practice where you get to know a team. I guess I'd rather watch Kate play sports than sit around and watch a sitcom. On the other hand, I don't go to her school practices Maybe I just feel entitled since I'm paying so much for her to be on a club! PLUS, I'm getting to practice using my new camera and lens! Here are a few shots from tonight's practice:

Have a great week, everyone!