Ch Ch Ch Changes

Our club volleyball coach announced last night that she has accepted a new job...in California. Lots of tears as she was very well liked by the girls. Our (I think) capable assistant coach will stay on and the club has brought in another coach who coaches a local HS Varsity team in the fall. I did not get a chance to meet her last night, but there is already some grumbling that she is more gruff and direct and is going to shake things up. I asked Kate to not pass judgement, we talked about how change can be hard, and I asked her to be a leader and support the new coach 100%. Kate's a strong young lady; I think things will be fine. We're about 50th out of 58 teams in Power League, so maybe some shaking up and refocusing will be good.

On a different note, her JHS won their first match of the year 3-0, so the season is under way! Kate was named a co-captain and is setting, of course. She fought through being sick but was really thrilled when her soon to be ex-club coach showed up to root her on. Thanks coach; good luck at your new job in California.

A Day Removed

I spoke with several friends and heard from some other volleyball parents and they all I agreed I was kind of being a jerk. Stepping back after a day removed I think I have to reconsider things and agree with the philosophy that this should be a fun year of minimal expectations and a barometer for Kate as to whether she wants to stay on this journey. In retrospect, an ultra competitive team with playing time based only on skill should not be the way to begin the sport. So Kate, I apologize. Have fun this year, enjoy the girls (who truly are wonderful, nice young ladies and are a pleasure to be around), and play hard. If you stick with volleyball, good things will come, I'm sure. I'm behind you one hundred percent!

Good News-Bad News

The good news is that I am home in time to watch the USA-Canada Hockey game. The bad news is that we had Power League #2 today and it was a disaster. We were 1-3 in one of the lowest pools and it's plain that this team is not competitive with the other clubs in this region. I'm very glad now we did not agree to go to Spokane or Yakima or out of region tournaments because it would really be frustrating to spend that much money to see the girls just get slaughtered. I was fuming on the drive home in only a way that a parent can and trying to figure out what's wrong and what can be done to right the ship; of course, when I signed up for club volleyball as the dad, I made a mental note that I would not get confrontational and I will stick with that commitment...but between us parents, the coaching philosophy is starting to irritate like poison oak on flesh. As I was watching the pregame chat for the hockey game, one of the analysts was asked what the Americans needed to do to win. The other one responded "the coach needs to put his best players on the ice and not worry about bruised ego's." And then it struck me that we really need a coach that believes in that philosophy... but it aint gonna happen. The philosophy of this club is 'everyone plays' and that's great if you want the girls to have fun, but not great if you are trying to win. So I'll suck it up and just ride out this year as a learning experience. Kate played great, never missed even a single serve, and was a leader through and through. It was a beautiful day, Highline is not that bad with only 4 courts and we all will live to fight another day.

Club Volleyball: Back to Normal?

Practice was back to normal tonight but I can't seem to shake this feeling that 2 months into this we should be over shanked passes, repeated hits into the net and serves that go deep. I think the coach noticed it last night because it was kind of a 'back to basics' kind of practice. 4 girls missing last night because it was Valentines Day (What?) and I'll bet more tonight because it's President's Day. I wonder how many girls missed practice at SI or KJ because it was Valentines Day.

Anyway, Kate begins Jr. High games tomorrow and has Power League #2 next weekend, so maybe my angst will lift as they get on the court again.

Yuck

Practice sucked tonight. Neither coach was there so we scrimmaged with the U16's. The girls were more excited about eating brownies before practice than they were about playing some games. They had an opportunity to act like winners and they passed. These are defining moments for a team, and no one took charge and led. I'm pretty disappointed in what I saw tonight, so I better just make this a short one. Sigh...

Zombie's Rule the Day

Busy week for Kate as school, 9th grade VB and the school play had her booked about 16 hours a day, but it all came together last night at Zombie Prom, this years Jr. High play. We're missing a Highline tournament today, but Kate has never missed a school production going back to elementary school, so she took this week off from Club. It was very sweet that 3 of her teammates came to the performance last night. She still got her setting in with 9th JH practices at 0600 in the mornings and she is looking forward to getting back to club practices in prep for Power League #2 in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, enjoy some pics from the musical!