Club Volleyball Pizza

NCAA Basketball on the tube, a beautiful spring day in the Northwest...let's hang out in a gym! I always kid my Club Soccer friends about how I'd rather be in a nice cozy gym that outdoors in the rain and mist of Washington, but today the tables were turned. Great day outside as we gathered in Tacoma (do VB tournament directors even know there are gyms NORTH of Tacoma?) for the Domino's U15 event. It was well run and I actually even like the Washington HS/Keithly facility. For an event SPONSORED by Domino's, I was a little confused by the complete lack of anything Domino's there. Where were banners? Where were coupons? Where were Domino's folks selling pizza slices? I think they better rethink who is in charge of their local marketing...oh well.

The team continued its run of wins with a 2-0 morning record to advance to the semi's where we lost a tough one in 3 games. What I wouldn't give for a libero on this team. The lack of any consistent receivers/passers is still our biggest weakness. Solid backcourt serves by the opposition often results in 4 or 5 points dropped just like that. But the team has made great strides since the new coaches have taken over, and the girls and the parents are having fun. 3 more tourney's in the next month and then its all over for this group.

I tend to get worked up during matches which is why I spend most of my time photographing. I've taken more than 300 pics of all the matches and have a team page on Photobucket where the parents can all log in and see their DD's. But when I'm all pictured out I'll attempt to sit with the other parents, who are all great. My ex won't sit anywhere near me and we're actually on excellent terms! I don't yell or openly criticize, but blown passes and first serves into the net raise my blood pressure. I have however found a few kindred spirits and was actually happy when I heard one mom mutter 'SHIT!" when her daughter put a serve into the net. But more often than not, especially lately, the parents are having a good time. I feel a little sorry for the parents of the girls who don't play alot, especially as Kate plays most every minute. But Kate also works her butt off in practice. She gets about 95% of her serves over and can set, hit and block pretty well. I've seen her just break down in practice from being tired or diving for a loose ball, but she bounces back and really has a passion for the game. She'll ask coach if he can come early to work on something and she wants to go to camps and clinics whenever she can. I don't ever see our bench players at the gym early asking the coach to serve 50 balls to them so they can become solid passers. Part of that is this club though...they do not promote themselves as anything other than a fun club team.

I guess I'll get off my soap box now. LOL. Just really proud of Katie this week. She worked hard at practice and played well yesterday.

Club Stands Alone

As Kate's 9th Grade season comes to a sputtering end, I think it will be nice for her to concentrate on Club alone. Time to step it up during practices, focus on setting and conditioning and re-energize. The school play, the school season, being sick for 2 weeks...it all left her pretty exhausted and I'm hoping that she can now focus on grades and volleyball. Club has the Domino's tourney this weekend, Power League #4 on the 11th and the Tulip Festival tourney a week after that...then regionals and for us it will be over until a UW Camp this summer, maybe some Nevillisms and then HS camp and tryouts. Heck, before we know it we'll be trying out for Club again! It really never ends, does it?

Getting It Done in Olympia

This has been an interesting season for our DD's so far. First, with the backing of the coach, I was able to talk the club folks into joining Power League which is something this club has never done. It is considered more of a beginner's club than anything else, not undeserved. That the first 2 league tourney's were a disaster was frustrating because I think we have a good core of athletic girls who just needed to work on developing their skills and sense of 'team'. The coach was well loved by the girls but I wasn't seeing alot of progress. Then 3 weeks ago, the coach left to accept a job out of state and our assistant took over and was paired with a no nonsense ex HS coach who also was coaching the 13's. There was much angst as the girls began practices that were disciplined, focused and tough. Girl's are held accountable. When a serve is missed or a ball drops, the whole team does lines and push ups. The rotations were changed. The coach tells them where to serve. They began to play more under control.

But of course, the proof is in the pudding, and we found ourselves in Power League #3 Flight 7; the bottom of the pile. And the team responded, sweeping through the competition undefeated into the championship game which they won 25-21. They looked focused, they looked disciplined, they hung out together in between matches...they became a team yesterday. Winning showed them that hard work can take them places. Winning showed them that change can be good if they accept it and plan around it. Really proud of Kate (who played the whole day stuffed to the gills with Sudafed) and excited for the team as they will now move up to Flight 6 for the last Power League game in April.

It was our best day in "club volleyball" so far and we are all looking forward to Domino's in 2 weeks!

Toughing it Out

The combination of club volleyball and school volleyball collide full force over the next 3 days as we have a school game at 4 pm tomorrow followed by club practice followed by another game on Friday followed by a long drive to Olympia for Power League #3 on Saturday. Olympia? Really? Is this how they penalize teams in the 6th flight? Oh well. Kate has been sick all week, as have I, but I think we're on the other side of it. Practices at Club are much more intense now with the new coaching regime. I think it's great, but the girls are struggling to come around. For many of them, this is the first time they have had to really 'work' at practice. I am hoping they will win some matches this weekend and understand that this kind of coaching will make them a better team. Kate continues to excel, especially at serving, which is an eternally frustrating skill to master at 14. The other day in a school match, she put 20 of 20 in the far court. That's what wins games! Now, I better get the horses watered for the long trip to Olympia. Is that in Washington?