UW Camp II

Just wrapped up the last day of the camp....well worth the money and time. Kate...oh to heck with Kate, her name is Maddie. Maddie had a wonderful time. They had a great turnout and Jim Mclaughlin (he is the coach of the Huskies) and the staff spent alot of time talking about competing and practicing and making good choices, both on and off the court.

Maddie also enjoyed the week because she was paired up all week with Jenna Hagglund, the All PAC-10 setter from the Huskies and one of Maddie's role models. Maddie got lots of one on one setting time with Jenna:

Today was a half day round robin tourney at Hec Ed so I ditched work to watch. Maddie and Jenna's team won their pool and Maddie was the only setter so she played every point. Every DD, every staff member and every parent I saw there seemed to be having a great time. They gave each girl a new Husky volleyball at the end and Maddie had all the Huskies and Jim sign it...what a cool keepsake for her volleyball shelf!

So now a bit of a break...she mainly set this week but the plan is still to make Varsity at LW as an Opposite this year....next post will probably be around HS tryouts, so everyone have a great summer!

Maddie and Jenna:

UW Camp

Day One of the UW Camp left Kate with lots of smiles. She said she recognized quite a few DD's and that they are showing girls the fundamentals of the Jim Mclaughlin way and that she is loving every second of it. Each group is assigned a Husky player and Kate is in Jenna Hagglund's group. Jenna is the UW setter and Kate has chatted with her via Facebook before and when Kate mentioned her last name she said "You're Katie!" and much happiness ensued. Dad is looking forward to the Thursday afternoon scrimmages.

Change of Position?

Kate traveled up to Bellingham with 14 other girls who will be trying out for her HS team and spent 4 days up there living and breathing volleyball. Except for Kate and another girl, they were all juniors and seniors along with the coach. She had a GREAT time and came back ready to sign up for WWU on the spot! Several of the WWU players were part of the camp and Kate has already started chatting with them via email. I've been really impressed that those young ladies will take the time to offer advice etc.; kind of refreshing that they are so accessible. Kate's HS team has several returning setters and her coach asked her to begin working out as the right side hitter and backup setter...she even played a little middle. Kate is very excited about this new challenge and she seems to have a renewed sense of desire to make varsity as a sophomore. I'm happy too; she's a good athlete and being able to play multiple positions seems like it couldn't hurt moving forward. She has a very good relationship with the coach, who was also her Jr. High coach and accepted the position to coach the new HS team.

This week she will be attending the UW camp and getting in a few optional HS practices before the 'dead' time prior to tryouts....then a tune up with a local club coach and some of her Moxie teammates and then summer will be wrapping up Seemed alot longer when I was a kid! Would love to hear comments about DD's that switched positions; how did it work out?

Club Volleyball: A Busy Summer

It appears summer will finally come to the Northwest this week and Kate is busy busy busy with volleyball.  A new coach at the high school this year has vowed to bring the program up to par with others, so that, coupled with a move to 3A should help us be more competitive. She let the girls know that everyone is starting from scratch so I hope she goes out and competes like mad. There is a reluctance to compete with her friends and even though I've explained that her friends will have no problem competing with her, she seems hesitant to be anything but deferential to the older setters. Only a sophomore next year, but this is a team that failed to win one match last year, so I believe Coach when she says its an open competition. Go earn a starter spot, Kate. From weekly open gym sessions to a week being coached by a local club coach at the house of one of her Moxie friends, she's staying busy. I love that she is now meeting up with girls on the HS team to go play sand volleyball on Lake Washington. This week she also heads to WWU for a team camp, and the UW camp is coming up fast. I'll have to admit that I'm already looking forward to the school season and moving into Club come December...though I'm not in any hurry for the nice weather to disappear. What are YOUR DD's up to this summer?