Puget Sound Regionals

After the excitement of the Royal Wedding 2011 which was just as exciting as the big one in 1981, I am off with IT Blue for a fun weekend in Fife for the Puget Sound Regionals. The team has been struggling mightily, losing 11 of their last 12 matches, so we need folks, including Maddie, to bring it up a notch and get some of their groove back. Better passing, a reduction in serve errors, spot on setting and powerful hitting need to be the themes of the weekend. Time to hang tough, avoid on court meltdowns, and get some team chemistry going again! For all of you participating or watching the girls this weekend, have fun and be safe!

Club Volleyball Minnesota WrapUp

Not a great trip for our girls in Blue last weekend as they continued their struggles in Minnesota. I spent a fair amount of time talking with Maddie this week about how sports can take you from highs to lows all the time but that the important thing was to go out and do HER best, to practice hard, to be a good teammate and to exude WINNING  (thanks, Charlie Sheen) even when there is not complete buy in by all the girls who make up your team. In her career she will deal with coaches she loves, coaches she hates and coaches she is ambivalent about, but you learn to roll with the punches and keep on striving to get better. That said, she DID enjoy Minnesota and the Mall of America and the experience as a whole was good. In retrospect, don't know if I'd spend that kind of money in pursuit of a bid we have no chance of earning, but it's yet another life experience. Inexplicably, they are not practicing this week after losing 11 of their last 12 matches over 2 tournaments, but I guess Maddie can use the rest! Next up: Regionals!

Minnesota Qualifier 2011

The girls are off to Minneapolis tomorrow for the Regional Qualifier. Dad is kind of bummed that he's not going, but maybe it will be a good thing for the team to be there with minimal parental distractions. Our seeding kind of took a hit after the Power League #5 debacle, but maybe we can sneak up on some Midwestern team in the opening round. I bribed Maddie with a crisp $20 bill in the hopes that she will keep me updated between trips to the Mall of America and some late season ice fishing. Good luck to all the ITVC clubs this weekend! Play well, be safe, and have fun!

Club Volleyball: Hitting the Wall

It's that time of the year where everyone is hitting the wall. Low energy, lackluster play and girls who skip tournaments and practice for Spring Break are all affecting our team as we head to Minnesota next week. We plan our vacation around volleyball because we believe that Maddie should learn the lesson of being depended on by your teammates. If you make a commitment to win, you do everything you can TO win. Sadly, we were missing girls at Power League 5 and it contributed to our winless day, dropping us a flight and hurting our ranking at tournaments over the next 2 months. Just hope everyone can find their second wind as we move forward!

April and May will be busy with Minnesota, Regionals, Corvallis, and ECC but we are going to try and fit in some personal setter training. I have a few leads, but if anyone knows of a quality teacher who can evaluate Maddie and suggest ways to improve, please email!