The Ecstasy and Agony of Tryouts

Maddie got a late start in club volleyball and I will never forget the dejection on her face and the fear in my heart as we prepared to leave Moxie Club tryouts less than 2 years ago. She came up to her mom and me and said "I guess I didn't make it" but as we gathered our things one of the coaches came up and asked her to follow along. We watched as Maddie's face lit up as she was told she had made her very first club team. We tried out for 4 other teams that year and she went home every other time without an offer. A sobering start, but one that worked out because she got lots of reps that year and really became a setter. Then a year ago this week she battled for 4 days at HS tryouts and mom and I were there when she found out she had made the Varsity team with only 2 other sophomores. The scream and the look of pure joy on her face was a moment I will never forget. She made it as a RS because there were a couple of junior setters ahead of her, but it was so fun for her to be a varsity player. Then last year at Club tryouts we didn't really know what to expect and were kind of blown away to get an offer from the first 4 teams she tried out for...yet for all that, there was genuine disappointment when Island Thunder let her walk out of the gym without a spot. We accepted a spot with Blaze and were happy, but the 10 pm call from IT with an offer was like a dream come true and she was so wired she couldn't sleep that night. And IT was so perfect for her. So as HS tryouts began on Monday, the vibe was different. After a season setting for IT and a summer filled with camps, my DD went in with a swagger and a confidence and a conviction that being a setter for LWHS was HER job this year. And so it is. No screams of joy this year, just a simple call to tell me that her and her friend Maddie W. (one of the now Sr. setters from last year) were the varsity setters. Almost as if there was never a doubt it would be otherwise. So as you players or you parents travel through your volleyball adventure, know that there will be crushing lows that you will suffer through. There will be teams you didn't make, and starting jobs that went to someone else...but if you work hard and stay with your dream, there will be joy and satisfaction from your victories. Making a team, securing a starting job.. succeeding...these will be moments you will never forget. I am as proud of the self confident Maddie who knew she would be named a setter as I am of the girl who was shocked to make the team a year ago. Is there anything better than being a proud parent? Good job, Maddies; go Kangs!

Honey? Time to WAKE UP!

Summer is winding down and soon the mornings will be filled with dad impersonating an alarm clock...Monday begins Kang Volleyball Tryouts! Much less stress this year as Maddie was trying to make Varsity as a sophomore. With a couple of setters ahead of her, she made it as a RS, but with a full year of Club setting at Island Thunder behind her and lots of volleyball at Western and UW camps, she'll be working for that #1 setter role for 2011 as the Kangs look to build on their 5 win season from a year ago. New reports from tryouts next week, Here we go!