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.