The Fine Line between Good and Mediocre

Had a solid if uninspired 3-0 vs. Samammish to put us nicely in contention to take sole possession of 4th place in KingCo with a win against a struggling Juanita team. They are a team that has lost their coach and although they have a superstar setter and a solid OH, they are not surrounded by much. Sadly, we came out and made the same mistakes that have plagued us for years (and plague many a team, I'm sure). Bad serve receive. Most serves were greeted with a shank or a poor pass to the setter. Our hitters were OK if not a bit inconsistent, but poor passing often resulted in sets that had our gals simply pushing balls over the net, and once JF set to DM it was all over. We came back to win Game 2 in an absolutely awesome OT game where the Kangs finally looked HUNGRY...but it all fell apart in the next 2 games with those unforced errors and weak offense. We really should have won this match and it's probably the most disappointed I've been with the team this season. We beat the Bellevue's and Liberty's and are beat in turn by the MI's and Mt. Si's, which is probably right...and that leaves Interlake and Juanita where we need to win. And we just don't. This team has never won a match we shouldn't have won and that is really frustrating. Oh, Club Volleyball Dad has lots of ideas, but is not one to get involved with coaching suggestions. It seems our philosophy is to play everyone. Juanita runs a 5-1. Just sayin. Doesn't get any easier next week with MI and Interlake...sigh...we just really needed that match last night. I gave up a trip to see a bunch of friends in Denver because of the KingCo playoffs...now I'm not so sure I should have. But as much as I rant in this blog, I don't put it in Maddie's face; I made a conscious effort to not even mention the match to her this morning on the way to school and I could tell from her mood that she would have exploded had I brought it up...so tip to Club Volleyball Parents: sliiiide into game critique conversations. :) Have a nice weekend, everyone.

Bellevue Blowout

I guess tonight I experienced what it's like to be a parent at Mercer Island....blowing out the other team is not really THAT satisfying. This match was so lopsided, it was over before any of the girls even broke a sweat...still, it wraps up a good week for the Kangs and a tough and impressive week for Maddie, who played sick both nights. Dad is proud the way she sucked it up. Had a nice time visiting with a few more Club dads who have DD's on the Bellevue team. I feel for them. Anyway, off to Sammamish on Monday where a win puts us at 3-3 in league...but then away games at Mercer Island and Juanita may bring us back to reality. Good job Kangs; it is important to beat the teams you SHOULD beat and set yourself up to steal one you shouldn't.

Bizzare Doings at Juanita HS

Juanita volleyball coach abruptly fired

Posted by Sandy Ringer

Teena Bambolo was fired as Juanita's head volleyball coach Monday, hours before the Rebels played a KingCo 3A/2A match against Mount Si.
"It was sort of an administrative decision," athletic director Steve Juzeler said Tuesday. "We're not going to give any more information than that. We wish Teena well."
Emily Price, the varsity assistant coach, is serving as interim head coach, according to Juzeler.
Bambolo, who was in her 10th season as head coach, said she was surprised by the abrupt meeting Monday with Juzeler and two other Juanita administrators. She was told her contract was terminated, given a final check (for the entire season) and asked to turn over her facility keys.
"It took all of five minutes," she said. "Ten years, and it took five minutes. They said their decision was final and I didn't get to explain myself. . . . I don't believe I've done anything in my 10 years at Juanita that would warrent termination. What I care about is my name and reputation which right now has been tarnished."
Bambolo is proud of the progress she made with the program, pointing out the team went 0-16 her second year as head coach and last season finished 11-3 in conference play to place second behind unbeaten Mount Si.
Juanita was 2-2 in league play under Bambolo, then Monday lost 3-0 to Mount Si to fall to 2-3. She said she sent a text to players that afternoon wishing them luck in the match and for the rest of the season.
Bambolo didn't want to go into details about the possible reasons for her termination, but did speculate "disgruntled parents" played a role. Plus, a starting player had quit the team last Thursday for what Bambolo described as a "difference in coaching philosophy."
That player returned Monday after Bambolo's termination and played in the final two sets against Mount Si after sitting out the opening set.

Hmmm....

Ups and Downs

Where did the week go? After Wednesday's day of recovery for Maddie and a loss to Mt. Si, the girls played a team from Alaska in a 'friendly' on Thursday. Of course, CVD was waiting for game time over at the Black Raven when the ex calls and says "Oh, the game started at 5:30." So I had another Wisdom Seeker and sulked...but not for long because Saturday was the Jamboree over at Juanita with 16 or so teams from all over competing to see who would be standing at the end of the longest tournament ever! It was like being in Spokane with an hour off then play, then ref, then play, then off for two hours....sadly, Devo was playing at Redhook and I was called away to what turned out to be a great night of 80's new wave in a complete downpour. But in a way, it was more special.

On to last night where we all reconvened at LWHS to welcome Liberty in to the house and catch up with IT teammate Jessica and her cool parents. I sat on the Liberty side, much to the chagrin of the Liberty parents and with Jess' dad watched a very close match that saw each game decided by just a couple of points. Jessica played a nice middle and Liberty won the first game, but in the second and third games, Maddie ran off 10 and 5 serves in a row to help the Kangs win their first league match of the season, 3-1. Maddie had 17 assists in a 6-2, again making me wish for the old 5-1 and a power OH, but it was nice to see a win. Great hustle by the girls after coming out a bit flat. On to Bellevue tomorrow and a hope that we go to 2-3 in league.

Another scare from Maddie yesterday as she woke up with a very sore throat. Some zinc and a pep talk from dad got her through last night, but she digressed over night. Of course, we were worried about strep because she had it last year, but it's just a little inflammation and the doc said she would be good to go tomorrow!

With pal Jessica from Island Thunder and Liberty HS post game:

Getting ready to serve at the 2011 Jamboree:

Be Careful What You Wish For....

Well, they will be running a 5-1 tonight....but only because Maddie has a lateral ligament sprain (knee). Probably not serious but had to miss practice yesterday and therefore the game tonight. The concern is will she be ready for a game on Thursday (non league) and the tournament on Saturday. She tweaked it in PE. PE? Why does someone who practices or plays 5 nights a week on the volleyball team get dumped into PE by the randomness of high school class scheduling? And how does a girl who plays every single point of the entire club season without as much as a headache sprain her knee in gym? So the star OH (ankle) and the star setter have yet to play a point together this year but will get to spend some quality time sitting on the bench catching up. The VB Gods have not been kind in the early part of the season.

Bad Feeling

It's not a good thing to be this bummed out so early in the season, is it? We're 3 matches in and I have seen nothing that leads me to believe we are going to contend in 3A this year at all. We continue to run a 6-2 offense which means Maddie and the other setter are each only setting from the back row. In effect, the best setter is only on the court half the time. You don't see a 6-2 in Club very often because the club wants to put the best product on the court and win games. A 6-2 does not allow the setters to make any lasting in-game connections with the hitters, and it does not allow for a setter to be subbed out if they are struggling. I read the papers and see setters from various schools with 22 assists, 19 assists, 17 assists....these are teams that play the best setter in each game and let her develop that relationship with her hitters. You will never see one of our setters names in the paper. 

Thanks. I feel better. We lost handily to Interlake last night in a match I think we really needed if we were going to compete this year. I'm in a bad mood because it's plain we're NOT ready at all.  Maddie did not have her best game. There are some team chemistry issues developing. I know how I would resolve them. More action tomorrow vs. Mt. Si, then a "friendly" against a team from Alaska, then the 3A Jamboree at Juanita this weekend.

I will either be more hopeful by Saturday night, or my hair will be gone.

Home Opener vs. Mercer Island

A big crowd at LW tonight to see the home opener vs. 9th ranked Mercer Island. I think this group had 7 or 8 girls that played Club this year; we have 4...but don't get me started on how to grow a strong high school program. Played a spirited first game but lost 17-25 but game 2 was a whole different story. Some MI errors and steady play from the Kangs and it was 21-21 late in the game. One rally in particular went on forever with super defensive play and some great setting by Maddie to her OH who went up time and time again only to have it returned....but then, one last perfect set, a well placed spike and it was POINT Kangs who used that momentum to close things out to win Game 2. Of course, games 3 and 4 saw MI back in form and saw us struggle with defense and serving to ultimately lose the match 1-3 and go 0-1 in league play. The outcome was not unexpected; we just don't have elite talent like some of these schools seem to have, but they played well (with again, 2 starters out). I'm a little frustrated with the 6-2 offense which means the best setter is only playing half the time, but I guess our program is more about the experience than trying to win at all costs....which, OK, I get it. Club this is not. We HAVE started a new 'tradition' where our girls give little gifts to the opposing players during the introductions and frankly, it has the parents in a bit of an uproar. I guess it just doesn't strike fear into the hearts of the enemy when you give them a little bag of chocolate kisses. On the other hand, perhaps it's a brilliant strategy to get the girls out of whack and sugared up during the match. 

Big week next week: Away at Interlake and home against Mt. Si...that Interlake game is the one we need to take. Mt. Si is tough and we do not want to start the season 0-3. Maddie and I are pumped about seeing 'Contagion' this weekend and of course it's NFL Kickoff Sunday. Hooray!


Maddie directs traffic vs. Mercer Island

Talking strategy with coach between rotations:

Keep 'em guessing with a back set!:

2011 High School Begins!

Before the season even began, the Kangs suffered a big loss when our number 1 hitter ( and one of Maddie's best friends) crumpled to the floor in practice yesterday; prognosis: sprained ankle-out for a month...half the season. A very bad break. That, coupled with our starting senior Libero out with mono (who catches MONO any more?) had the team emotionally challenged even before the trip to 4A powerhouse Skyline for an opening night non-league match up. As expected, the Kangs were never a threat, but I thought they held their own and lost by about 6-8 points every match. High School seems so 'luck of the draw' sometimes; how does a school like Skyline have 4 girls at 6 feet plus and LW has no one over 5'10"? Height is what killed us tonight...that and mediocre serve receive and serving. But like I said, they hung in there and with the 2 starters out, had an OK match to get the jitters out. Of course, things don't get any easier with the home opener tomorrow night against (3A 9th ranked in the state) Mercer Island, but no one said it would be easy! Some good competition to begin the season and it's not over until the game gets played. Just not a lot of height on this team, but they had moments tonight that were encouraging. Good to reconnect with some of the parents and see Maddie playing in a real game...her first since Club ended in May. Great to be back! Update and pictures post game tomorrow.

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!

UW Camp 2011 Version

Maddie just finished another UW Camp and had an equally good time as last year, especially since she got to reconnect with pal Jenna Hagglund, the wonderful UW setter who, when we last saw her, was in the NCAA Elite 8. She was Maddie's 'team' coach again and a swell time was had by all. Tomorrow begins Kang Camp, and the realization that summer is in full swing.... and we have yet to see the sun... some pics from  the weekend:

With Evan Sanders, Sr. Setter:

With Kylin Munoz, Jr. OH:

With Kelly Holford, Jr. L/DS and Anna Cesari, F Setter:

And with Jenna. LOVE her!

Summer Break is Over

Maddie celebrated her birthday and last open gym on June 21st and we just got back from 9 days in Vegas, Palm Springs and San Diego where we spent all of 15 minutes discussing volleyball. This is literally the first break of more than a day or two since Club tryouts last November, and I think it was good for her physically and mentally. Tomorrow she heads up to WWU for a week of camps; her opportunity to show the coaches up there what she's made of. Hope everyone has a great July 4th holiday weekend!

Raw ECC Video

I put some video up of various matches at ECC on my YouTube page. Maddie is #11! Now we're off to Vegas and Southern California before she spends a week up at some WWU Camps!

http://www.youtube.com/user/bstone1959

2011 Club Roundup

As the final point fell to the floor, sending ITVC home with a respectable 13th place finish at ECC, I took a deep breath and realized that volleyball was over for a couple of months and Maddie could relax and focus on homework and friends as summer approached. Well...wrong. High School practices started this week with several open gyms held. I mentioned that since she was fresh off club she could probably miss a few of these. "Dad, I can't miss." And that's when it kind of sunk in that Maddie has been listening to her dad all these months. Maddie is most likely the strongest setter on the HS Team, but she played RS there last year as a sophomore and knows that nothing will be handed to her. By saying "I can't miss" what she is really saying is that if she wants the starting setter job, she has to earn it. Bingo. So, club gives way to HS and some camps, but also a trip to Southern California with Dad, a couple of good family camping trips (including the annual eight-family trip to Westport to wear sweatshirts and stand under tarps in August (her 16th in a row) and a 16th birthday in June...so no, volleyball is not taking a hiatus.

So what of ITVC Blue this year? Some bad, but mostly a good positive experience.

The good: There was so much that was good. For all the frustrations with the coaches, I want to thank them for the time they spent and the sacrifices THEY made. They are good, grounded young people and I honestly wish them nothing but the best moving forward. The girls individually were all outstanding young ladies and their parents should all be proud of them. Speaking of parents, we had an awesome group. Lots of shared frustrations, but lots of high fives and parental pride going around too. A special thanks to Maddie's mom who did an outstanding job as team mom and now carries those responsibilities over to Maddie's HS Team. She is an organized and tireless part of any team, and she's a damn good mom, too. To the ITVC Club itself, a big thank you. We are so happy to be part of this family and everyone at the club was super great to be with. Who knows what U-17 holds, but I know we would certainly jump at the opportunity to continue the ride. Lastly, to Maddie, #11, setter. I was very proud of your work ethic; you were the only girl to never miss a practice. I was happy you got so many reps; you really grew as a player. I was proud that you were able to balance volleyball and school. And I was just plain proud of your sportsmanship and dedication to this sport you love so much. That will take you far, my friend.

Reports will be sporadic through the summer, but I'll check in and you can count of a full accounting of Maddie's effort to help LWHS get deep into the playoff this year. Go ITVC. Go Kangs!

But for a point here or there....

One thing I keep discussing with Maddie is how important every single point is during tournaments.

A few things that jumped out after ECC:

Look at the scores of our Sunday losses: To Apollo 22-25, 25-27
                                                              To Clackamas 25-27, 22-25

A few more digs, a few serves not out of bounds or into the net....a point early in the match or when it's 19-19...can make all the difference in the world between playing for a championship and playing for 11th place. Winning just one of those matches, to teams ranked lower than we were, and we would have been playing in Gold. Speaking of Gold...the 16 Club Championship was won by Clark County Black which they won over NW Juniors Elite Black. Interesting fact: Clark County lost one match all weekend. They lost 0-2 to ITVC Blue on Saturday. We didn't play NW Juniors this weekend, but at Regionals, we beat them in a match AND in the Bronze Championship playoff game.

So there, in a nutshell was the frustrating thing about the season....always close, but never able to win that key game to move us into a position to succeed on a bigger stage. As Maddie moves forward in her career, she needs to learn to help her team find those extra points each game. Her coaches need to motivate and explain the significance of every match. And each girl needs to dig deep and avoid those one or or two mistakes that may seem insignificant at the time, but can change a season around.

Images of ECC

Emerald City Classic - Days 2 and 3

The volleyball Gods giveth and they taketh away. Day 2 began with the news that our starting DS would be gone the rest of the tourney due to a family emergency. That coupled with the absence of another girl due to sickness turned out to be critical as the club does not have much depth. The decrease in defense and a reversion back to the days where we made 4-6 service errors per game, was too much to handle in matches 1 and 2 and we lost all 4 games by 3 points or less. Nontheless, a victory over Cascade Blue left us at 1-2 and a chance to actually come in second in the pool because of tie breakers, but the team we needed to win the last match did not, and we finished third and thus ended up in the Silver Division. Disappointing after playing so well on day one.

Monday found us actually seeded at the top of the Silver Division and we won the first match pretty handily. Playing in the next match against High Velocity, we dropped the first game but came back to win the second. Game 3 went back and forth, but after 10-10, we fell apart and ended up losing the game 15-10, thus ending both the tournament and the season. Part of me feels kind of disappointed because we could have done so much more, but the weaknesses on the team were pretty consistent all year and the tourney was kind of a microcosm of the year. A good team, but never quite able to make that leap into consistent excellence. Still, 13th out of 40 teams is nothing to sneeze at. Maddie was a little off today, but had a solid tournament and I was especially proud of her 100% serving percentage. No one else on the team was even close to that (and it hurt).

A special shout out to the folks at WVBA who hosted a wonderful tournament. This was our first trip to the Emerald City Classic and everything was set up nicely and ran smoothly. I hope your girls have a great time in Brazil. So, congrats to Maddie, 16 Blue and all of the ITVC clubs who gave it their all this weekend. A season wrap up to follow soon. Happy Memorial Day!

Emerald City Classic - Day 1

Maybe we should have practiced at the beach all year. Or maybe all tournaments should begin at 3 pm. Whatever the reason, the girls came out and played some of their best volleyball of the year, taking out two higher seeds from Oregon and an outmatched Wahine team from Des Monies, WA in 6 straight games. The serving was solid, the defense and passing worked, Maddie's sets were spot on, and our hitters were nailing it...all which puts us in a nice spot on Sunday as the top seed in our pool where we will once again battle a couple of Oregon teams and the Cascade Blue team from Seattle. As it is now 11:40 PM and exhausted from the good play by Blue and the 12th inning victory by the Mariners over the hated Yankees, I will now retire and get ready to do it all over again tomorrow.

ITVC at the Beach

The last practice of the 2011 Club Season was held at Alki Beach on a pleasant evening yesterday as the girls prepare to wrap up the season with the Emerald City Classic this Memorial Day weekend. As it's supposed to rain, again, inside at the UW seems like as good as place as any to be. The practice was spirited and fun and  I think it loosened things up a bit. I'm hoping that if the girls have fun again, it may translate into good teamwork and effort. More over the weekend!

College Volleyball Personal Coaching

Hooked Maddie up with a super young lady at Nevillizms who spent an hour working on setting techniques, serving, defense, etc. Maddie came away fired up and immediately wrote down all the knowledge that was transferred so she could work on things prior to ECC. Taking a Sunday off practice *but not the last practice before a tourney!) to head to LA for some R&R. Good Friday the 13th!

Club Volleyball: Oregon Wrap Up

I had high hopes going into the Willamette Classic this weekend in Corvallis, but the girls never really got it going. I was pretty hopeful after last week's comeback at Regionals that we would be competitive, but some truly mystifying coaching decisions and a general lack of chemistry resulted in a pretty flat effort.
From a non-volleyball perspective, I liked everything about this tournament; facilities were nice, things were on time and they even had a spring match between Western and OSU. Maddie was excited for the team to see some college ball, but the rest of the team wanted to get frozen yogurt after the last match so Maddie and her mom  went solo. Good job, Maddie and good job, mom.

I think everyone is hitting the wall, but I hope we keep it together for ECC in 2 weeks. Even Club Volleyball Dad is wearing out, but I'm sure I will miss it when it wraps up over Memorial Day. Great to see all the other ITVC teams down there this weekend as well!

Core Values....err....Corvallis

Too much money for a 2 day touney 5 hours away. Especially after the bill for Minnesota just arrived!
Girls have not been playing well.
Supposed to be rainy.

All things I used to try and convince myself not to go...but then they looked like a team again at Regionals.
And I'm carpooling with another CVD.

And so....5 AM lift off for a 10:30 start in Corvallis! Life's too short, right?

Oregon or Bust!

Puget Sound Regionals

Let me first set the stage: at the end of the Power League season, the 64 teams are broken into 3 divisions. ITVC Blue is in Division 2, one of 24 teams. The first day is pool play with the top 2 teams from each pool of 4 advancing to the Gold and Silver brackets and the bottom 2 playing in the Bronze and Copper brackets. Sadly, IT plays well, but finishes 3rd in their first pool and is thus, on Day 2, one of 12 teams playing for Bronze. So out of 24 teams that begin on Saturday, IT is playing to finish between 13th and 24th. So that being settled, we begin our day and win 2 straight matches to secure a spot in the Bronze division. We win another match and are in the top 4. Next match begins (loser goes home) and the girls just look physically beat. We lost the first game and I'm thinking that the streak is going to come to an end. In the 2nd game, we continue to look pretty sluggish until coach calls a timeout and lays into the girls pretty good. It does the trick and we come out and take game 2 and dominate game 3, 15-7. That puts us in the final against NW Juniors Elite from Edmonds, a team which we had beaten earlier in the day. Game 1 sees us rally back from a deficit to take it, but the wheels come off the bus a bit and we drop game 2...so it all comes down to a game 3. It's back and forth but we're up 13-11 and Maddie is serving. Good serve, we handle their volley and push it over for a point. Game point. Maddie takes a breath and lofts a deep serve that looks long. The other team lets it fall, and fall it does, right inside the back line for the ACE and the win! So when it's all over, ITVC finishes 13th out of 24 teams and does it by going undefeated on Sunday.

On the drive back to Kirkland I realized how important that very first round of pool play is. You finish top 2 in your flight and you are playing for a top 12 finish no matter what...but at the end of the day I think today was more satisfying to be right where we were. I cannot express how proud I was of the girls who, in effect, won a 12 team tournament today. The defense was better, which meant the passes were easier for Maddie to set which meant the hitters were in good spots to kill the ball. And everyone stepped it up. We've struggled a bit over the last few tournaments and to see them come out today and go undefeated was like a breath of fresh air. Maddie played every point in 13 games over 8 hours and capped it off with an ace. Club Volleyball Dad is very proud, and I hope the girls can use this as a springboard to play well in Corvallis next weekend and at ECC over Memorial Day. Here's to you, #11 and to your 10 teammates. Well done.

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!

Video from Qualifier

I'm still figuring out to do some stuff on YouTube, but I'm getting there! Here is a link to a Game 3 match in Spokane that was a real nail biter, with ITVC Blue prevailing!

http://www.youtube.com/user/bstone1959#p/a/u/0/2n9peU3USi0

Club Volleyball: Spokane 2011 Wrap Up

8 am Sunday morning came quickly after a fantastic team party at the Onion in Spokane. The food and service was outstanding. There was video from the earlier matches showing on a laptop, the NCAA games were on 3 bigscreens, the parents were having fun, and the girls looked great in their street clothes. Having just come from a team outing viewing the Justin Beiber movie, they were in good spirits and a wonderful time was had by all.

Sunday's match was over quickly. though we played well in game 2, losing 24-26.

We finished the weekend 4-3 albiet against some weak teams, but the overall experience was very positive and Maddie had a great time. The Club did a great job with the hotel, and it was a good warm up for the upcoming Minnesota trip.

We also got Maddie signed up for the WWU camp...so this is the first week of July:

3-6 Individual Camp
6-9 HS Team Camp

So, a week playing volleyball at Western. Awesome!

Next up, the last Power League of the season!

PNQ - Saturday Update

Let me recap my weekend in Spokane:

Thursday: Dinner at Longhorn BBQ
Friday: Volleyball at EWU followed by dinner and drinks at Heroes and Legends Ale House
Saturday: Breakfast at Molly's followed by lunch at Northern Lights Brewing with the team dinner at Onion.

So...lots of volleyball, lots of food and IPA and lots of NCAA hoops.

We were at the Convention Center today, and it was another nice venue with lots of room and they even had a big screen out in the food area showing basketball. Nice touch! We took the first match 2-0 and struggled a little in the 2nd match but pulled it out 3-2. Last match was against the top seed in our group today and after losing the first game, the girls turned it up a notch to win the second. In Game 3 we were down 14-12, but rallied to tie it then pull it out 16-14 to sweep the day and put us in a good spot tomorrow.

Maddie is beat up. With a 5-1, she plays every single play of every single game; literally twice as many minutes as anyone on the team. She sprained a finger, her elbow is still sore from the bursitis, and she banged up a knee. I am so proud of her tenacity and endurance. She is truly a warrior.

Hope all of you here are having a much fun as I am! Let's hear your stories!

PNQ - Friday Update

Day One at the PNQ is Spokane is in the books and I am taking a breather at the lovely Airway Heights Days Inn before meeting up with some dads at Northern Lights Brewing for some IPA's and NCAA basketball this evening. ITVC is playing out at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, a quick drive from Spokane. They have 20 or so courts set up around campus and they have done a nice job. Good viewing areas for the parents, free parking, and lots of good VB action.

Sadly, we lost quite badly to the darn ThunderChickens who had a great little (and I mean little) Libero and a couple of strong middles who could elevate and pound it to empty spots. Our defense, shaky to begin with, simply can't compete at that level. We also lost a closer to match to the Spokane Splash but finished the day by beating Eastside Vollyball out of Issaquah (a team Maddie was asked to play for, but thankfully didn't). Hoping that the seedings will be a little more even tomorrow; the girls look pretty good this weekend, but it's kind of a broken record talking about unforced errors, serves into the net, etc. We seem to be our own worst enemy. Still, a fun first day and looking forward to Saturday!

Northwest Qualifier Time!

Off to Spokane in a couple of hours with a first round matchup at Eastern WA University against the mighty ThunderChickens out of Denver at 8 AM Friday. I hate to admit it, but that name is growing on me. Still, I hope we roast 'em. Hope everyone drives safe!

Let the Recruiting Begin!

Some good motivation by Maddie today as she reached out with an introductory email to Western, Central, Eastern, Montana State-Billings, Portland State, Western Oregon and UC Irvine. We know coaches can't communicate back until September, but we thought it wise to at least introduce Maddie to the programs she is interested in playing for. A more formal resume and some video will be sent starting during the HS season after the summer, and Maddie and I hope to visit some coaches and see some games when college cranks up this fall.

Scary moment the other night after practice. She knocked her elbow diving for a ball and while we were sitting here at home watching 'V' (hate those aliens!) she said in a stressful voice "Dad, look at my elbow!" And indeed, we could see a bump growing in real time and it was pretty scary. I jumped on the Internet and quickly diagnosed bursitis and we followed the RICE protocol of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation and the ping pong ball sized lump went down. By the next day she had a pretty good bruise, and it's still pretty sore, so we may avoid too much setting at practice tomorrow but she'll be fine for Spokane next weekend. Any, Dr. Club Volleyball Dad did a pretty good job considering he works in the library industry. Those docs at Overlake got nuthin on me!

Looking forward to our first Qualifier and I'll provide some updates next weekend for sure.

Good morning, Bad afternoon

Once again, we took care of business in the morning only to see it land out of bounds in the afternoon. We are developing a very bad habit of getting beat by inferior teams in important games, and some frustration is setting in. I could spend pages discussing what I think is wrong, but then I take a deep breath and know I should be proud of the girls for having a fine overall day and trying their best. Next up, a weekend in Spokane.

Blaze Extinguished

Another match to 3 games but we managed to finish strong and set ourselves up nicely for this afternoon.  Next match against Jammin makes a difference in who we play later but our two wins so far mean we will be in the gold bracket with yet another chance to move up a flight. The team looks better than the last tourney and i was happy to see some sloppy play resulted in a mid game benching. We seem to sometimes stick with girls who shank three or four balls in a row. Now I am off to riad team tables; there was chili at the OPVBC table and some sushi at the YMCA spread.

Live from Power League

sunday finds me live from Washington HS in Tacoma where we just beat a feisty Sudden Impact 15 team. trying this from my new Kindle and its kind os slow but startimg to get the hsng of it.  Next up will be Blaze and Id like to take them out as Maddie was all set to play for them until ITVC called. More later.

Volleyball: A Good Choice

As Maddie and I were leaving her practice today during a cold and windy downpour, we crossed paths with a coach lugging a bag of soccer balls toward the frozen tundra of THEIR practice facility and I realized how thankful I am that Maddie has chosen volleyball as her sport. I spent 2 hours today in a lawn chair reading a travel magazine on a nice warm court while some poor club soccer dad spent time out freezing his rear end off. Good choice, Maddie! It was good to be back at practice; our first since the President's Day debacle. Some tough love and fundamentals were the order of the day. One thing that kind of bugs me is when we don't have all 12 girls at a practice. Maddie and I wanted to go to Palm Springs over Spring Break, but it would have meant missing a practice before a Power League, so we're not going. I guess I think that if you are going to play at this level, you've made a tacit agreement with your coach and teammates to show up and work hard to be the best at EVERY opportunity. I wonder how many WVBA girls miss practice? Hats off to all the DD's who have never missed a practice.

I got Maddie registered at the NCAA Clearinghouse today and plopped down my $65. Maddie wants to play college volleyball at a Northwest school, and as long as that is her dream and she keeps giving 100% in pursuit of that dream, mom and dad will do their parts, whether it's club or clinics or camps or tutors or campus visits...whatever it takes. Trying to become a college athlete means you are meeting certain academic requirements, continuing to improve, making sacrifices and learning to lead. And if the playing part doesn't pan out, at least you have learned to pursue your goals and become a better person doing it. Next step: reaching out to the schools she is interested in (which include Western, Central, Eastern, Montana State-Billings, Portland State and Western Oregon.) We may add some and we may drop some, but the important thing is to let them know you are there and to that end, Mads will be creating a flyer and mailing a 'Get to Know Me' letter to each of those coaches. The jorney begins.

Next up: Power League on Sunday!

Millard Fillmore Volleyball Tournament

On Saturday morning, this was the President's Day Tournament, but the way we played will be remembered in the same way that our 13th President's term will be remembered: forgettable. He co-founded Buffalo University and we moved like a herd of buffalo on a frozen lake. All Presidential joking aside, it was a completely dismal weekend, with the girls going 1-7 and taking the term 'taking a step backwards' to a whole new level. Moxie might have wiped us out. But...it's over now and I guess we just have to refocus and relearn some fundamentals....like passing. We were beat by only one team this weekend; we beat ourselves every other time. Unforced errors on simple serves and free balls, hits out of bounds and into the net, bad serves and a lack of desire and BOOM. 1-7. We're a good team, but there was nothing in the tank. Everyone needs to look in the mirror and decide if they care or not, because it looked like a recreational league, not a club team who wants to be competitive. And this is a good test for our coach who will soon be coaching a Jr College team...how do you motivate? How do you bring out something in a player that ratchets their game up a notch? Do you sit folks? Do you start really looking at stats? Last year with Moxie I think we had a group of girls that were limited in skill but gelled as a team to exceed expectations. This year, at least early, it seems like we have a group of athletic and capable girls who are just underachieving. It's not too late to get back on track by any means, but it's time to shake things up. I don't mind losing. I do mind losing like we lost this weekend. Let's be Lincolns, not Fillmores.

Club Volleyball Dad: Should YOUR DD Play Club?

Happy Valentine's Day!

As we exchanged Valentine's Day greetings this morning, I took a moment to reflect on how much I truly love this DD that shares my life. I can't believe that she has only been playing competitive volleyball for a little more than a year now. And what changes they have brought to her! I remember a year ago with Moxie and they made them run lines and do the plank and it drove her to tears. And now she's in a program called FUEL that is really just an hour where we pay for her to be tortured and she eats it up. And it shows! The girl LOOKS like an athlete. Last week she did her 90 minutes of FUEL and went directly to a scrimmage where they played some crazy game with points only after free balls and girls were running all over and there were no breaks and Maddie (being the setter) was involved in every play. At the end of it all she collapsed on the floor and I marveled at how much she has changed. Club has brought her new friends. It has taught her about competing and responsibility and setting goals. So if you ever wonder, as a parent, if you should make the commitment of time and money to let your daughter play volleyball or soccer or swim, do it. You will watch her change before your eyes. And what better Valentine's Day present is there than the knowledge that your child is learning all these lessons and having a good time to boot.

Now only if we didn't have to face WVBA in our pool in this weekend's President's Day Tourney!

Long Volleyball Day at Kentwood HS

For those of you out of the region, I am now going to attempt to explain Power League without taking up too much of your time. Start with 96 U-15 and U-16 teams from Olympia to Mt. Vernon. Start with 2 weekends of pool play and you end up with the 4 best teams off in their own rarified  grouping, then break the remaining 92 teams into roughly 12 'flights' of 8 teams each. Hold 3 more day long tournaments with the 2 best teams in each flight moving up and the worst 2 teams moving down and hoping for some parity and good play along the way. It's actually a pretty cool set up and each site where play takes place is run by a Director who manages everything and from what I have seen, do a very good job at it and put in many hours along the way. Which brings us to yesterday's event which found ITVC Blue in Flight 4 and ranked 29th out of the 96 teams.

An 8 team tournament is made up of 2 groups of 4. Each team plays the other 3 teams in their group and the top 2 teams from each group make up the afternoon Upper Bracket and the 2 bottom teams from each group make up the Lower Bracket. In the upper bracket, the top finisher in group A plays the number 2 finisher in Group B and the top finisher in Group B plays the number 2 seed from Group A. Same in the lower group. The 2 winners from the upper group have thus finished 1 and 2 and will move to Flight #3 next Power League. The 2 losers from the Upper Level stay in Flight #4 and play each other in a single game to determine who places 3rd and who places 4th. In the Lower Bracket, the same scenario plays out with the top 2 teams staying in Flight #4 next time and the bottom 2 moving to Flight #5. Got all that? Bottom line is that you want to place first or second and move up, or at minimum place 3rd-6th and stay in your flight next time. Worst thing to do is get bumped to a lower flight.

The beauty and perhaps the curse of PL can be summed up by following along with me as I take you on a journey undertaken by 2 teams: ITVC Blue and Space Needle VBC. Both teams made up part of Group A which also included Jammin and OPVBC 16's. ITVC mowed through all 3 teams, winning each match 2-0 and finishing the 'morning' 3-0 with the other 3 teams finishing 1-2. Space Needle claimed #2 by virtue of tiebreaker rules. In the other group, the OPVBC 15's finished first while High Velocity finished second. I put 'morning' in parentheses because it was not until 6 PM that our 3 matches were concluded. Let me say that again: 3 matches in 8 hours. That is truly ridiculous. I have no recommendations for a solution, but I do know that it was a long day, and we did not wrap things up until 9 PM. Dumb. Anyway, we wrapped up the morning 3-0 after beating Space Needle (we also beat them at the last Power League). And yet there they were beating the #1 seed from Group B (OPVBC 15's) and moving up to Flight 3 next time. Right after that, we matched up with High Velocity and lost the first game before winning the second and forcing a Game 3 which we lost 15-13 in a heartbreaker. And thus, in one fell swoop, the team we beat 2-0 is advancing and we're staying put. and to rub salt in the wound, we lost to OPVBC 15's and ended up 4th. Not a great finish after such a great start.

The girls played well early but succumbed to too many unforced errors in the afternoon....but they have to learn to win the important games. A couple of serves over the net instead of into it, a couple of kill shots into the court instead of over it, a couple of good passes instead of shanks..and this team moves up instead of staying in place...but a nice effort by all the girls yesterday, and a fun, if not overly long, day for dad!

Mini Break is OVER!

After 3 weekends in a row, we had a bit of a break but it's right back to it on Saturday for Power League #3. ITVC Blue remains in Flight 4 and is currently ranked 29th out of 96 teams. Good opportunity to move up. Really proud of Maddie as she is already giving back to the sport she has fallen in love with as she will be helping out with the Rose Hill Jr. High volleyball team. A year ago she was playing there and now she's mentoring the younger girls...as if she didn't have enough on her plate already! I showed up a bit early at Jr. High practice to pick her up and it was almost surreal to be back in that gym after all that has happened in the last year. And you can read all about it right here on the blog!

And nice job by the ITVC in hiring the photographer that took the team pictures which are up in http://goitvc.com

Off to a scrimmage with Blaze and more on Sunday!

Power League Day 2

A Saturday Power League date meant BIG things for Club Volleyball Dad:

1. NFL viewing would be UNIMPACTED as both divisional playoff games will be played Sunday. (Don't get me started on the fact that we have a practice scheduled right at game time on SuperBowl Sunday; luckily, DD is with Club Volleyball MOM that weekend and will therefore not be forced into missing practice. My friend, ex-Club Soccer Dad, used to complain about his DD's soccer practices on SBS by yelling "Are they crazy? Who doesn't watch the Super Bowl? It's like a National Holiday!")

2. PL2 Flight 4 was in Lake Stevens, a decidedly easier drive from Kirkland than say...Kitsap or Olympia.

3. The girls needed to get back on the court after the meltdown at MLK

Alas, the day was inconsistent with early losses to High Velocity and Blaze 15. A rebound against NW Juniors Elite left us in position to make a run, but we fell to an inferior Sabotage team and the DFQ (Dad Frustration Quotient) was rising before we won our one game rematch against HV to salvage the day and (I think) remain in the 4th Flight for PL3.

My pet peeve is service errors. We have a very aggressive-serving team which is all fine and good, but we're averaging 6-7 errors per game. That is like giving the other team a 6-0 lead PLUS it absolutely kills momentum. Is there anything worse to be in 20-20 tie and have consecutive serves go into the net? Instead of possibly being up 22-20 with momentum, you're down 22-21 and the other team is serving. Teams at this level make lots of mistakes. I think you need to just have a consistent serve and give yourself a chance. One of things I am most proud of Maddie for is her consistency on serves. At one point, she got over the first 8 serves of the game and we built an 8-0 lead. She nailed the last 2 serves of the final game to secure the 25-23 win. They weren't aces, but they were in and they gave her team a chance. She's at more than 90% at delivering in bounds serves. I'd like to see us come up with a service PLAN and then work on that consistency. Thanks for listening; I feel better now.

The Lakes VBC training facility is in a light industrial area and has 2 courts separated by a large net. One end of the building had room for the teams to gather and warm up. Seating for spectators is along one side and there always seemed to be room. The club provided many plastic chairs which I thought was a nice touch. There was a good sized room upstairs for the teams to set up food tables which kept everyone warm. 2 individual bathrooms were for the girls, and boys (just like at the Puyallup facility) had to use the porta potty outside, but all in all, it was a nice venue and worked fine for 8 teams. Parking was tight but available. They said there was a Subway nearby but I survived on cheese sticks and a nice Asian Chicken Salad made by one of the moms. I wish I understood how a team in Lake Stevens can afford a 2 court dedicated facility and we can't, but that's why I didn't major in finance or accounting.

A couple of weeks off now until PL3 and finals are over for Maddie, so it will be a good time to re-energize and practice serving (hint!)

MLK Day 2

A bit of a meltdown today as we lost 2 really close matches and got dominated by Puyallup Juniors...but perhaps a good lesson in having to really fight to win those close matches. I think it was funny that I was so excited to be close to home, but I took my chair and when IT wasn't playing, I just read the paper or watched other matches...but I will say the 5 minute drive home was fantastic! Time to put Sunday behind us and get ready to go out and battle on Saturday at Power League #2!

MLK Tournament Day One

OK. I'm pretty smart. I have a college degree and I work with libraries all over the world. I've studied Shakespeare and Hemingway. I've designed ads that have appeared in real magazines and on television! But for the life of me, I cannot figure out how a damn tournament works. Here. YOU look:


ROUND 2 PLAYING SCHEDULE
DIVISION 1  DIVISION 2
TIME  ROUND  PLAYING  REF   ROUND  PLAY CT 5  REF CT 5 PLAY CT 6  REF CT 6
3:00 PM 1 1 VS 3 2  1  FF1 VS GG2 FF3 FF2 VS GG3 GG1
4:00 PM 2 2 VS 4 1  2   FF3 VS GG1 FF1
END OF PLAY FOR SATURDAY:  POOL PLAY RESUMES AT 9:00 AM SUNDAY
TIME  ROUND  PLAYING  REF   ROUND  PLAY CT 5  REF CT 5 PLAY CT 6  REF CT 6
9:00 AM 3 1 VS 4 3  3  FF3 VS GG2 FF1 FF2 VS GG1 GG3
10:00 AM 4 2 VS 3 1  4  FF3 VS GG3 GG2 FF1 VS GG1 FF2
11:00 AM 5 3 VS 4 2  5  FF1 VS GG3 FF3 FF2 VS GG2 GG1

Are you kidding me? I know we got revenge on KJ 15's and took them out. I know we won our pool and our only afternoon game. But do I know who we play on Sunday or how we win the tournament? Uh...no. I am FFing confused.

All I know it was a good day and Maddie and I shared some Crab Ravioli's with friends at Cafe Veloce in Kirkland and then watched the "Social Network" and now she's crashed out and I'm following soon because tomorrow we play someone! And to wrap things up, look at that girl SKY!

MLK Tournament

On the way to see ITVC play a weekend tournament only FIVE MINUTES from the house. Heaven. Lots of time to go to the store to pick up more string cheese AND catch NFL playoffs right from my couch. 2 straight games to begin then the schedule is dependent on how we do. First matchup with those dreaded youngsters from Kent. If yo want to come down at some point this weekend and visit us at Juanita HS, give me a call or email and I'll talk you in. Go Blue!

Club Volleyball: Power League #1 in the Books

My alarm goes off at 5:30 every weekday morning, so when the weekend rolls around, it feels pretty good to wake up WHENEVER....but when that familiar beeping started on a Sunday morning, I leapt out of my warm bed excited to drive to PUYALLUP, and let me tell you, no one is ever excited to be driving to Puyallup. But soon, in the freezing darkness, I was on the road with hot coffee and classic rock and by 7:15 I was in a giant barn that held 4 volleyball courts, sported Wi-Fi, and even had a TV so the football fans could keep track of the playoffs. It was a little cramped with no side viewing (which makes it difficult to take pictures) but I've been in worse venues. Maddie looked pretty cool in her new duds (extra special thanks to my folks for supporting Maddie's Club experience by paying for all the ITVC gear):

The girls, pre-ranked at #43 out of 96 teams, had a tough task by starting right out against the #11 Sudden Impact 16's and the 22nd ranked Kent Juniors 15's. Soon the warm-ups were over and Maddie was ready to make the first serve of the 2011 Club Season:

In those first two matches that only went to 15, the girls just didn't seem to gel and 90 minutes later we were 0-2 and reeling a little...but a break of a couple hours, some food and a pool which included a couple of lower ranked teams, helped us break out of the doldrums and play some pretty good volleyball. By late afternoon, we were on a roll, going undefeated in 6 games to win the pool and play one more game against a struggling (yet 27th ranked) OPVBC 15 team that we killed in game 1. Feeling cocky, us dads were high fiving and breathing a sigh of relief only to be melancholy wrecks 15 minutes later as the girls seemed to wilt after the long day and play like kids on a playground. I think the final was 25-10. Now the dads were nervous wrecks. One game to 15 to make or break the entire day and somehow the girls dug deep and Maddie came out with a 4 point serving run to start the game and we never looked back, winning handily and moving decidedly up from our pre-tournament ranking. Lots of high fiving now! It was a nice drive home and 14 hours after leaving, I was back on the couch.

Maddie played really well. She was the only girl on the team who never came out. In 13 games, she missed one serve. I like this team. They're solid on fundamentals. What they lack in genetic fortune, they make up for with grit, spirit and teamwork. I think it's going to be a fun year. Maddie woke up sore and bruised, but fired up because JUMP and EXPLOSIVENESS training begins tonight with FUEL. The girl wants to be the best. Here's to ya, babe.

Club Volleyball: Let the Games Begin!

'Twas the night before Power League
and all through the region
We all are anticipating
the start of the season.

Come KJ, come Blaze, Rain City and Moxie
Come Skagit and my favorites, the ITVC
Let us all drive to Puyallup and Highline
and with a grin on our face, point to our girls
and say "that one is mine."

Power League U16 begins Sunday! 96 teams, 8 sites, and by the end of the weekend, there will be a more natural order to the rankings. I personally think we got hosed a little on our seeding, but you have to win games, whether it's now or later. We match up right away with Sudden Impact 16's and KJ 15's, so not much room for error...but I think we may surprise a few folks.

Blue will be down at the Five 12 courts in Puyallup, so if your team is down there, find me and say hello. I'll be watching Blue and wearing a blue baseball cap and (most likely) taking pictures.

Maddie is setting and wearing #11.

Good luck girls!

College Volleyball Recruiting

Happy New Year to all the volley folks out there. You know what this means, right? The 2011 Club Volleyball season has officially begun! Maddie got a Molten Medicine VB for Xmas to help with setter training and a new jump rope and begins FUEL training on the 10th...and of course, U16 Power League begins one week from today!

I'm a big fan of The College Volleyball Coach Blog and according to the recruiting timeline there, it's time to make a flyer and send it to schools that Maddie is interested in attending. To that end, dad has created a spreadsheet of about 50 potentials...mostly second tier D1's and some regional D2's (who knows, this time next year we may add those PAC-10 schools!). Maddie knows what her 'plan' is, but options are the name of the game at this stage, I think.

Any parents or college players out there want to share their recruiting stories? Have examples of your DD's flyer? Are Recruiting Services worthwhile? As a sophomore, we're just getting our feet wet, so any advice would be appreciated! Email me!

Not sure where we'll be for PL #1 but I'll post as soon as I know. It would be great to meet more of you during the club season!

Club Volleyball Holiday Greetings

Five Things on my Xmas List:

1. That all Power League matches will be held between Bothell and Bellevue.
2. That snow does not cause too many practice cancellations this winter.
3. A bag of miscellaneous hair thingies that will always be in the back seat of the car.
4. Success for ITVC Blue!
5. A fun, injury-free year for all the DD's out there.

Practice tonight then a nice holiday weekend. CVD wishes everyone much holiday cheer. Support your local brewpub!

And congrats to coach Danielle, named Head Coach at Edmonds CC!

Club Volleyball: Note from Maddie

Hey everyone, this is Maddie, or club volleyball DD, I guess I could say :)

I just wanted to write a quick note thanking everyone for their support. I just went back and read over all the older entries...I can't believe we've only been live for a year! All the comments, advice, and tips were truly a help and yes, I read them all because anything I didn't read on here would end up in my inbox. The preceding weeks before any tryout, the majority of my email messages are forwards from my dad about advice and information. I also remember the first time I checked out the site. "Who's Kate?" I asked. Now it's been over a year since Kate, Varsity at the junior high, and dreaming of playing for a traveling team. It has been an amazing and rewarding journey so far, and I'm certain that it will continue to be just that. I've had so many amazing influences: coaches, players, and teammates, and I can't express how honored I am to have the privilege of working with/getting coached by/or getting to know them. Thank YOU for reading and happy holidays!!

Also, a BIG thank you to my dad. I consider you my #1 fan because you're always there and supportive no matter what.
"Already booked my room in Spokane."
"Canceled a work trip to San Diego for a tournament."
"Sure, Maddie, we can drive 2 hours to Western to go see a game...for the third weekend in a row."
You're awesome. Love you DAD :)

Indeed, happy holidays to all,
Maddie

Club Volleyball: Slow December

During the dark and rain of December, with practices really just getting underway, Maddie turned her attention to the Huskies wonderful run in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. And what a run it was! A sweep over Hawaii followed by an amazing win over Nebraska left us playing Cal with a chance to make it to the Final Four, but alas, the Bears had our number 3 times this year and it came to a stop on Saturday night. Maddie went to both weekend games and came away with even more love and respect for Husky setter Jenna Hagglund than ever before. For long time readers of the blog, you'll remember that Jenna   spent a lot of time with Maddie at the UW summer camp and the girls stayed in touch all fall. After Saturday's loss, Maddie wrote Jenna and told her how proud she was of her and how much she looked up to her. This was Jenna's reply:


"Maddie, you are one amazing young woman. Your words mean the world to me. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet you, coach you, and get to know you. Stick with it and keep your positive attitude and you will accomplish so much. Keep me updated with volleyball and life, I hope to see you soon! Love u girl." Jenna


I'd just like to say that Jenna is one classy young woman and a hell of a volleyball player, and I wish her the best in wherever life takes her.


Less than a month to Power League 1!! Happy Holidays all. 

Club Volleyball: The Big Time

It was on December 4th at 6:27 PM that I realized we were not in Volleyball Kansas any more. Was it the realization that Maddie will play in 3 different states this winter? NO, but how cool is that!? Was it the fact that everyone at ITVC is organized and helpful? NO, but that has been awesome! You know what it was? It was when I dropped $200 on required logo stuff! But man, is she gonna look cool!

Club Volleyball: It's Baaack!

20 years I've lived in Seattle and I've been to Mercer Island about 4 times. Now my daughter plays for a team there and I'm sure I'll learn every dive and microbrew proprietor in town during the coming 6 months. Tuesday was that gut wrenching event called Parent Meeting Night. It's a time for parents and DD's to meet the coach and the other girls on the team. The parents all eye each other with a sort of bemused pride; pride because our girls are good volleyball players and are at the beginning of yet another fun journey, but bemused because we all know that we are being separated from our money and smiling like idiots while it happens. But hats off to ITVC who obviously have this down pat. Very organized, rules and schedules printed and handed out, uniforms sized, a website to order gear from - compare that to our club last year where we had to talk the Director into joining Power League and one could not help but come away feeling like we were in good hands.

Busy schedule for our 15 year olds... 5 Power League weekends, a trip to Corvalis, Qualifiers in Spokane and Minneapolis, Presidents Day and MLK tourney's and of course Regionals and a probable invite to the Emerald City Classic ( and of course JO's! right?). 12 weekends of volleyball over a 5 month season and then summer will be here! All kidding aside, I love it, Maddie loves it, and our decision to support her in her love for volleyball is something we'll treasure forever, I'm sure. And she's only a sophomore! The journey is only beginning!

First practice tonight, and surprise, surprise (not really), they want Maddie to set. (Remember she set in Jr. High and at Moxie last year, then switched to Right Side in HS) Maddie's cool with it, mom and dad both think it's a better position for her, and all is well this 2nd night of December. Maddie likes the coach, thinks her teammates are swell and seems happy to be playing VB again after that dreadful month off since high school wrapped up. Looks like the lady Kangs have about half of their varsity team next year playing club this year. Would like to have had a few more girls uber committed like Maddie, but it takes a pretty dedicated girl to want to do this...but you all know that already, don't you, volleyball parents. It's good to be back.

Tryouts Over for Another Year!

I think we can all be thankful that our first snow of the season did not hit yesterday. I'm looking out my window in Kirkland and everything is white. DD went to 4 tryouts this weekend: Blaze - hands down the best tryouts we have been to. The facility is great and Mike and his staff are top notch. They cap each tryout session (we're U16) at 30 girls (x2 so 60 try out), split those into groups of 15 and really run them through skills with staff taking lots of notes on each player. Blaze continually finishes well up in Power League and we seriously considered playing there, but the lack of a 17's and 18's club plus the limited schedule, moved us in a different direction. Eastside Volleyball Academy - a brand new club out of Bellevue started by Andrew McAllister who was previously at NW Juniors and BCC. It was a 15's and 16's combined tryout and poor Andrew was running it by himself so he seemed stretched a bit thin, but I will be rooting for him and EVA because it never hurts to have another option on the East Side. We just felt it was too new to start there as a 16. NW Jr's Elite - Say what you will about NW Jr's, but there was something very comforting about their tryout after having been to EVA's. They had lots of staff and Tony does a fantastic job of going through everything for the parents. They really seem to offer the complete package. Didn't seem like a giant turnout, but maybe that was because the Juanita HS gym is so massive. Last up was ITVC - 80 girls. Big change this year appears to be that the Blue Team is cranking it up a notch. Basically the same tournament schedule and price as ASICS. New coach is Danielle Orong who has a fantastic resume and is a fellow San Jose State alumni, so how could DD go wrong?   A year ago, DD signed with Moxie. Last night, we were excited to receive that 10 PM call and will now call ITVC home. Pretty amazing what a year of nonstop hard work can do. Good luck to all the DDs in 2011!

Club Volleyball: Tryout Sunday

Sunday morning. Tired, sore, brain fried, hungry....and I don't even know how Maddie feels! Saturday is in the books and in a couple of hours i will tear myself away from the NFL to drive the 4 minutes to NW Jr's Elite tryouts and then on to Island Thunder this afternoon. Maddie should know where she'll be playing in roughly 12 hours. Once again, I'd like to tip my hat to the folks at Blaze who hands down run the best tryouts we've been to. The reason is that they cap it at 30 girls per tryout, split them immediately into 2 groups and run them through their drills with 2-3 coaches taking notes etc. Now, they run 2 tryouts, but that means 60 girls. Compare that with Sudden Impact who I heard had about 100 girls trying out. Ridiculous. The highlight of the Blaze tryout is where the coach stands on a box on one side of the net and a single girl stands on the other side while they fire balls at her, dump 'em short, hit 'em deep, and the DD is running and diving all over the place. You could tell Maddie was in shape from HS because she rocked it pretty good.

Our other tryout was at Eastside VBA...brand new club and they did not do a whole lot of publicity; (I think they were trying to avoid a cattle call, so not a bad strategy). It was a bit unorganized and there were not a lot of girls there (maybe 20 15's and 20 16's) so everyone got a good look.

Now on to the rest of the day!

Club Volleyball: Day One Tryouts in the Books

So different from a year ago as I was standing along the wall at Moxie tryouts last night and a mom came up to me and asked "so how does this all work? There are so many girls!" And I, being the now worldly club volleyball dad, did my best to explain. Unlike a year ago, the suspense of making a team was lifted early as they pulled Maddie out about an hour in and asked her to come back to Moxie in 2011. Several other 'incumbents' were approached in the same manner, but only a handful of last years team came back for tryouts tonight, so the coaches really will have an opportunity to start from scratch. One of the JV players at LW also made the team and I was very proud of her because Club does not seem to be a big priority for the young Kangs, which is sad, because if half the team was on a club, those 5 wins might have become 8. Moxie did confirm that they will be playing in Power League this year, so all in all, we're glad we went and glad to have a spot SOMEWHERE going into the weekend of more competitive tryouts. One down, four to go. And kudo's to you, Maddie, for missing the midnight Harry Potter showing that all your friends went to so you could be well rested and mentally alert as you head into some of the biggest tryouts of your volleyball career. I am proud of you.

Happy Birthday, Club Volleyball Blog!

Club Volleyball Dad is a year old now! Lots of changes since those first posts leading up to club tryouts for 2009; but the more things change, the more they stay the same, because here we are 12 months later and we are once again only days away from U16 tryouts. We'll be at Moxie, Blaze, NW Juniors, EVA, and Island Thunder. We had a good experience with Moxie last year, but it took a perfect storm of good coaches and good parents pushing to be part of Power League. When I asked the U16 coaches if they would be joining PL and some open tournies as well this year, they said they didn't know. So for now, we'll head to Moxie on Thursday and treat it more like a warm up for the weekend. Maddie has had an idle 2 weeks to recharge her batteries, but now it's time to go out and make a good club. For all of you with DD's trying out next weekend, good luck! And Maddie: "Don't dream it; be it."