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."

Season Ending Bomb

The High School season sputtered to an end with a completely lackluster performance against Liberty. Some might say losing 2 of the games by 3 points or less mean we were in it; I say it exposes a need for the coaching staff to show the girls how to rise above adversity and become winners.

Time now to get mentally and physically prepared for Club Tryouts in 3 weeks. It will be up to Maddie to stay in shape and figure out a way to make her mark. No one else can help her reach her goal of playing in college at this stage but her.

But it was a fun, if a bit frustrating first year of high school ball and I hope she had a blast.

Playoffs Volleyball Dad

With their 5 victories in KingCo 3A, the Lady Kangs sneak into the first round of the playoffs and pull a very favorable matchup with Liberty, who we beat this year on our home court. This game is at 5:30 on Friday at Sammamish HS and winner moves to the 2nd round plus locks up a spot in the Districts...all very heady stuff for a program that has not won a game in several years. A first round win would be awesome for everyone involved. Cat's crying at the back door as I begin another commute in the dark. Summer disappeared quickly!

Club Volleyball: Parents, Playoffs and IPA

Another fine stretch of days as we began the week at Sammamish HS, which is not ON the Sammamish plateau but instead is down in Bellevue. Funny how you get to know about all these gyms in High Schools you never even knew were tucked away in various  places around the region. I mean, I had never even HEARD of Liberty before this year. Anyway, as we were sitting at Sammamish HS before the game listening to their Senior Night speeches, I realized that it's about so much more than winning. SHS has not won a match all year, something that many of the girls on the Kangs can appreciate. And yet, here were their underclassmen tearfully talking about how much these seniors meant to them and how hard they worked and it made me step back a little and make sure that above and beyond all the stress over making a club and thinking about college, what is most important is that Maddie is learning to compete, work on a team and make lasting friendships.

I looked up into the stands and was also impressed with the parents who are associated with OUR program, from my ex who does all the home game programs and will be team mom next year to the moms who made sure all the girls on the Kangs AND the opposing team had pink hair ribbons for the Breast Cancer Awareness Night to all the other Club Volleyball Dads who come see their DD's play every single game. It hit me that we are all very blessed to have daughters associated with this very cool sport.

So we beat SHS and now have 5 wins on the season heading into Monday's final regular season game with Juanita. That is 5 more wins than this program had the last couple of years COMBINED and the girls were rewarded by learning that not only have they seen success on the court, but they will be representing LWHS at the KingCo Championships next weekend! Congrats, girls! Not just for making the playoffs, but for being winners no matter what your record is.

And to top it all off, Maddie and I drove up to Bellingham in a storm to see her favorite team, the Western Vikings, continue to impress by smacking around the team from Fairbanks. PLUS, dad got to visit yet another cool brewpub, this one being Boundary Bay Brewery where a couple of hoppy IPA's and a lamb burger hit the spot before heading to the game!

Kangs Keep Rolling

Straight from the airport to Bellevue HS where the Kangs continued to make positive strides with a 3-0 victory over the Wolverines. Maddie had some awesome passes and was able to overcome her anger at dad for not taking her to the desert for 4 days. Next up, Sammamish and then a tough one against the Juanita Rebels to wrap up the regular season. Club tryouts are only a month away!