Notes for the New Season!
The 2009 TVC Season officially kicked off last week with the annual laying of the floors and yesterday’s Uniform Pick up and Picture Day. Thank you to everyone who helped to make both events run smoothly. Once again, many hands made light work of the court set-up. I do think that these types of events-while a bit of a drag do help to reinforce the community spirit and camaraderie of the club.
Doug Zimmerman has really figured out the best way to lay the courts and has gotten it down to a science. My husband, who has laid his share of courts walked out Tuesday night and said, “This guy is a god!” High praise indeed from someone who once counted every tile and put it down on a graph!
Ron Grindle kept the teams moving for Picture Day-I appreciated not having to do that job! I was too busy checking out all of the fantastic food at the Potluck. Next year, we need someone to take charge of the Potluck and remind people to bring their goodies in throwaway containers. Not the most green thing, but would cut down on the dishes!
The only complaint I have about picture day is the absolute mess the bathrooms were left in by our players who ripped off the tags of their uniforms and deposited them on the bathroom floor. It happens every year and every year it bugs me that we are not more conscious of keeping our home nice and clean. Sort of reminds me of my kids . . .
On that note, with all this lovely weather we have been having, it is a good time to remind everyone that no street shoes (or boots) should be worn on the courts. Bring your volleyball shoes and put them on after you arrive. #1 court is a brand new court and it would be nice to keep it looking spiffy.
The past month has been an absolute whirlwind for me personally and I am finally starting to see the light. I had an awesome time in Omaha –the best college matches I have ever witnessed. The Nebraska fans really take their volleyball seriously. There were 18,000 fans in the Qwest Center to watch the Nebraska vs. Penn State match and 16,000 of them were Nebraska fans. It was a sight to see. The Texas vs. Stanford Match was also a special match. TVC Alum, Lauren Paolini, a starter for the Texas Longhorns had a great match losing a close match. She ended up her career by being named a First Team All American the following night. If I can ever figure out how to get photos off of my phone, I will post a picture of Lauren and me taken at the All America Banquet.
I attended several excellent educational sessions and had the chance to reconnect with many of my college coaching friends. Omaha was colder than cold- prepared me for the deep freeze we just endured in Ohio! The Christmas holiday was a blur. I started feeling crummy Christmas night and ended up in the hospital the next day with a kidney stone. I have had a few of those and they are not fun. This one caused a few complications and I spent the next week in and out of the hospital. It was not the way I had planned to spend the holidays with Kelsey and Maggie home for the holidays. If you see me with a Diet Coke-pull it out of my hand! I have sworn off the stuff and am trying to drink lots of water-a habit that is good for everyone.
The Christmas clinics were well attended and I appreciate the efforts by our college graduates who give of their time over the holidays to share their knowledge and experience with the younger players. It is becoming quite a popular thing to do. I am going to have to start a lottery to see who will be the clinicians next year.
If you missed the fantastic Blade article about TVC in the Neighbors Section on January 2nd, I am going to post it on the bulletin board in our office at the LCRC. Mark Monroe called me and said that Ellen Herman (TVC 2006) and now at Ohio University had spoken so highly of TVC when he interviewed her about her honors as MAC player of the Year and Honorable Mention All American. He thought maybe there was a story there. It was really a nice testament to the many outstanding athletes and young women we have had the pleasure of training at TVC. On the days that I ask myself why I continue with this “volunteer job” I just need to pull that article out and read it.
Just today, I received a link to an article about Allie Niekamp (TVC 2005) who just finished her college career at Georgia Tech. Her mom wrote, “Thanks to being on a TVC team that played in Indianapolis when Allie was a sophomore, Sonny's team, Allie was put on the G.T. "watch list"“ To read the whole article, page 27 - follow this link.
This past weekend we had over 120 girls attend the scorekeeping clinic! It was a great turnout and we are looking forward to getting as many girls as possible certified this year!
John Buck and Sonny Lewis conducted coaching clinics for our coaches on Saturday. One of our new coaches, who is not new to coaching, only to TVC told me how much she has learned since joining TVC and what a great opportunity it has been for her so far-and she has only had one practice! Thank you John and Sonny.
I know I probably say this every year, but I do think our coaching staff this year is outstanding. We have a great compliment of veterans with a nice group of new young coaches. I am especially excited to have 3 former TVC players back coaching this year- Kelly Burt O’Day (TVC 1998) Syndey Antonio (TVC 2004) and Nikki Pierzchala (TVC 2004) are coaching 13-4, 14-M and 18-1 respectively.
Brie Hagerty and Jonathan Shapiro just finished Boot Camp and they were pleased with the results for the players who participated. I will be interested to see how the girls who participated feel about their fitness level as they begin their season. Brie and Jonathan are also working on the conditioning programs that all of our 15 and older teams will be participating in 1-2 times per week. Watching Brie and Gwen’s 16-1 practice this past week, I have a feeling this group is going to be very well conditioned. Having two personal trainers; one of whom is an award winning body builder (Gwen) who also happen to be awesome volleyball coaches will be great for these girls.
Look for training highlights of our players on the training bulletin board, which will be going up in the next week in the conditioning room.
The tournament season kicks off this weekend. We will be hosting a Friendship scrimmage on Saturday for the 12’s and 13’s and on Sunday, the top 17’s teams in the region will be at the LCRC for the first week of the NWO Power League. The 18’s will be in action at Premier. Stop in and check out the play. Our early bird teams are playing Saturday at Premier and the LCRC. Good luck to everyone!
Here is to a great start to 2009!
Michelle Hills
mwhills@bex.net