News and Notes for St. Patrick’s Day!
What a glorious day it is! Maybe winter really is behind us. Gosh, I hope so. I am so over winter this year.
Sorry I have taken a week or so off from writing my notes. I had a “VFW” this past weekend. With the “Hamfest” using Hall #1, and no volleyball at the LCRC, it was a good time for me to have a “Volleyball Free Weekend.” I used the time to head to Detroit to watch Jack play lacrosse, then back to Toledo for the St. John’s vs. Rogers District Final and then Sunday we went down to Columbus to watch the St. John’s hockey team in the state final. So, while it was a volleyball free weekend, it was clearly not sports free one!
It was a good time to have a weekend off from hosting tournaments. The weekend before, Zahra Collins, tournament director had her hands full. As the weekend was winding down; the tornado siren went off and following tournament guidelines, she herded everyone into the bathrooms and concession stand and storage area. Fortunately for Z, Tina McClain had just arrived with her team to practice and was there to help. Z and Tina handled everything well including summoning the emergency squad for a player who had an asthma attack. . We received a heartfelt thank you from the parents of the player; and in the small world department, the player is the sister of our own Haylee Strause (TVC 18-1). I am pleased to report that she has recovered and is doing well.
There is a lot going on these days. Teams are practicing hard and we are in the middle of the travel season. I hope to get out and see everyone play at some point this season. I am doing fairly well with the older teams, but I have a ways to go with the younger teams.
I love seeing all of the pictures on the web every Monday. Our Webmaster is doing an excellent job of getting the pictures loaded as soon as he receives them. Speaking of the website-the team pictures look great. If you are a player 15 and older, make sure you complete your resume information so it can be posted with your individual picture. Details on how to do that are on the website.
There are so many congratulations to extend to teams, so if I miss your team, please drop me an email and I will get them next week. First of all, how about the 15-3 team who has 2 tournament victories and one 2nd place! And how about 15-Mizuno climbing from a 3rd place pool finish in the first day of the 15 Power Challenge to make it all the way to the semi finals in Gold-knocking off CVC 15 Black and Maverick along the way. Congrats to 18-1 who won the bronze division at the MEQ and 16-Mizuno who won the Platinum Division. 14-3 has finished in the silver and gold in their first two tournaments and the mom/daughter-coaching duo of Rita and Kristen Sheely report that they are still speaking to each other. That is always a good thing.
Getting better each week is the 12-1 team. They won a 13s tournament last week and finished 2nd in the 12’s Power Challenge. 11-1 is clicking right along with a 1st place and 2nd place finish. 12-2 has won a tournament and has 2 2nd place finishes. 11-2 has finished in gold in both of their tournaments. 12-3 has finished in gold three times, just missing out on a tournament victory. 13-3 won a tournament last weekend and 13-4 has one gold finish. 14-1 was running the tables at the 14 Power Challenge until they ran into Blackswamp in the semi finals and lost a close one. They may get a chance to play Blackswamp again this coming weekend in the finals of the Power League, but they will face CVC or Maverick first. 14-3 has a gold finish.
15-1 is anxious to test their mettle against the girls their own age. They have competed against the 16’s for the past few tournaments and seem to find themselves up against the 16-1 team. I already mentioned 15-Mizuno and 15-3’s great starts. 16-1 competed for the first time in the Open division at the MEQ. They advanced after Day 1 and found themselves in a 3 way tie to advance to gold. They fell a bit short, but were pleased with the progress they are making. 16-3 won a tournament in Bluffton and 17-M had a wild ride in Indy. They survived a 3-way tie on Day 1 to advance.
This weekend we will be hosting the final day of the Power Leagues. The 12’s, 13’s and 14’s play on Saturday and the 17’s/18’s play on Sunday. We are also hosting a scrimmage with Legacy Volleyball Club on Saturday at Owens. We went up there a few weeks ago with our 16-1, 17-1, 17-M and 18-1 teams and now they are coming down here. It is a great way to get some competitive play in without spending a fortune on travel or tournament entries. The scrimmage will run from 10-4 on Saturday.
Jonathan and Brie will be doing testing on the next two Mondays and Tuesdays so we can see how the conditioning program is going. We will also be setting up some days for the coaches in the 14 and under age groups to come in and work with Brie and Jonathan on ways to better incorporate conditioning into their own practices.
18-1 has signed up to participate in the “Dig Pink Tour” at the Big South Qualifier. They are raising money for breast cancer. If you would like to support their cause, please follow this link. http://www.sideoutvolleyball.org/mainevent/minievent/TVCO18T/
The organizers are asking teams to wear pink ribbons, shoe laces, etc. on Saturday, April 4th. Since we have pink uniforms, it would be nice if all of the TVC teams in Atlanta wear pink that day. If anyone knows where to find a pink Hawaiian shirt for Sonny, let me know.
The Coaching Staff is invited to participate in a Mental Game Training Session on Monday, April 13th at 6:00 p.m. in the Clubhouse. Jonathan Shapiro will present a session at 6:00 p.m. titled, “Beyond the X’s and O’s- Coaching the Mental Game.
Thank you to the Thursday night 8-10 teams who helped take down the nets and equipment last week and the Monday 4-6 teams who helped put the nets and poles back. Special thanks also to Sonny Lewis and Doug Zimmerman for their assistance.
I hope you are all having a great week. May the luck of the Irish be with TVC this week!
Michelle Hills
Tvc2009@bex.net