Toledo Volleyball Club

2008 TVC Season Recap from my perspective . . .

I find it hard to believe that another TVC season is coming to a close.  When we took up the courts at the LCRC on Tuesday and put them into storage-it was a very visual reminder looking at the cement floors of the LCRC that 2008 is nearly complete and we need to get started on planning for 2009.

I would like to say congratulations and best wishes to our graduating seniors.  The Class of 2008 is dispersing all over the Midwest and South-most will be continuing their volleyball careers on the collegiate stage.  Of the 18 seniors, 4 will be playing Division 1 Ball; 4 will be playing Division 2; 6 will be playing Division 3; 1 will be playing NAIA and 3 are packing up their spandex and knee pads to attend college as “regular” students. 

The Class of 2008 represented TVC well and I look forward to following their careers in college.

This year we welcomed two new members to the family and hopefully future volleyball players- Macy Elizabeth Davidson daughter of Mark and Laura Davidson and most recently, Gabrielle Nicole Grindle, daughter of Ron and Summer Grindle.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Coach Holly Stuard’s baby who is due later this summer. Coach Rachel Mohler became Rachel Spitulski on May 17th!  Coach Tina Aschliman is getting married in a few short weeks.  We wish Coach Angie Owczarzak well as she heads down to Lexington to begin her Master’s Program. 

Four of our teams have qualified for JO Nationals in Dallas, TX.  13-1, 14-1, 16-1 and 18-1 will be competing with many of the top teams in the country at the end of this month.  14-1 is having a season for the record books.  I believe their record is 56-4.  They have won 5 times and finished 2nd twice, and that includes qualifiers, the bid tournament, playing up in 15 National tournaments.  You know you are having quite a season when taking 2nd place feels like the end of the world!

Many teams won tournaments bringing home the gold numerous times.  Some teams barely won at all, but players made tremendous individual strides.  I take great pride in seeing the advancement of all of our players, whether they are the elite athlete or the player just learning the game.

Several coaches successfully completed the CAP 1 training certification.  TVC has more CAP 1 certified coaches in our program than any other club in Northwest Ohio-possibly in all of Ohio.  Congrats to Tina Aschliman, Wes Horstman, Norm McGhee, Barb Kohn, Morgan Sterling, Caryn Patrias, Mark Davidson, David Nigh, Melissa Mugler, and yours truly join Ron Grindle, Scott Mattera, John Buck and Zahra Collins as CAP certified.

Coaching education is certainly a priority for the club and we plan to continue the training opportunities for our coaches.  We recognize that the strength of our program is tied directly to the strength of our coaching staff.

We had an 1100% increase in the number of people attending the Annual Meeting.  Okay, we went from 1 to 11!  But, it was good to have some new faces come and offer input and ask questions about the direction of the club.  Ron Grindle, Colleen Dooley, Doug Zimmerman, Melissa Mugler, John Buck, Sonny Lewis and I were elected to the board at the meeting.

This was a big year for TVC, as we increased our number of teams, practiced at 3 facilities and increased our coaching staff.  We added the Playing League option for new players 12 and under-something that was very well received.  Wish I could claim that idea as my own, but it was Jodi Schramm’s the director of Premier’s idea and it was an excellent one.  We are looking at the possibility of expanding it to additional age groups.  Our Early Bird Teams continue to be a popular option for the spring sport athlete.  Three years ago, we had one early bird team, this year we had 5.  Our Pre season Boot Camp with the trainers at Synergy was very well received with 100 players participating at one time or another.  Our holiday skill sessions were incredibly successful-giving girls a chance to get in the gym over the winter break and a chance for our alums to come back and share some of their knowledge with the current membership.

The season evaluations are coming in very slowly-more slowly than I can ever remember.  I am hoping that no news is good news-as past practice has shown that the folks who are generally satisfied do not take the time to fill out evaluations.  We do carefully look at all of the evaluations that we receive and address any concerns that are raised-unless we can’t because the criticism is anonymous and directed at unnamed players, coaches, administrators (okay-those I can figure out, since our administrative staff is miniscule).  I would hope that if you have not filled out an evaluation, that you take the time to do so.  It really is a valuable tool when evaluating the season and the club policies.

I would say that the biggest issue facing the club as we look to the future-is how to keep the cost of travel volleyball reasonable.  I am not suggesting that it is entirely reasonable right now-because I know that many families struggle to afford club volleyball for their daughters.  And with the price of gas hovering around $4.00 a gallon, it is going to become even more imperative, that we find a way to play competitive matches without going all over God’s green earth to find them.  At the same time, when we schedule teams locally, I get complaints, that they play the same teams and want to travel.  So, it is a bit of a conundrum.  As the members in attendance at the Annual Meeting discovered, the expenses to run a club of this size are considerable-and that is without having any full time paid staff on board. 

The other big issue facing TVC and I am guessing most clubs is how to manage the expectations and the commitment level of the players and more importantly, the parents.  Each year, we have a handful of issues that arise and I would say that 99% of the time, it boils down to unmet expectations on the club’s part and on parent’s part.  It starts with the tryout process and follows through the whole season.  We need to do a better job of laying out the expectations for our National team players.  I plan to hold a series of pre-tryout meetings this year for any players interested in playing on a National team.  You will only get a tryout number after attending one of the meetings with your parents.  That way we can make sure we are all on the same page when it comes to our National teams.  We need to do a better job of communicating the ins and outs of club volleyball to our new members.  Sometimes, we forget that we have been doing this for so many years, that everyone should know that a tournament is an all day event and that you are required to officiate after you lose.  We cannot assume that everyone knows the drill.

There are lots of other ideas out there floating around, and I hope to have a series of meetings this summer and early fall with parents who are interested in offering additional input.  I truly believe that communication and education are the hallmarks of a successful club.  I try very hard to be approachable and open to input.  I am not always successful, but I do try.  I think we have an awesome club, with tremendous players and a top notch coaching staff and a pretty great group of parents.  But, there is always room for improvement and that continues to be my goal.

A few weeks ago, several member’s of my oldest daughter – Kelsey’s 2004 18-2 team got together for dinner in Bowling Green.  Four years had gone by, and the friendship of the girls and the parents is still strong and there were 20 of us sitting around that table.  We can recount matches like they happened yesterday.  Each one of those girls would put on a TVC uniform and play together again, if they had the chance.  To me, that is what club volleyball is all about, and that is why I continue to serve the club without having daughter’s involved.  I want everyone to feel that bond of friendship and family within TVC.  And, if along the way, you become an even better volleyball player and better young woman, well then, I can say we did our job.

I would like to take this moment and say thank you to several people who work so hard for the club and make my job much easier.  First of all, Ron Grindle-nobody does more for TVC than Ron-whether it is ordering equipment, laying courts, listening to me “vent”-he is truly a guy who makes the club run.  I also want to thank Amy Gray, our hotel coordinator for the past 3 years.  With Amanda graduating and moving on to college, this is her last season.  Although, I love to tease Amy about her spelling and grammar, there is not a person in the club who can possibly understand just how much time and energy she puts into the hotel coordination.  It is a thankless job, and there are far more complaints than compliments.  Amy is awesome, and I will really miss her next year.  Melissa Mugler is another one who I could not survive without-she handles all of the scheduling of the private lessons and coordinates practice times.  Fortunately, she is as addicted to volleyball as I am, and has continued to serve the club long after her daughter, Alison graduated.  Tina Aschliman did a great job on the tournament coordination this year.  She is organized and on top of the details.  Rhonda Arnold is the queen of the concession stand and always made sure we had what we needed.  Our concession stand ran like clockwork this year, and that is due in large part to Rhonda’s efforts.  Annette and Mike Gilmore handled the staffing of the concession stand and the apparel stand-fielding phone calls late at night and early in the morning and somehow we always had the people we needed.  Deb Zimmerman had the unenviable task of collecting the fees and she did an excellent job.  I know that Ron and I drove her nuts with our requests for information, but she handled it great.  Her husband Doug, was a godsend in getting the courts at the LCRC laid out-his efforts resulted in the smoothest installation in the history of the club.  Taina Romstadt, Jodi Zielinski and Beth Casey did a great job on the uniforms and apparel.  Taina’s attention to detail is unparallel and made the uniform distribution go very smoothly.  Renee Bowyer handled the Parent Rep Coordination duties like a veteran and I appreciated the great job she did in keeping up the communication with all of the parent reps.    Thank you to all of the Parent Reps-without you, the club just doesn’t run as smooth.

The Program Book and Kroger Cares would not have happened without the supreme efforts of Deb Truscinski.  Nate Khoury did a wonderful job of designing and laying out the Program Book.   Thanks to Nanette and Jim Wilson who helped run the concession stand when Rhonda was not in town.  Thank you to all of our coaching staff.  I do believe that we have the finest coaching staff in the area and I appreciate all of their time and talent.  Special thanks to John Buck and Sonny Lewis for their advice and counsel this past year.  And thanks to Colleen Dooley who provided a sounding board on a myriad of issues.  Thank you to Autumn Moldiney who kept the courts at the LCRC clean.   I would also like to say a thank you to Mark Anderson and Vince Croci-two dads who have continued to go above and beyond the call of duty-when something needed to be done, these are two guys we could count on, and I thank you both.

Thank you to Jonathan Shapiro and the staff at Synergy and Marty Charney and the staff at the LCRC for all of their efforts on behalf of the club.  Special thanks to Jonathan, whose passion for training athletes is unmatched in the area.

Thank you to each player and parent for choosing TVC as your club this year.  Without you, there is no TVC.  Finally, I would like thank my family-especially my husband, John who has supported TVC and me in numerous ways.  He is a great sounding board and shares my passion for the game and its importance in the lives of young female athletes.  And thanks to my youngest child, Jack who has lived through more than his share of volleyball drama, and never (well, almost never) complains when TVC takes over our house.  At least the girls got the chance to play the game!

I wish each and everyone a great summer.  I will post info on our teams that are playing in June and early July.  We will also be posting the information about our players who have been selected for High Performance Teams and Camps.

Michelle Hills
mwhills@buckeye-express.com