Indianapolis

The coaching staff was the the last to arrive to the airport as traffic on 275 was a little heavy. As we walked in, Mr. Bassetti had already checked us in and handed us our tickets and I had to laugh as we went through the terminal and took Debbie Steranko's motto, "It's Brian, it always works out" Expecting Indiana to be freezing in early March, I packed too much as I usually do. Well, it turned out to be an extremely warm weekend. The whole plane was filled with Florida volleyball teams. I was a little relieved when I took my seat and I was not sitting in front of Dorothy Rahal and gang as they usually try and mess with me on the plane. When we arrived, things went very smooth. Flight was on time, travel to hotel was easy, and check in was a breeze. After grabbing a quick bite at Champs in the hotel lobby, Jay and I went to our room to catch a couple of late college bb games and anticipated how both of the VBAY teams would do the next morning. The 16's were playing in the club division with 156 teams entered and this group has gotten steadily better since last season and really coming on as one of Florida's premier teams. The 17s were venturing out and playing in the OPEN division. To play in an open division at a National Qualifier, the team has to apply and be selected. There are only 32 teams in this division and the competition is fierce. The next morning as we warmed up to play one of the top teams in the country from Cleveland, I scanned the sidelines to see all of the college coaches scouting both teams with their palm devices. I would say at least 50 -70 division 1 coaches watched Venetian Bay play. Some of those schools included, Stanford, Texas, Oklahoma, UF, Miami, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, all of the IVY league schools, mid majors, and many more. It definitely helped as the 17 Funyons upset the mostly all committed Cleveland squad. Both VBAY teams competed for every point all day as the 16's placed 1st in the pool and the 17s lost a heartbreaker tie breaker 25-23 to barely miss the gold bracket. The 2nd day was much the same as the 17s went undefeated and the 16s lost a 18-16 decision in the 3rd to not move on. That night, our teams found an open ballroom with music going. They had a blast line dancing and just getting their groove on to some tunes with some other vb clubs. As the 3rd day of play ended, the 16s finished 45 out of 156 and the 17s finished a respectable 19th out of 32. It was awesome competition and many of our players got A LOT of looks from college coaches. This tourney will definitely help earn some scholarships and prepare us for the rest of the season as both teams will have 2 more opportunities to qualify for the Junior olympics in Miami, FL this summer. I was probably a little obnoxious on the sidelines but our other coaches, Jay, Stefanie, and Michelle coached with class and the players won and lost with alot of class as well. The players handled themselves very well and acted like mature adults exept for just a few. I'm just kidding!! They were all great! The parents were a HUGE help as they usually are and helped propel Venetian Bay up the ladder in the volleyball world. Looking forward to the next tournament.