Clearwater tourney Day 1- update

Five of our Venetian Bay teams played in Clearwater this weekend. For our 12 and 13s team, it was their first chance to play this year. I had the opportunity to watch the 13's, 14's, and 15N team. All of the matches I saw were very exciting and it looked like there was a lot of team spirit going on out there. I really liked Karlee Ream new side jump serve. It was very effective. I am pleased that the the 12's, 13's, and 14's all made it into the gold round for tomorrows single elimination games. The 15N was extremely close to pulling out a 2nd place bid but came up just short. Also, as I write this, the 15S team has won their 1st two matches of the day and will probably make the gold round as well. They had an afternoon pool.

Last weekend's trip to Orlando" Power League was a huge success regardless of our teams who won their pools (17’s and 15S) and teams who did not fair as well. It was a huge success because we had the opportunity to play the best teams right off the bat. I have enclosed a fantastic article in this weeks edition of “From Wheatley’s desk” that explains what should be focused on at the beginning of club season. We all want to win right off the bat BUT is that what is important this time of year. Do we want to stress the win column while maybe sacrificing doing things the right way or do we want what is best in the long run and beat those teams when the season is winding down? What can you do as a player? Believe in our system and trust our coaches. Try new things and be comfortable while being uncomfortable. What can parents do? Be energetic, encouraging, and supportive and enjoy the process.

Here is an example from my past. In 2006, Our high school team had just won the Class 5A State Championship and I decided to coach a 14’s team with kids on the team who had very limited playing experience. As we struggled early on in just the “club” divisions, most of the time we would not even make it out of pool play but parents were excited and supportive, players were soaking up volleyball IQ and getting better by the practice. By the end of the season, we were getting to the gold division from pool play and beating those teams that had humiliated us at the beginning of the year. It was an extremely refreshing year to see that team come so far. Now, those same kids are playing 17s and are disappointed if they do not come in 1^st place out of their open division pools. They are consistently in the top 3 or 4 teams in the state, they are now playing in older divisions at the open level and will compete in the open divisions in National Qualifiers around the country. Why? Players believed in the system and parents were patient, encouraging, and supportive. Enjoy the article!

How to Approach the Start of a Club Volleyball Season.
Segment 1: Priorities and Perspective
Written by Ed Gohen, Golden Bear VBC Tuesday, 13 January 2009

There is an old saying in sports, if applied to the club volleyball calendar, that goes something like this: "You can't win a championship in January, but you can lose one."

While every team has its own goals and many do not include championships, there are things everyone has to do at the beginning that are essential to success at the end. Some of those things are physical, but many of the challenges are mental and emotional. These challenges are often the most difficult, and I believe dealing with them productively is a prerequisite to physical skill development and competitive success.

This is the first in a seven-part series aimed at making the early season more productive and positive.

Priorities and Perspective

Let’s start with a premise:

At this point in the season, a foundation for long-term success is more important than immediate gratification.

As a starting point for any team working towards that end, I would look for these four things:

1. Skill development as the top priority.

2. Encouraging moments when the team shows its potential.

3. An understanding that this stage is a very difficult but essential part of the growth process.

4. Morale is not tied to results.

Much of the rest of this is about #3 and #4.

Early in the season, there should be a lot of technique on which to concentrate. If that’s happening, everyone will seem a little mechanical and generally too wrapped up in trying to perform a skill correctly. At some point, however, things start to click and all the work pays off. This is not only true for individual learning, it applies to team development.

Coaches need to be mindful of the relatively flat beginning of the learning curve. It is the job of coaches to do what needs to be done, even though it means some slow progress early on.

For players, the job is to work hardest through the tough times -- they need to have faith this process is not only normal, it's necessary. Building a solid foundation through improved technique will pay off.

Parents can help with the hardest part for all of us: patience. Expectations and goals are appropriate but can be a heavy load to bear, especially when the plan is not focused on immediate gratification.

While some teams focus on results and competition early and often, others accept that they are not going to win as much as they’d like at the beginning. This is a continuum, and all teams have some of both. Clearly, I advocate more of the latter approach. But for all teams, the goal is to stick to the plan with effort and enthusiasm, so you will still be improving when others are burning out. This, I believe, is easier to achieve with patience and perspective.

The segments that follow are aimed at showing the wisdom of a long-range vision, while maintaining a sense of urgency and purpose. Coaches will find perspectives on individual and team development from a variety of sources. For players who find themselves on teams where a forward-looking perspective is missing, I hope these pieces will help you get through the early season with your confidence and enthusiasm intact.

Power League

Why does Venetian Bay want to play in the power league? Why do we have to drive all the way to Orlando for 1 day? What is the big deal? “To be the best, you have to beat the best.” You will find throughout the season that I love quotes and this is one of my favorites. I am a firm believer that a team must face stiff competition for them to improve. Any team can go out and be undefeated if they play less talent. It may make you feel good, but it is a false sense of security because you really don’t know how good you are as a team. In power league, all teams are excellent and there are no easy wins. For Venetian Bay to play in power league, we will find out our weaknesses immediately and be able to go to work the next couple of weeks to try and fix them. It would be simple to just play some local tournaments and be the best in the area but we want to be the best in the state and in some teams, compete at the National level. That is why this is such an excellent opportunity. So many people judge performance on win/loss record. I think we need to change our mindset and judge teams on the progression from this weekend to the last tournament. Good Luck teams!!

Let the Games Begin

This weekend will mark the beginning of the 2009 season. Excitement fills the air as our Venetian Bay players reach for new heights. Throughout the season I will be sending out news clips, articles, pictures, etc about sportsmanship, competitiveness, team chemistry, being coachable, and things like working hard throughout the season. As we go into Power League this weekend, we want to look into the area of developing the “it factor”. You hear coaches say, “She has “it”. I have found myself talking to newspaper reporters about the “it” factor. Yes, some athletes are naturally skilled but not all have it. Why? Because I think “it” needs to be developed on a daily basis to be good at whatever sport or profession that you choose. I found an excellent article on being competitive by Tim Engles and I actually filled in some words with Venetian Bay to make it hit home a little more for our athletes.

Developing Competitive Toughness

In the next few weeks, all Venetian Bay players will be facing the competitive challenges of scrimmages and the Power League tournament. We all talk about being mentally tough in competition, but what does mental toughness really mean and what does it entail?

Mental toughness is about managing your thoughts, emotions and focus of attention. Here’s what Maggie Sherrill and MacKenzie Marlowe learned about mental toughness in the pre-season. They call it “Sally Eats Noodles.”

Before the point starts, See. Visualize yourself “doing my job.” For passers, this means seeing themselves tracking the serve and passing to the appropriate target using “Hit, Mine, Pass.” If the passer is also a hitter, she sees herself handling the pass, and then moving outside, calling to the setter and swinging to kill on the set.

For the server, it means going through her serving routine: taking a cleansing breath, visualizing her serve, and breathing in and out as she tosses and serves. For blockers, it’s seeing themselves moving to the set and stuffing the hitter. For the libero, it’s digging and controlling the opponent’s hit.

Then it’s time to Execute. Notice the rhythm and depth of your breathing as you prepare for the ball to come into play. It’s impossible to breathe diaphragmatically (abdominal breathing) and feel anxious at the same time, so use belly breathing to keep your mind confident, quiet and ready. Expect and “want the ball” to come to you. As the ball comes into play, call out “Hit, Mine, Pass” to focus with relaxed eyes on the ball and respond to what it’s doing.

When the point ends, Notice and correct. Now’s it’s time to use visualization again to notice what you did, reinforcing the things you did well and correct any errors. For correcting, first take a cleansing breath and then pick just one thing to correct. Visualize yourself making the correct move and seeing the good result. Then it’s time to get ready for the next point.

Use Sally Eats Noodles during the competitive drills in your practices. Notice how well you’re using Sally Eats Noodles. Make it a habit. You’ll be rewarded by your mental toughness and good play at the seeding tournament and through out the season. By Tim Engles

2009 Volleyball School - Begins Jan 11

Venetian Bay Volleyball School is an individual skill based program. Girls will not be learning team offenses or defenses. Our goal is to prepare girls with the physical skills necessary to compete on club teams in the future and in turn reach their personal volleyball goals for their middle school/high school seasons. The 8 week seesion It is designed for girls ages 6-14 (elementary and Middle School only) . Venetian Bay Volley Ball School is coached by the coaches that will be running VBVBC teams, High School players, along with Kristen Batt and Megan Wallin.

Go to {click Here}