March 27, 2010
To briefly bring the reader up to date: at the end of fourth grade, Annie and I had been discussing her going to a sport camp, probably basketball camp. Week after week we received fliers for camps, but one day we received one regarding a volleyball camp. I showed it to Annie, and her eyes got huge. "I want to do that!" Her mother was very supportive, even though it interfered with the summer custody schedule. Annie took to it like the proverbial fish to water. Even during camp, my after work hours were spent playing volleyball with her in the driveway. Camp was even extended a week for those who wanted to continue. At then end of camp, I was hit with a bomb shell: we were approached by the coach's mother that people were looking to create a local volleyball club, and they would like Annie to try out. The idea was that they were going to make a twelve-and-under team. I mentioned that Annie had just turned ten, would she get to play? "Annie is already better than a lot of the twelve year olds... she'll play."
We continued playing almost daily; improving skills, focusing on certain contacts. Tournament League started around December with two practices a week. The problem? There were not enough twelve-and-unders. Annie was playing with the fourteens and thirteens. She was a little weak in the beginning, but held her own. We continued drills in the driveway every day we could, and she has jumped up on the learning curve severely. Below is a video I made of one of her matches in a big tournament in Santa Clara.
Yes, she had some issues with placing her digs and passes to the setter. However, that has dropped significantly in the last month and a half. Furthermore, when she is 'on,' her serves are spectacular and accurate about 90% of the time. They are beautiful serves, too: one foot over the net with a quick drop on the other side. Right in the hole... She was doing better than anyone in practice one day last week, and the assistant coach put her in to serve at a strange rotation during a scrimmage. I think she did it to see if she could deliver. Unfortunately, that was the serve that Annie missed... first one in the last 15 serves. The next day we had practice, and she did it again. However, there were a lot of serving practices, and Annie's arm started to give out. She refused to give up, and from that point on was only serving about 40%. In the end, she damaged her arm, and I think she is still dealing with it. Fortunately for the tournament today, Annie is the Libero most of the time and can not serve in a match in California. Which brings us to today...
The coach was not there when we had to start, and I was allowed (even volunteered) by the other parents to coach! I took advantage of the moment and shared some thoughts with the team that I would never have been allowed to do otherwise... The coach arrived right before the first serve, and the girls decimated the opposing team the first game. We were missing two players, one of whom is one of our stars, but they did it. The second game something happened, and they fell apart. However, they pulled it together and won in a close game. We lost our second match for the same reason against a team that we had typically exceeded every other time we played them. We went to lunch slightly despondent.
I looked at the bracket play for the afternoon, and noticed it was slightly different from previous Area League Tournaments. We still had a major shot at winning. I told the girls they could still take the tournament, but they couldn't lose another match. A few girls perked up. "Really?" They pulled it together. Even with an injured and valuable player after the next match, they worked well together. Annie was digging and passing like crazy, and did an awesome job with only a few errors. She chastised herself, but shrugged them off and moved on. The last match we played we were at match point. Annie was in. The serve came in to the right corner. She ran over, dropped her shoulder and launched the ball to the front where it was fake-set over the net. She ran to get into position as middle back. No sooner had she got there, the hit came from over the net towards her. She dug down and lifted it up. She passed it a little hard, and it went over the net. The opponents rocketed it into the net. Another father looked at me and said, "that last point was all Annie!'
We came in first for the tournament. That was our first time. There are very happy and proud girls in the San Lorenzo Valley tonight!
I sooooo want to be a coach, and my digger rocks!
We continued playing almost daily; improving skills, focusing on certain contacts. Tournament League started around December with two practices a week. The problem? There were not enough twelve-and-unders. Annie was playing with the fourteens and thirteens. She was a little weak in the beginning, but held her own. We continued drills in the driveway every day we could, and she has jumped up on the learning curve severely. Below is a video I made of one of her matches in a big tournament in Santa Clara.
Yes, she had some issues with placing her digs and passes to the setter. However, that has dropped significantly in the last month and a half. Furthermore, when she is 'on,' her serves are spectacular and accurate about 90% of the time. They are beautiful serves, too: one foot over the net with a quick drop on the other side. Right in the hole... She was doing better than anyone in practice one day last week, and the assistant coach put her in to serve at a strange rotation during a scrimmage. I think she did it to see if she could deliver. Unfortunately, that was the serve that Annie missed... first one in the last 15 serves. The next day we had practice, and she did it again. However, there were a lot of serving practices, and Annie's arm started to give out. She refused to give up, and from that point on was only serving about 40%. In the end, she damaged her arm, and I think she is still dealing with it. Fortunately for the tournament today, Annie is the Libero most of the time and can not serve in a match in California. Which brings us to today...
The coach was not there when we had to start, and I was allowed (even volunteered) by the other parents to coach! I took advantage of the moment and shared some thoughts with the team that I would never have been allowed to do otherwise... The coach arrived right before the first serve, and the girls decimated the opposing team the first game. We were missing two players, one of whom is one of our stars, but they did it. The second game something happened, and they fell apart. However, they pulled it together and won in a close game. We lost our second match for the same reason against a team that we had typically exceeded every other time we played them. We went to lunch slightly despondent.
I looked at the bracket play for the afternoon, and noticed it was slightly different from previous Area League Tournaments. We still had a major shot at winning. I told the girls they could still take the tournament, but they couldn't lose another match. A few girls perked up. "Really?" They pulled it together. Even with an injured and valuable player after the next match, they worked well together. Annie was digging and passing like crazy, and did an awesome job with only a few errors. She chastised herself, but shrugged them off and moved on. The last match we played we were at match point. Annie was in. The serve came in to the right corner. She ran over, dropped her shoulder and launched the ball to the front where it was fake-set over the net. She ran to get into position as middle back. No sooner had she got there, the hit came from over the net towards her. She dug down and lifted it up. She passed it a little hard, and it went over the net. The opponents rocketed it into the net. Another father looked at me and said, "that last point was all Annie!'
We came in first for the tournament. That was our first time. There are very happy and proud girls in the San Lorenzo Valley tonight!
I sooooo want to be a coach, and my digger rocks!