Summer Volleyball- week 4

Wow- week 4 has already come and gone. I cannot believe how fast the summer is going. Our players have really made the most of it so far and have gotten a lot better. Our guest speaker, Dana Dumas, came in on Monday to talk with the players. I think it is always great to have former players like Dana come in and talk about their high school volleyball experience and what it meant to them now that they are adults. The players we have in the program have always heard of Dana and they get to look at her picture in the gym but really have never gotten a chance to know what she was about and what made her tick. Dana talked about her junior and senior years and how she was the only senior on the '05 team. She credited a lot of the success her teams had to the rigorous summer schedule. Many people who attend our matches just see the final result come fall. They don't know about players getting to the TeePee at 6:45 each morning while all of their friends are still sleeping at home thinking about what to wear to the beach that day. They can't fathom (big word) the number of arm swing reps our players do each summer morning to get their spike just to where they want it. Our athletes give up so much BUT they gain so much in return like being able to wear a Venice volleyball uniform in front of a packed house on a cool night at the TeePee or the pride they feel as they walk around town and strangers approach them to tell them how proud they are of the team and want to know about our next opponent. Little kids who come to to the games look up to them as role models and want to be just like them when they get to high school or our vhs alumni who still cheer them on to keep up the great tradition and expectations that come with each season. When someone of the high character like Dana speaks, I think it just motivates our current players to give that little extra each day and that is usually the difference in winning and losing. I was at Windflight surf shop just this afternoon and the owner just kept raving about how he loves to watch the volleyball players compete and get better throughout the season. It made me proud to know that I was a small part of the vhs program.
Some other highlights of the week was the introduction of a new game called "Deal or no deal". It was a big success. I was pleasantly surprised with our Wednesdays conditioning session out on the football field. We had kids pushing hard and encouraging others to give it all they had for the benefit of the team. They seemed to keep going when there was nothing left in the tank. (My former players know exactly how they felt). They were rewarded today for their efforts with popsicles after practice. Speaking of tanks, the "Tankity Tank" story seemed to hit a chord with many players. Why is our Venice teams so successful? It is the same reason why the LSU baseball team, USC football, New York Yankees, the San Francisco 49ers of the 80's, and the the Auburn Tigers (just kidding) are so successful year after year. They are not cocky but confident. Everytime they run out to play, they know without a shadow of a doubt that they will defeat the opposing team and the opposing team usually knows that they are in trouble mostly b/c of the way the other team is carrying themselves. It has not always been that way with Venice but the in the last 10 years, we have won a lot of matches just because we have the name "Venice" on the back of our jerseys!
Our middle hitter poll should be completed by next week. There has been a tremendous number of votes casted. In our next poll, we will have one of the most competitive polls to date and that is to find out who was the best defensive player and there have been many over the years. I have a feeling who will win but I wouldn't want to influence any votes.