Spring 2012

Sitting in my office on a friday afternoon waiting the kids up from school, I am preparing our summer schedule. We don't have any workouts today as our team trains mon - thurs. We have had a monumental off season in the weight room this spring. It's truly amazing how strong our team is getting as we close in on phase 2 with one more to go before summer starts. Everyone is getting stronger and it is a joyful time in the weight room with lots of smiles and great attitudes. Expectations will be big next year and we are very blessed to be able have high expectations in our program. There is already a buzz in the community about our team and the possibilities. Very thankful to have great players, supportive parents, a fantasic administration, and a large community following.

Venice beats Plant in 3 !!!

The Indians came to play tonight and knocked off Tampa Plant who is ranked 17th Nationally. Scores were 25-17, 25-15, 25-21. The large spirited crowd in the TeePee started the 2011 season out in style. The win marked the 3rd straight time the Indians have beaten the Panthers. On Thursday night, the Indians will face #2 ranked Berkeley Prep to see how they match up against a team that will be in contention for the mythical National Championship. Game time will be 7:00. Wheatley Wacko shirts will be on sale all week.

Veniceindianvolleyball.com

You may have noticed but our site is currently down and is under construction. Should be up and running shortly. Hope everyone is having a great week and remember it's not how good you are, it's how often you are good.

Tampa Camp Team Update

Venice high brought almost 30 players to team camp this year to the University of Tampa. We divided the players into 3 groups with a varsity team and 2 jv teams. The 2 jv teams are playing in the varsity division. I coach one team and the 2 others are coached by former Venice Indian great, Julie howlett and the other team is coached by former Clearwater/Berkeley prep great, Sloane Baby. They both play for UT and have done an outstanding job. They know what it takes to be successful on the court. The first 2 days are basically working on different team skills while competing against other teams. Today we started the tournament. The 2 jv teams have done quite well in the lower level varsity division with the green team winning their pool tonight. The varsity with only 1 senior has gone undefeated in both pools with nice wins over Plant, Bishop Verot, ECS, Chiles, Tampa Prep, and Orangewood. All 3 Venice teams have made remarkable improvements on the court while establishing some team unity and cohesiveness going into the season. I love the culture we have in our program as our kids expect to win every time they step on the court. Also the food is outstanding as it is all you can eat and the pranks have been put away this year as we build a trust among one another. I try and read as many coaching books as possible during the summer and am currently finishing up Auburns Gene Chizik, "All In, what it takes to be the best".

What is a well coached team?

Well coached teams are motivated. Venice teams will play with energy and a visible passion that proves they are engaged in the process that their team and coaches have established. Teams will display fight and toughness and you usually cannot tell the score of the game by simply watching the actions and reactions of their players and coaches. This is just one aspect of the Venice Volleyball program. Tryouts will be Monday Aug. 8th. Times will be updated soon. Teams will practice each day till school begins. Players who make the Varsity squad will need to clear their schedule for 2 weeks as we will hold practices twice a day as well as some team activities in the evenings.

A day in the life of a coach during summer

Things to do today

Wake up at 6 am-check
Open gym up for 7 am volleyball workouts- check
Convince high school volleyball players to make an explosive approach and swing aggressively at all costs- check

Watch the volleyball team destroy the boys basketball in a water balloon war- check, check. (they claim the vb team cheated bc balloons were filled w mustard, ketchup, and dog food but are there rules in war?)

Sigh................Get doused with baby powder by players- check (FYI, revenge will be mine at team camp next month)
Quick peanut butter and jelly lunch
Drop Luke off at bb camp
Get ready for triathalon and Run on the treadmill and swim laps with Brooke
Hang out at the pool with another coach and let kids swim
Meet wifey at Lowes
Haircut
Dinner
Watch Brooke at beach volleyball
Relax at home with the fam- check, check

Hope everyone has a great week off and we will see you next Thursday!

VHS summer volleyball 2011

Summer volleyball workouts start Monday. Myself and our coaching staff are looking forward to a fantastic summer. We have over 45 girls coming this summer which makes this one of the largest turnouts. Summer is a time when we really break down skills and work on technique, get stronger in the weight room, and have fun sharing these memories with our teammates. It's also a great time to establish habits that will help our teams be successful in the fall. Players get to know each other and it's where our leaders take ownership in building our program and taking it to new heights. Can't will not be in our vocabulary but I CAN will be. The only 2 things we can really control in life is attitude and effort. The only way to be successful on the court is to get out of your comfort zone and take some chances. By doing this, failure will will be short term but will produce long term success. Our great Venice volleyball tradition started many years ago with players putting forth the same work ethic that our current players will do so this season. Championships are won in the off season and one thing that our players will experience this summer is hearing from some former players about their Venice volleyball experience and how it has helped them so many years later in college, in their profession, as a wife and mother, and in their daily lives. It gives me great joy to hear from former players and to hear about their lives. We will see you on Monday and remember that you have a choice everyday to get worse, stay the same, or GET BETTER! It's great to be an Indian!

Workout Day #40

Congrats team! Workout #40 is Thursday.

Choose everyday
Get worse
Stay the same
GET BETTER!!!!!

It's great to be an Indian!

April 27 Free Physicals

I just wanted to remind everyone that there will be free physicals tonight at Venice HS at 6 pm. A parent must accompany the athlete. You must have a physical on file to play before you start any summer programs. It's great to be a Venice Indian!

State of the Art High School

If you have not checked out the vhs link below, please do so. Pictures of what has been built so far and a design of what the new high school will look like are posted. Venice High school will be a state of the art high school. The school will have a college campus atmosphere with all of the new technological advancements in education. It will have the Italian Rennaissance feel to stay in line with the rest of Venice Island and be very open with a lot of green space. The gym will be one of the best! Teams will have their very own locker room and the same Venice TeePee feel will be present in the gym to create that home court advantage. Opposing teams hate to play in the TeePee as the Indians have only lost 2 regular season matches since the 2001 season. The TeePee was tabbed as one of the top 2 places to play volleyball in America by prepvolleyball.com this past year. As far as volleyball goes, no longer will our players have to carry out those heavy poles because the whole net system will be stored on the ceiling. Thats right, flip a switch and poles, net, and ref stand will come down automatically and be ready to play. When the match is over, the whole system will go back up into the rafters and be ready for the next time. If that is not good enough for you, we will be starting a fundraising campaign for our new high definition jumbo tron. It will be the first of its kind in a high school in the southeast.

Summer schedule

We will have our complete summer chedule available in the next few weeks as I know many of you are planning vacations. We will be taking 3 teams to Team Camp in Tampa July 21-24 and anyone will have an opportunity to attend that camp. This is what I know so far
June 7-10 Wheatleys Wild West VB Camp for grades 2-8
June 13- July 20 Summer workouts will begin Mon-thurs 7-10 AM (off july 1-6)
July 21-24 3 teams to Tampa Camp
August 8 Tryouts (Varsity players will be asked to come back Aug. 5)

Workouts

New season New goals.
Workouts begin Mon. Feb. 14th from 2:30-3:15 in the weight room

Venice beats Plant in 4

The curse has been broken

Alumni makes it 7 out of 8

The Venice HS Volleyball Alumni game was a success tonight. Even though we threw it together at the last minute and their was no Air condition, we had one of our largest turnouts. Many people in the stands got an opportunity to see a preview of the 2010 edition and some of our oldies got a chance to show us their stuff on the court. Alumni that played was Ann Ross '85, Kristen Batt '99, Katrina Rico '99, Danielle Durham '05, Becky Ross '05, Natalie Gaudreau '07, Julie Howlett '08, Taylor Capasso '10, Jessica Costanzo '10, Emily Daniels '10. I did see Ruth Terry in the stands and was disappointed she was not on on the court too. Even though, the VHS teams have only beaten the alumni once in the past 7 years, it is a great opportunity for the the current players to play at the TeePee with the bleachers out and fans in the stands. It is also an opportunity for our alumni to reconnect with their teammates. Alumni won tonight 25-22,16-25, 25-18, 25-23. Good luck tomorrow if you are trying out for the 2010 squad. Our 1st home match will be Aug. 24 against the green wave of Ft. Myers and then again on Aug 26 against Plant or Berkeley Prep.

Team camp update

We are at the Univ. of Tampa Team camp for about 4 days. There are 41 varsity teams here from around the state. The camp is designed to prepare high schoool teams for the upcoming season. The first couple of days, teams play each other in 6 vs 6 drills and compete against each other with similar skill level. We are in the top group and we work on things like serve receive offense, transition defense and offense, out of system attack, etc. Tonight was the 1st time we were able to play matches against other teams and record scores. Scores were taken to seed the teams for the camp tournament. Venice was the only team to go undefeated. We beat Plant, Leon, Timber creek, Tampa Prep, Gainesville, and East Lake so we are seeded #1 in the 41 team tournament tomorrow afternoon. Our team has steadily improved and players are having a good time. The best part of the camp besides actually playing other schools has been to see the Venice players confidence level rise. After each session, I am seeing the light go on from all of the things they have worked on all summer and they are starting to believe more and more. The best match of the night came against Timber Creek who has a 6'4" middle comitted to Hawaii. We were down 12-4 and made a furious comeback during the timed match and won 14-13. We also got a little revenge on Leon who knocked us out in the final 4 last year. Our offense is actually a little faster this year and our defense is improving day by day. And o yes, I pulled the old toothpaste on the back of the doorknob prank to get the week started and there is definitely more of where that came from coming up tomorrow.

End of Summer Activities

We have had a very productive summer. Players have been coming in from 7-10:30 AM Mon-Thurs and we will be finishing up this week. On Wednesday, our two teams that are going to team camp will be scrimmaging 2 teams from Cardinal Mooney at 7:30 AM with new coach and former VHS stud, Kristen Batt. Anyone is welcome to watch. On Thursday, Venice volleyball players will take their game to University of Tampa team Camp. We will stay there til Sunday. Team Camp is a very important part of our program as we get to finally compete against teams from around the state. Last year, our team flew to Auburn Univ. to win the camp championship. There are many great teams that go to Tampa Team Camp. Some that are signed up are Plant, Tampa Prep, St. Thomas Aquinas, Ft. Myers, Bishop Verot, Bucholtz, Leon, and about 40 other schools. It is amazing competition to see how we are progressing but the most important part of team camp is the building of team chemistry. Players room together, eat together, and have a lot of fun together. Play hard on the court, be silly off the court. Coach Wheatley always has many pranks up his sleeve to make the week even more exciting. (Got some good ones this year). This year, I am particularly interested in camp because we have many potential newbys on the team and I want to see how our returners handle their new leadership roles. Also, we have been working on some new techniques this summer that I really think will help our volleyball IQ and quicken up that learning curve to start the season. Another thing I would like to see is that mean green aggressive style of defense that we are known for in the vb world as well as an offense that will sideout and score on tough teams because "defense gets you to the Final 4 but offense wins it".
Tryouts are scheduled for Aug. 9th. Times will be given later. We are the only female sport on campus with a freshmen, JV, and varsity team. After a player makes a team, practices will start for the two weeks before school starts so make plans to be around. If you make varsity, clear your schedule as we will be practicing 2-A-Days to prepare for the season. Also, all players should be well conditioned coming into tryouts. Don't be a couch potatoe for 2 weeks. Be sprint ready and be able to run a mile in at least under 8 min.
"Hunter or Hunted"

Hunters vs Hunted?

Tomorrow officially starts the 2010 season. We will have approximately 40 high school age players working out all summer from 7-10:15ish each morning in the hopes of making one of our 3 teams in the fall. Summer is such a crucial part of our program and its imperative that the players make a commitment to be there each and every day . Championships are definitely won in the off season. Not only will players be polishing up on basic skills, we will be emphasizing ball control and torrential serving. We plan on having THE best serving team in the state next season which gives us an immediate edge on defense.

Many programs are known for something. Venice Volleyball's brand is defense. Defense win championships but more importantly, its an attitude. The attitude of sacrificing the body to get a ball up. There is nothing worse or frustrating for a team who plays an opponent that continually frustrates the offense by digging them over and over. How many times do you ever see a team where all 6 players go charging after a shanked ball? Offensive teams have streaks but defensive minded teams are in every match night after night. I think of some of our former defensive greats like Courtney Francese, Margeaux Sinibaldi, Amber Davidson, Erin Beebe, Danielle Durham, Julie Howlett, and Danielle Witte just to name a few. Its not just about the 2010 players. They are a part of a process. There have been great players before them and there will be great players who come after them.

For many years, our team has been the hunted. Other teams have Venice circled on the schedule 3 months before the season starts. Our opponents usually are hyped up and have their best matches and largest crowds when Venice pulls up. This summer our players will learn to hunt. We will become the hunters and take no prisoners. Hunters prepare to take no mercy on their prey. We will train this summer harder and be more discipline then ever before.

Blog Radio Coming

Wouldn't you like to know the scoop after games this season? Well, now you can on your ride home from the game on Blog Radio. Beginning in the fall you will hear post game analysis on the Indians victory. Who played great, why Venice won, and what it is going to take for the Volleyballers to win the program's 3rd State Championship in the last12 years. The players are having a great off season as they compete in club tournaments around the country and are committed in the weight room with Vern. The schedule is almost complete with tournaments in Tampa and a repeat trip back up to Chicago for the nations premier tournament . Teams visiting the TeePee this season will be St. Thomas Aquinas, Berkeley Prep, Plant, Bishop Verot, Ft. Myers, and of course some local teams.

Former VHS player named new coach

Congratulations to Kristen Batt for being named Cardinal Mooney's new volleyball coach. Kristen is one of the most decorated athletes to ever attend Venice HS. In my opinion, she changed the way the sport of volleyball was played in this area and is the best volleyball player to ever come out of this area. She revolutionized how the back row attack was implemented and teams around the state had no answer for her dominance. She was the MVP of the 1998 State volleyball tournament where she led Venice to the schools 1st ever Team State Championship. For her efforts, she was also not only the class 5A state player of the year but won the Florida HS Dairy Farmer award for the being the best volleyball player in the State of Florida in all classes in 1998. She was also named to the U.S. HS All American list which boasts the top 75 players in America. Kristen had 587 kills during her senior year which is a record that will never be broken at VHS. After high school, she went on to play at the University of Kentucky where she started all four years and still holds University records. There is no doubt that Kristen will be a future member of the Venice Sports Hall of Fame.

She currently is on the AVP tour where she travels the country and earns money playing teams like Kerri Walsh and Misty May who won the gold medal in the last two Olympics. She will be an asset to the Cardinal Mooney program and her Venice family will be cheering her on every time she coaches except when she plays the Mean Green Machine which happens to be her 1st varsity match next season.

Also, on the Venice volleyball coaching tree, it is rumored that former VHS standout and future Venice Sports Hall of Famer as well as College National Champion and All American, Margeaux Sinibaldi is looking at taking an assistant coaching position at Boston College. More to come..

2010 Pre season Set

2010 Pre Season tournament is set. It will be the most competitive in the state with 2 State Champions, a State Runner up, and a State semi-finalist. The countdown to the season will begin soon.

Aug 24 and Aug 26, 2010 at Venice High School

Berekeley Prep - 3A State Champions
Plant - 6A State Champions
Ft. Myers - 4A State Runner Up
Venice - 5A State Semi finalist