Day of Dance

On February 27th our team headed out to the Family Fun Plex here in Greeley in order to participate in the Day of Dance. Dance is a great way for people of all ages to get some physical activity in their lives...plus, it is a lot of fun. Here is a short video that shows our team involved in some of the activities.

Conditioning?

Last Friday the girls were getting ready for our normal condtioning... Joe Schaffer (our head strength and conditioning coach) showed up with Taylor (one of our former players) and a football. Our girls amost did flips! They were so excited that #1) they weren't going to have to run staduims, and #2) that there was going to be a game involved. We ended up playing ultimate frisbee, but with the football. Our girls get super competitive in those situations. They were diving around, crashing into each other, and falling all over the place. All the while, the field still had quite a bit of snow on it and was covered in mud. I took a few pictures, but they don't do it justice. It was a really fun time. Just don't tell the girls that they also got a great workout!

Valentine's Day Dance

On the 15th of February, we once again took our girls over to the local senior home. They were having a Valentine's day dance and we were invited. Of course we accepted! It was a ton of fun as our girls learned several dances, then used their new-found skills with the seniors. At the end of the dance, the seniors requested to see the team dance the way they do "now-a-days." It was great fun.

NGWSD

On Feb 11th, the University of Northern Colorado's Athletic Department invited young ladies from the local area to participate in the NGWSD.... The National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It was a lot of fun watching all these young ones running around playing a bunch of different sports. Here is a short video to show how it went....of course, Volleyball is highlighted in the sport...but what do you expect, right?

Spring Training!

Here we are, just starting off our Spring season and our kids have already been in the gym for three weeks! As of now, we are running individual groups. Each athlete is allowed two hours of instruction per week. So, we divide that into three forty minute segments. Then, we divide them into position groups. Tom works with the middle blockers, Jenny works with the defensive kids, and the outsides with their ball control and defense, and Lyndsey works with the setters and the outsides with attacking. It is great that we can all compliment each other so well.

Many people think that we just work out in the fall, and we are done... I would bet that if you ask our athletes which season was more difficult for them to get through they would all say that the Spring is more tough than the Fall. In the Fall, you get to compete every week. In the Spring, it is drilling, reps, lifting, and conditioning. Right now, Fall seems so far away, yet our girls are already working for another Big Sky Championship. Here is a quick video to show you what it looks like...

2009 Banquet

Last Wed night (Jan 13th) we had our first end-of-the-year banquet. It was a huge success. It was a great way to cap off our great season of play, while being able to send off our seniors in style. We held it in our universtiy center's Panarama room. Almost 90 people there including the team, coaches, parents, boosters, administrators, and people who are just fans of our program. It all started off with an inspiring speach from our Athletic Director, Jay Hinrichs, and ended with our final video. Here is a quick look at the evening.

Back in the Office!

Well, as coaches we got back into the office this week. All three of us had our little adventures over break. Lyndsey just got back from California where she went to a taping of the "Price is Right." The episode is going to air on TV on Feb 17th....look for her right behind contestant's row. She kept yelling "ONE DOLLAR!!" Jenny went back up to the mountains for a week, then to Minnesota for a while. Tom headed to Phoenix and Albuquerque to see family.

The good news is that we are all back and preparing for the Spring Season. To let you know how it works for our athletes....

They will be in the weight room and conditioning four days a week. This time of year is designed to really work them hard. We are working on building strength, endurance, quickness, and mental toughness. If you saw some of the things these girls work through, you would be incredibly impressed. Lots of stadium sprints, court sprints, jumping...the list goes on. Joe Shaffer, our head strength and conditioning coach does a great job taking our athletes to the next level.

Then, as far as training volleyball goes, the first seven weeks are individual workouts with the coaches. Each athlete is allowed to be in the gym getting instruction for two hours a week. We break these up into three forty minute sessions. Each position comes in for specific work. For example, the middle blockers will come in and will work on blocking or offense that is specific to the middle blocker. Then, setters will come in and set/play right back defense/block on the right side. Then, the outside hitters will come in and work on...well, basically everything (outside hitters do it ALL!). The last group are the defenders. They will serve receive and work on specific defensive moves. We see a TON of growth during these sessions. We will have three coaches watching 2-4 athletes at a time. Lots of instruction, great focus on skills.

Then, after Spring Break, we have six weeks of team practice. This is a great time to bring the team together to work together on the individual skills that we have developed in the individual sessions. We also have four competition dates, usually the four Saturdays in April. I am sure I will keep you updated on the dates. Most of the time we play against local teams including Denver, Colorado State, Colorado, and several of the local DII schools.

I, personally, love the Spring because you see so much improvement in the athletes, especially the younger kids. Also, the tournaments are fairly informal, so we can stop play if we need to and talk to the team. It is a pretty amazing contrast to our last match...which was very formal.

Well, the girls start classes on Monday, Jan 11th. Looking forward to having them back in town. I can speak for all of the coaches when I say that the reason that we do what we do is because of the interaction with our great young ladies. They are truly a joy to be around....most of the time that is....