She really enjoyed it, and I couldn't figure out how the other middle school girls were so amazingly excellent at volleyball. I mean, they blew our socks off our feet, they were so much better than us.
That's when I was introduced to the concept of "Club Volleyball".
Oh.
Your daughters try out for teams, and they are selected, and you basically pay out your noses to have them play other teams at tournaments.
And if you are lucky enough to have a fast growing 14 year old, that is hovering on the 6'1" line, you get selected for the team they call 1's. 14-1's. That means, this team plays other 14 year old teams, that are #1's themselves.
It can be challenging. But oh so much fun.
Especially when you have a team like Hallie has.
Some of the girls playing this year have played club ball before. They can all play and get the ball over the net, but Coach explained to me, as we were driving home from Topeka (last tournament) yesterday, that his job, as Coach of 14's, other than trying NOT to have a nervous breakdown, dealing with 14 year olds, is to prepare them to play 15's, 16's, 17's, 18's and on to college. His job is to teach them positions, and plays and how to function as a team. When they are 11, 12, and13, they basically learned how to get it over the net. Now, as 14 year olds, they are starting to see there is more finesse involved.
Whoa. Who knew? Hit, Hit, Kill. Isn't that how volleyball works? So, I'm learning a bunch!
I highly enjoy the moms on the teams. And the dads. They are all pretty funny characters, and it's so much fun to see how much each child is just like their mom.
Especially mine. Big ole goofball. "That's my kid".
See that really tall one? Even taller than coach? That's my kid.
This cutie patootie is Mary. She goes to Moore schools, and this is her first year for club ball. She has a mean serve that rarely gets returned, and is so smart on her feet. She is also the quietest, nicest kid I have ever met. I want to tickle her neck and ribs to get her cracked up. She doesn't think I'm funny at all. Her mom, LeAnn does though, so that's enough for me.
This is Destiny. (or "D" as I call her). She is our offensive weapon. She's really cute too. The girl has some guns now. Sometimes she serves and it ends up in Hawaii. We never even see the ball again. I think if D could make all three hits on our side, she would. She is so determined to win the point, I think the "D" should stand for determined. She's a machine. She also goes to church with us, so we have the side benefit of seeing her little fun mug outside of church, along with her mom, Lucinda. They are just an outstanding pair. D likes to pray before eating, and I'm honored she always includes me in that. It makes me uber happy. Oh, and she's in MWC, and her 3rd year (I think) in club.
This beautiful creature is Brittany. You think she's all dimples and blond hair, and all perfect body and fingernails, and then she serves. Or blocks. Or sets. And WHOA, the girl is just amazing. She has a certain way she serves, and I LOVE to watch her. She bounce bounce bounces, then she holds it, takes a deep cleansing breath, throws it up, points at it with the hand she just threw it up with, and WHAM, the other team has NO idea what just hit them. She's an amazing setter, and so smart on the court. And she looks so good while she is doing it. Her mom, Katy shares the same cheetos addiction I have, so it's nice to have another mom that "Gets" the need for many bags of cheetos. Brit goes to Edmond schools.
This is Teagan (with Brittany photobombing her in the background) and she and Hal switch out Middle block. She is a gymnast and a musician, and wins "Team Curliest hair" award. She also has a serve that sometimes slows down when it hits Canada. She also yells when she blocks, which makes me weirdly happy, because it upsets the other teams to have a girl jump straight up in their business and yell at them. She is the most likely to bust out a toe touch in the middle of a game, and will be found on the sidelines, bouncing in her chair. The girl has some energy, now, and the power to do the dang thang. She attends Classen Arts School. Teagan makes me happy. so does her mom, Fawn, because Fawn sits on a bigger pillow than I do at games. We both share the same bad hip affliction, so it's nice to have someone "Get" the whole need for a cushion thing.
It's only right to have these two in the same picture, because they are pretty much joined at the hip. Kylie is in yellow, and Sophie is in blue. and NO, Soph is not wearing the wrong jersey, she is our Libero, so she gets the joy of wearing fun different shirts. The first time I saw Sophie, I thought, Whoa, that chick is tiny, and she may be the cutest thing I have ever seen. Then she returned one of our power houses serves without even breaking a sweat, dug deep and whammed it back over (a serve that would probably send me home crying to my momma, and put me in traction for weeks on end, if I even could ever even get it), and she's all like, "Oh, that was nothing". And she serves like a crazy woman, and can be three places at once. Plus she is a comedian. And you KNOW I love that about her. She and Hallie are the short and tall of the club, and I love to see them stand together. Sophie has played club ball for a couple of years, and she's just a great great kid. She looks just like her mom, Pamela, and they are matching bookends in personality, and man, I like 'em. She goes to Christ the King.
Kylie, well, Kylie can do anything. When I first started watching them practice, I thought, WHOA, she is 14?? How can that be? She has so much maturity, and stays so calm, it's like she is ZEN. Her mom, Rhonda, is the "whole foods" mom that I blogged about a few blogs back, and I always can go to them for food advice and good snacks. Kylie is vegan, and smart, and an artistic genius (she drew the waiter on the brown paper tablecloth at Zio's, actually DREW the waiter, like, with crayons) and she's just unbelieveably talented. It's her first year of club, but she takes it so seriously, I'm sure she'll be back. I see her and Hallie playing club together for many years to come. She attends the Classen Arts School (Big shocker) and she can braid hair like no other.
And then we have Megan. (Or May May as only I call her). She could probably be my kid. She is random, and funny and spacey and can serve like a freakin' machine. She also runs like tin man (this is coming from her mom, Barb, not me) and cracks, cracks, cracks me up. She backs Brittany on setting, and leads the team in funny comments, and keeping it light. Megan avoids drama at all costs, and I dig that solidly about her. Her mom and I could be soulmates. We are so much alike in personality. Lacey says it's like she's talking to me when she talks to Barb. Megan played club ball last year, and goes to Christ the King, too. She's just a doll, and I adore her little mug.
Teagan standing ready to do some serious blocking, with Sophie in the back, preparing to serve one up.
Preparing to do battle.....
Do you think that intimidates the other team? The tall middle that can stand flat footed and reach the top of the net? That tall middle had 20 BLOCKS this past tournament. 20!~ Some middles don't get 20 blocks for the SEASON, much less a tournament.
She's doing fantastic and LOVES her teammates. The moms all play together nicely, and it's so weird to have a group of so many different personalities, and everyone get along so famously. It's awesome. Who knew that girls from so many different schools, could come together in a short while and learn to play like a team together? They still have issues here and there, and are learning more and more to trust each other, and just play like the fantastic players that they are.
Using ole Hal as a pillow.
They took 3rd in their bracket, and 7th overall this past weekend in the huge tournament they were in. They play 5 more tournaments and then the season will be over. Hallie is already sad about not having volleyball. Talking to me about summer ball, and more volleyball, and college ball, and beach volleyball, and the olympics. I'm still trying to learn positions.
Its' a blast, and I'm so happy I have so many fun moms to share it with. It's also very therapeutic to be able to scream my head off at games. Sometimes I go sit at other games and just yell there too. All very soothing.
Club Volleyball. Fun stuff, maynard.
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