End of the Season

The things I remember:

Season started 7 months ago with tryouts. The girls were all nervous, hoping to do well, worrying about what the coaches were thinking.

We had the tryouts, formed the team and then got to meet each other at the signing meeting. A member of each team won something at the signing meeting, who won ours? – Molly’s neighbor.

Our first practice was actually a XMAS party at my house. Do you remember the rules game and the history of volleyball? What were the very first hitters called? Bombarinos.

Do you remember practicing in Santa hats???

MLK tournament. Who was the first team we beat in our very first tournament? – Webfoot 13 Gold

Power League Qualifier, where was it? The Courts in Beaverton.
There was a girl 6”-2”. How old was she? - 12. What was her name? Ariana
Who won the award for totally ruining the waffles at breakfast in the hotel? - Laina

Canby Tournament – We went outside to warm up, so I sent them sprinting down the track about 50 feet, when they stopped to turn around, 3 of them fell on their keesters because of frost on the track.
2 things that never have happened before happened at this tournament. What were they? 25-0 against Club Momentum Pink, and we won the tournament. What was the seed of Canby at the time? 6th.

Then came Guatemala. While it is very rewarding to go down there, I really miss the girls. So this time I decided to text to them often to see how they were doing. Little did I know that I was racking up over $1,000 worth of data charges! (it got reduced to $200)

Power League #2 at Salem Hoop. I did something in the crossover match that has become a signature move for me. What was it? Called 2 time outs in a row. Who was it against? PVC Green.

Rose City tournament. Talk about having distractions and adversity. What happened to Norm on the way to the tournament? – Put two contacts in one eye, and put the left in the right and the right in the left.!

What happened to Molly? – Bloody Nose
What happened to Kayla – Bonked her head
What happened to Sidney – Got her hair all tangled up in her hair band.

Next came goofy dress night. – They really outdid themselves. I will never forget getting dropped on my head… 3 times!

Next was our last Power League in Springfield. We beat Canby, again and had an incredible comeback win against a team in game 3. We were down 10-1 and came back to win 15-13. Who was it against? Blues Power.

Regionals – Where we learned to play on “plastic”. Just missed getting into the 2-day, while Canby made it (although we beat them 3 times in the season)

Kabukis – For the perfect serving games. The girls were looking really good. While we were waiting a family came in with a young man about the girls age. You should have seen him do a double take when he saw all the pretty girls!

WVC - Hard luck tournament.. Just couldn't get any momentum. Some of the girls posed with a wooden statue of Benny Beaver. Who thought it was a bear? Kelli.

Bayview.
Who lost her shoe up on a shelf 15 feet up a wall Courtney…. and not to be outdone, who got a ball stuck too? Karson
Finally shutting up 14 Green by beating them.
Winning our very last match.
The limo ride - The girls all signing Katy Perry’s California Girls. Waving at the “large” African-American gansta guys at the side of the road. Having boys at the overlook taking their pictures.
Who thought that Alcatraz was named Azkaban. (Harry Potter). Laina
All the food at the Rainforest!!

So we started the season with a win, and ended with a win, with a tournament championship in between… mixed in was 6 perfect serving games, including the 25-0 win, and a win over 14 Green. I’ll forget about all the other stuff.

I’ll always remember the endless games of cross court wars… them always yelling “3 meter line” when I said 10 foot line, all the blizzards I bought, running sixes for missed serves (Who always yelled encouragement? Kayla. Who always served last ? Sidney. I remember making the girls yell Webfoot at Kabukis (they really didn’t want to) and then again at the Rainforest… where they didn’t bat an eye! I’ll remember all the languages we learned. What's the number ladies? 3

But what I will remember most about this team is their work ethic, their camaraderie and great personalities. I have been truly blessed and honored to be able to be their coach this season. I truly believe I have 10 new best friends and hope they feel the same way.

Awards -
Brick Wall Award - Amanda
Match Winning Shot Award - Karson
Flaming Volleyball Award - Kelli
Ultimate Teammate Award - Laina
Height Doesn't Matter Award - Molly
Go Ahead And Hit As Hard As You Can Award - Sidney
Most Inspirational - Rachel
Most Improved - Kayla
Best Defense - Courtney
Best Offense - Rachel
MVP - Sky

I hope you all have a great summer, see you all next year!!!