New York City is preparing for an attack.  An American General fortifies Long Island and Manhattan with 20,000 soldiers.  On August 27th the enemy attacks and unfortunately, the onslaught from the enemy defeated the Americans and pushed them back to Brooklyn Heights.  From Brooklyn Heights, the Americans were again over-powered and forced to retreat across the East River completely into Manhattan.  Yet again, the enemy pushed the Americans north to Harlem Heights.  Defeated again, the Americans were forced to White Plaines and then to Fort Washington.  At Fort Washington, the Americans made a valiant stand, but were again defeated where thousands of prisoners were captured and killed.  The Americans withdrew out of New York, into New Jersey and retreated all the way into Pennsylvania.  In total, the Americans were badly beaten 7 times in this war. Continue Reading

The AVP Tour starts up tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale and, because of your votes, both my friends Jen Snyder and Billy Allen (also Danny Kinda’s “Evil” Crony) receive the Paul Mitchell Hot Shot Award.  The Paul Mitchell “Hot Shot” award highlights a male and a female AVP athlete ranked in the lower half of the draw who stands out from the crowd and catches your attention, either through relentless play on the beach or by their colorful personalities off the court.

You can vote for this year’s Hot Shot player here: http://www.avp.com/News/2010/04/Hot-Shot-2010.aspx I’m sure Jen Snyder would appreciate this year’s vote going to her partner Claire D’Amore, but I think Billy Allen would appreciate it even more if it went to his life partner Janelle Allen.  They are both great people, so I can’t sway your vote either way.

Thanks for your vote and support of the AVP.  Now go out and buy some Nivea products and support those that support us!

After watching the incredible National Championship Match again last night (some incredible offense and defense!!!), I believe the box score tells us why Penn State beat Texas and won an unprecedented third National Championship – in a row!  As with most sports, it comes down to errors.  Texas, especially Destinee Hooker, showcased spectacular kills, but Texas committed the most errors.  Penn State kept the ball in play more (Team IPE).  As is said in the volleyball world, “Teams that win the serving and passing battle, win the match”.  Thus is true in the National Championship.

Following are statistics from the box score: Continue Reading

NCAA Volleyball – ESPNU will be re-airing the 2010 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship tonight, April 13th beginning at 9:30 p.m. EST. Relive the excitement as Penn State and Texas clash in one of the most thrilling matches in recent history!

Based on the title of this post, you may assume it is about the effect or influence parents have on coaching in junior club volleyball or even college volleyball, but that could be a blog all to itself.  Instead, “The Parent Effect” is an interesting phenomena about the learning curve of athletes.

I enter each club season armed with an arsenal of tools to help better volleyball players as a whole.  The tools include a nutrition guide, workout regimen, academic advice, discipline for their daily Continue Reading

How should I eat on game day?

Game day is when it counts. You must be ready physically, mentally, and nutritionally for top performance. It is important to prepare by eating properly daily, but your game day eating can make or break your performance.

The goals of your pre-competition meal:

Provide adequate energy (carbohydrates are especially important)
Help avoid fatigue
Allow the stomach to feel relatively light at the start of the game, but avoid hunger pains
Minimize gastrointestinal distress

The timing of your pre-game meal should be based on the time of your game. If your game is in the: Continue Reading

Following is a piece I put together after a player on our team suffered a significant injury.  The injury occurred just before the Haiti earthquake.  The earthquake certainly put things into perspective in comparison to the injury.

The earthquake in Haiti has challenged a nation, but they will survive.  Their lives uprooted, homes destroyed, and families torn apart, but they will thrive.  Individuals will take on new roles. A teacher will use physical Continue Reading

This weekend is one of the biggest volleyball tournaments in the country.  I might be a little bias, but I think it is one of the best.  All hosted in the Georgia World Congress Center in the heart of downtown Atlanta.  Besides the thousands of girls playing this weekend, I’m excited to see they will have the Big South Boys Bash at the same time!  It’s great to get more boys involved in the sport and this is a great venue to peak their interest! Continue Reading