There is no better day to pay homage to our service men and women than on Memorial Day.  “Thanksgiving is a day when we pause to give thanks for the things we have. Memorial Day is a day when we pause to give thanks to the people who have fought for the things we have.”

Recently, Veterans competed at the second annual Warrior Games. The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs hosted 220 servicemen and women who are wounded, injured or ill. The Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force, the Coast Guard and Special Operations Command all participated. Some of the athletes are soldiers you’ve heard a lot about — injured by a roadside bomb or another combat-related injury. Others are accident victims or suffering from an illness.

Sitting volleyball was a great success at the games and I wanted to share some pictures that were passed along to me. A way to honor these great men and women.

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Congratulations to the National Volleyball League for it’s successful professional beach volleyball debut tournament at the Preakness in Baltimore, MD! After the AVP went bankrupt, Al-b Hanneman, founder of GObeachfest and Volleyball Vacations, picked up the wandering players and formed The NVL!  Mad props to Al-b and to the players that trusted in his vision and ability to create an amazing event in such a short amount of time.

John Hyden (Pensacola, Fla.) and Sean Scott (Kailua, Hi.) became the National Volleyball League’s first men’s champions defeating Billy Allen (Fallbrook, Calif.) and Matt Prosser.  On the women’s side, tenth seeded Tealle Hunkus and her partner Heather Lowe claimed the first women’s title in NVL history with a victory over number one seed and then undefeated Annett Davis and Lisa Rutledge.  Awesome…how exciting!

The website itself is pretty sweet and professional: www.TheNVL.com.  Not only are their great bios on the players, but it had four streaming cameras to watch the matches as the days went along.  I watched a good bit of the matches throughout the day.  There were match updates, the brackets and a chat board for live score updates throughout the matches.

I also have to recognize my long time friend Jenn Snyder and her partner, Erin Gray, for making it to the semi-finals and the opportunity to play on the infield of the Preakness!  Follow all your favorite pro players on Twitter and Facebook.  These “kids” have to get many sponsors in order to play in the tournaments and the more followers they have, they better opportunity for sponsor support.  Follow Jenn Snyder on Twitter here: JennSnyder7 and facebook: JennSnyder7

Continue to follow The NVL through it’s remaining tour stops: Malibu, Virginia Beach, Aspen, Miami and Long Beach

Saralyn Smith has also posted a composite of pro tour schedules to watch players here in The States (while some of the taller, skinnier Americans play overseas on the FIVB Tour ) Saralyn Smith’s Volley Ventures: 2011 Professional Beach Volleyball Schedule

Ever play against the “old team”? The team of men or women far older than your team, far slower than your team, that could not jump as high as your team, or hit as hard as your team, but always seemed to beat your team? I thought “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” was the way to victory. Why do the young teams often not win? What is the ideal equilibrium between youth and age, strength and experience? Continue Reading