This is it…the Most Wonderful Time of the Volleyball Year. The NCAA VolleyMadness is in full swing, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight are this weekend. Certain matches of the Sweet Sixteen will be viewable online and the Elite Eight matches will be shown on ESPNU (NCAA Volleyball Championship Schedule). The following week is when volleyball mayhem really begins. The AVCA Convention kicks off on Wednesday, December 16th in Tampa, FL. The who’s who of the volleyball world will congregate for the weekend to watch the Final Four matches, to teach and preach their expertise, and to pass along the great stories of their year.
When I attended my first AVCA Convention in Sacramento a couple years ago, the first person I saw as I walked into the hotel was Doug Beal, USA Volleyball CEO. This year I am certain Doug Beal will be in attendance and I look forward to listening to educational sessions by Hugh McCrutcheon, Karch Kiraly, Cecile Reynaud, Marv Dunphy, Bill Neville, Beth Launiere, Terry Pettit, Russ Rose, and Terry Liskevych to name a few. Some of these will be classroom sessions. Others will be on court presentations. I watched Karch perform his actual pre-practice/warm-up when he was playing sand. He did it with a 25 lb. sandbag at 45 years old. He’s a stud 
I am certainly hoping that Mike Hebert and his Minnesota Golden Gophers Volleyball Team are traveling to Tampa as a team…meaning they won their region and will play in the Final Four. He has a young squad and lost his number one outside hitter, but the team looks to be peaking at the right time. Go Gophers!
I hope to provide some great insight to the AVCA Convention upon my return. I’m certain it will be a great 4 days in Tampa. Bring on the sun too!
