As much as I appreciate Dr. Doug Beal’s effort and tremendous job he does for USA Volleyball, I believe his involvement as FIVB President will only help grow volleyball in the U.S. I especially believe this could lead to a true FIVB Beach Tour stop in the U.S., particularly Manhattan Beach, that would really help the game, similar to that of golf and tennis with the Masters and U.S. Open. Continue Reading

PlayOn! Sports may become the ESPN of High School Sports. I must admit this is pretty sweet, and I  assume as technology continues to advance, there will be more of these types of networks. I am curious of the video quality as the games and matches are played. This will not only help the exposure of volleyball and have people realize how popular a sport volleyball is across the country. It is also a great opportunity to recruit for college coaches. Continue Reading

Fact 1:
The game of volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan.

Fact 2:
The first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women.

Fact 3:
Volleyball was first introduced as an Olympic sport in 1964. Continue Reading

Sometimes I call myself a “Reminder” not a Coach. I feel as if I am continually reminding players of things they need to be working on to improve. It takes a lot of patience to repeat myself, repeat myself, repeat myself and I often wonder if players even hear me? If they are hearing me? Are they comprehending what they are hearing? Do I need to clarify it…again…say it differently…spell it out for them? Continue Reading

So you’ve all probably seen the recent Blake Griffin dunk…

Continue Reading

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership

By: Jeff Janssen, Janssen Sports Leadership Center

As a tribute to the great leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., here are some of his words to reflect on regarding leadership. Continue Reading

Along the way, you meet good people. The people behind the Coastal Classic Volleyball Tournament are some of those good people. I met Richard Knott and Aly Pompeani through one of volleyball’s unfortunate experiences, the sudden passing of Ranse Jones.  I donated to help with Ranse’s fight and in return, got a great T-shirt.  I was wearing that T-shirt when I registered my Carolina Juniors Club Team at AAUs in Orlando when a typical Florida mid-afternoon thunderstorm came flying in. Many of the coaches were huddled under the baseball stadium when Aly introduced herself.  She recognized the t-shirt because she and her boyfriend Richard, both coaches at Grand Strand Juniors, designed the shirt and was helping to collect the funds for Ranse. Through that conversation in Orlando, Aly, Richard, and I have started one of those special friendships only volleyball can put together. People “on the outside” of our sport don’t understand why volleyball coaches and players do what we do for our sport. It’s because of bonds like these that makes our sport genuine and what we do so special. Continue Reading

With the New Year here, I wanted to express one of my New Year’s Resolutions.  I probably should be working on CoachRey.org website, but I learned that I had to delete all the work put in last week and reinstall, so I’m a little discouraged at the moment.  My mind is wandering… Continue Reading

As the holiday season falls upon us, it provides time to reflect on the year and be thankful.  This year, like every year, was its own mini-roller coaster, personally and professionally.  A family member and friend both battled potentially life-threatening diseases and both have fully recovered.  It makes us realize how fragile life is and we have a better appreciation for family and friends.  Continue Reading

Anyone that is everyone with volleyball in the United States is here at the AVCA Convention.  I had a great time presenting to the AVCA Convention First Time Attendees.  Presenting for the second time gave me a great opportunity to provide better advice for this year’s AVCA Class and it was much easier on the nerves.  Following the presentation, Brian Swenty, Kyrsten Becker, and Mary Leventis did a great job with the post First Time Attendees reception.  Bravo to them. Continue Reading

Five years ago, I attended my first AVCA Convention in Sacramento, CA.  I was excited and anxious, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.  I, along with 3 First Time Attendees from the 2010 AVCA Class, Brian Swenty, Kyrsten Becker, and Mary Leventis, are here to guide you through one of the greatest volleyball experiences you will attend, the 2011 AVCA Convention in San Antonio, TX! Continue Reading

Updated NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship Schedule
(click image for larger view)

2011 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Bracket

(Click for Pdf: 2011-ncaa-volleyball-bracket-women)

The Top 35 U.S. Players of All Time

Volleyball Magazine just came out with the Top 35 U.S. Players of All Time.  I appreciate the list to bring these great players to light and recognition to the history of our game.  I’m not sure if I agree with the order (especially Gene Selznick), but that’s half the fun of a list.  How many of these great players do you know and recognize?  I believe it is extremely important for the continued growth of our sport in the United States to know (and want to play like) these players. Continue Reading

I used to enjoy using the internet. I enjoyed surfing Google, starting on a webpage about volleyball and end up on a webpage learning about a rare African tree. I don’t know how or why I got there through Google, but I was learning abstract things and it was fun. A form of entertainment to me. I used to enjoy adding pictures to facebook to share with friends. Our interactions and friendly banter kept us together while we live thousands of miles apart. I enjoyed when it was the true world wide web and I could surf without webpages tailored to my perceived likes and dislikes. I never had issues with companies making money through advertising online, but the continued collection of ME, the vast unknown database of information collected about ME and my preferences feels as if it is a growing invasion of privacy. I don’t like it.

I used to like Google, but their quest to generate ad revenue by selling ME is a turn off. Ironically, the Casey Anthony case opened my eyes. I was surprised that her searches for “Chloraform” were collected by Google. Granted, a murder trial is a good reason to research the facts, but I realized that when I searched Google for a medical issue, that was also collected by Google. I really don’t want Google or their hundreds of advertising customers to know things like this about me.

Even Google’s Chrome browser’s intent is to track me and their new Google Chromebook computer is worse. When is enough, enough?

I was interested in joining Google +, Google’s version of facebook, but I have come to the realization their ultimate intention is to collect more information about ME to sell ME. Facebook is treading this dangerous line of invasion of privacy, but I believe they have already has crossed it.

Updates to their Privacy, Security, and Terms of Service is their ultimate downfall. When we join a website, there is a Privacy page that most of us agree to that none of us read. We blindly accept their Terms of Service because our friends have blindly accepted them as well. But that was 3 years ago for me when I accepted them…when there was a perceived Privacy. Now companies, like facebook, update their websites with features that most of us are clueless about. Do you realize that facebook now uses face recognition software to identify you in pictures, including pictures you have not added to facebook? Facebook’s new tagging feature “helps” tag friends in pictures. Another way to search and track you. It is a feature you can turn off, but most of us are unaware of it.

Unfortunately, companies like Klout, a social network grading website, is taking advantage of this technology and is identifying you and your friends on their website (even though you may not be registered with their website). They are trying to create their own social network.

Face recognition is getting worse. SocialTap uses face recognition software at local bars to identify the demographics of the patrons. It hasn’t yet, but I assume SocialTap or a similar company soon will, link those faces at public places to your facebook page. Quite discomforting.

I have come to terms with the fact that most of my “personal” information really isn’t personal anymore. I assume my social security information is likely floating out there somewhere. My credit card numbers will likely be stolen. Even my passwords will eventually be figured out…even this blog was recently hacked into and took me some time to recover. Unfortunately, these are things I have accepted about technology, but as technology evolves to a deeper invasion of my privacy, that is when I am turn away. I used to be a huge proponent of Google and Facebook, but I’m fading. Stop collecting and selling me! If a new website company wants to step in, like DuckDuckGo.com (although they need a better name) and allow search without a collection of data about ME to sell ME, I’m all for it.

Facebook will die, just as myspace did. Google will fall as AOL has.

I must admit, I’m not the least bit concerned about the NBA Lockout or the potential of the WNBA not having a season because of the NBA Lockout. In fact, I kind of like it. I was at a local restaurant and there were 4 televisions showing of volleyball. Duke vs North Carolina, USC vs Florida, Michigan vs Michigan State, and the USA in the Pan American games.

Wednesday night is volleyball night. ESPNU, Fox Sports Net, and the Big Ten Network (among other local stations) do a great job broadcasting matches. We as volleyball proponents need to support. Declare Wednesday Night Volleyball (just like Monday Night Football) and take over a local restaurant or sports bar. You will be amazed at how many people actually watch volleyball, know about volleyball, and ask questions as the match progresses. At Winthrop, our staff takes over a local establishment to enjoy some great volleyball on television.

As the season winds down, the volleyball only gets better. Many conferences will have their championships and then the NCAA Tournament. Better volleyball will attract better crowds. Its our duty to continue to spread the volleyball love.

Here is the remaining television schedule:

ESPNU
Sun, Nov 20 4 p.m. BIG EAST championship ESPNU HD
Sun, Nov 20 10:30 p.m. SWAC championship (tape delay) ESPNU HD
Wed, Nov 23 9 p.m. WAC championship ESPNU HD

Fox Sports Net (Pac 12 Network)
Fri., Nov. 4 Oregon State at Arizona 7 p.m. PT
Fri., Nov. 11 Stanford at Washington 7 p.m. PT
Fri./Sat., Nov. 18/19 Wildcard Selection* 7 p.m. (Local Time)
Fri., Nov. 25 California at Stanford 7 p.m. PT

Big Ten Network
Fri., 11/4: PSU at Minnesota, 9 p.m.
Wed., 11/9: MSU at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Sat., 11/12: Iowa at Indiana, 7 p.m. (Delay – Sun., 11/13 – TBD)
Sun., 11/20: Indiana at OSU, 2 p.m. (TBD)

The National cryBaby Association, NBA, continues it’s lockout and basketball continues to lose fans and participants.  What is going to happen when volleyball becomes more popular than basketball?  Impossible?  Not impossible.  In high schools the numbers prove the trend.  Every year Girls Volleyball continues to close the gap on having more participants than Boys Basketball.  Let me repeat that…Girls Volleyball will be more popular than Boys Basketball.  The 2010 – 2011 report published by The National Federation of High School Associations shows 545,844 boys high school basketball players and 409,332 girls high school volleyball players.  Girls volleyball participants are growing at a much faster rate than boys basketball. Continue Reading

BP showed a $22 Billion turn-around from one year ago and a $5.3 Billion earning in the second quarter alone (CNN report).  Nice job America, but then again, do Americans really care?  Last June, I said it was a Great Time to Buy BP Stock and if you listened, you would have about doubled your money in a year.  But who am I?  I should be a Goldman Sachs executive stealing money from your pocket.  Instead, I’m just a lowly volleyball coach.  What could I possibly know about business and the stock market?  I did spend 10 years in the business world and was president of a multi-million dollar corporation.  That made me a lot funnier and better looking at the time.  I must have been smarter then too. Continue Reading

Been a little MIA this time of year as I’ve been hibernating from the blazing weather and crazy storms because it’s that volleyball camp time of year.  Camp immediately following Junior Nationals in Atlanta certainly benefited the Winthrop program as many player drove-up from Atlanta to participate.  But I do have empathy for these players as it again seems they’ve been playing non-stop.  Continue Reading

This week the top junior teams of all the land will be playing in Atlanta at the USAV Junior National Tournament.  I look forward to spending the weekend in Atlanta to watch the top teams compete.  But if you can’t make it to Atlanta this weekend, the gold medal matches will be streamed live online.  Very cool.  Here is the link to watch the matches: Continue Reading

My vacation from my permanent vacation was perfect.  Now I need a vacation from my vacation.  Reflecting back on the weekend while flying home makes me think about my second life.  Although I’ve been around volleyball for over 21 years, it has become my “second life” after my “first life”. Continue Reading

Some may say my life is a permanent vacation, and in many ways I agree. Not a typical vacation: oceanside, magnificent waves crashing, an ocean breeze, a cool beverage and the warm sun. More like fluorescent lights, a cold gym, girls screaming and ear piercing whistles. I coach. I coach volleyball and do what I love. My permanent vacation. Continue Reading

A sweet mustache from back in the day!

Here is my picture of the week. Do you know who this is?

Scroll over the picture to learn who is this fine looking gentleman.