ivolly

I know they did once or twice a few years ago. They will be at the Southside tournament in Birmingham this weekend, then host the Brentwood Invt next weekend, host a playday the following weekend and then fly to Tampa for the Berkeley Prep Premiere.

I expect most of the media attention will be on court 1 focusing on Asusmption, but if you get a chance stroll over to pool 7 and take a look at pre-season #33 Huntsville. Then consider that the setter on that team is a Freshman.

Accurate assessment. No BHS kids on the 151 team. As you know there has been a split in Nashvegas as well on the club scene the last couple of years. More options for the girls, more girls playing. I didn't always see it that way, and I am still a loyal Impact guy and believe in our coaches, but however the girls get better helps the whole area. The Ravenwood school zone has really diminished the number of kids coming into BHS. But I assure you there are still a number of talented players yet to be seen in ROYAL blue.

Well, I guess we will never know and all this is just speculation anyway. But remember, Brentwood's JV went to Louisville and put the smack down on Ryle 25-7, 25-10, and Sacred Heart 25-15, 25-12 in the finals. I don't know how many of those KY kids are playing varsity now, (if any), but those BHS kids are basically the varsity here now along with a great setter and two great OH's. I respect your opinion Digs, I just don't think the gap is that great anymore outside of Assumption.

Varsities play for 1 hour, and JV's play for 55 minutes. Typically games are to 25 like normal unless time does not permit. Some varsities will play longer or shorter based on roster sizes and whether or not they have a JV team.

The schedule for the BHS Team Camp is now available at brentwoodvolleyball.com See the menu on the left for the Team Camp page. You may download a MS Word copy of the schedule from the site. The dates are this Friday Aug 4 - Sunday Aug 6 15 teams participating: BHS DCA Lavergne Page Ravenwood Lipscomb Independence Centennial East Ridge BGA Siegel Blackman Dickson Co Brentwood Academy Franklin

Congrats to Independence for a GREAT year. I know the season ended a little short of your goal, but I know there were a TON of people who were impressed with your play and determination, myself included. That team has a very bright future. The coaching staff should be congratulated also, nice job with a VERY young team. Hats off to Franklin also for finding a way to get it done against a team who seemingly had their number over the course of the season. Props to RH Taylor Stice for a HUGE roof around 13-12 in the 5th, and "the Courtneys" for great blocking and transition offense. I thought FHS libero Megan Woodall played incredible as well in that match. It's a shame that only 2 teams can come out of this district, which argueably has four teams that could make state.

Recent report is that the 11-AAA tournament will be on Wed-Thurs next week at Centennial. Schedule to follow...

Franklin has had a team drop out at the last minute. If there is a team out there that would like to participate, please email Jay at impactvbc@mindspring.com

Walton is a perennial power private school from Atlanta, GA. Like the aliteration? Should be a tough team if history means anything.

Because you are trying to define all coaching in TN vb by YOUR experience. Who's the judge of this arguement? Each kid and player would have to decide for themselves. You cannot decide FOR them. Yes there are probably many dissatisfied customers, but there are also many happy and GRATEFUL and RETURNING customers. Why? Because as stated earlier, each has a different team, coach, talent level, and therefore each has different experience. Stop being so negative. A-5 didn't evolve immediately. They had a good plan. But they took all the good players that had been training at Atl Jrs and other clubs for years.

"A great club system and consistent coaching are the difference." OK, define consistent coaching. Do you mean coaching strategies or experience level? Do you mean philosophies or tendencies? Draw me a model of the "perfect coach" or "perfect club". Hard to define and build it...but easy to criticize, especially in anonymity. A great club takes time to evolve, and that is happening here in Nashville, and in Chattanooga, and in Memphis, and in Knoxville. The state's vb is getting better every year. Fact is, you only get out of it what you put into it. More kids are playing club every year, thus the level of vb in TN is getting better all the time. There is more parity now than ever, as should be evident from this weekend's Brentwood Invt. Some of the state's best teams got together and put on quite a show. BGA beat Ryan. HH beat Germantown. Both unlikely in recent history. Because of the coaching? Maybe. But more than likely because of the talent. BGA has a great coach, but also a great bunch of Freshman that are contributing plus some upper classmen with tons of experience in club. HH has a good coach. But would they have won and reached the finals without Taylor? Maybe, but not likely. Germantown beat Brentwood a game 25-9. 25-9!! Is that because of the coaching? The same two coaches have been there for over a decade. No, because of the play of the kids. And as far as TN vs Alabama or TN vs KY....BHS and Grissom have been swapping blows for years. It goes back and forth. This year Grissom won, barely. Before it was Brentwood. McGill came to the BIVT in 2003 and didn't make the Gold division, but won the AAAAAA State Championship over in Alabama. Does that mean that AL was inferior to TN that year? This weekend my team went to Louisville for a tournament and won, (not losing a game) and beat Sacred Heart in the finals 25-18, 25-19. Does that mean that all TN is getting better than KY? Of course not. My point STILL is that each team is different, each club is different, EACH COACH IS DIFFERENT, even in Kiva or Nasa. There is no "perfect" system. You cannot generalize that this area or that area is better or worse in coaching, on the whole. There are too many variables, yes including talent, and more importantly EXPERIENCE of the players.

Well, the other side of that coin is that not only do the Louisville kids start much earlier, but also that the majority (if not all) of the Kiva red teams play together at Kiva AND Assumption. Ron has done an incredible job with both programs. But he has also been blessed with a great situation in that his kids can play both for his school and club, so they are working together constantly. Some of the schools in TN are starting to do that, but they don't have that kind of experienced talent or coaching to make it benefit them yet. I know Brentwood has wanted to do that for years based on Ron's model. But even with the talent BHS has had over the past 10 years, I don't think they could have had a better club team with all BHS players than the best Impact teams created by combining the talent from other schools. In Assumption's case though, they have the best players so it works for them. But you can't compare Kiva and Impact, because no one in the country that I know of has a situation like Kiva/Assumption. Why else do you think Louisville, in the the middle of the mideast (aka nowheresville) has teams that beat the SoCal and Texas teams? Because Ron has created a great dynamic situation, plus they get to play the best teams from a much stronger area including Chicago, Indy, Michigan, and Ohio, and KHSAA does not step in and dub them with a 50/50 rule like Alabama has.

You might want to contact Father Ryan about this. One of their parents asked me the other day if I knew of any more good local JV tournaments. The only problem is they are hosting their Ryan Invt varsity tournament that same day, so their JV might not be allowed to leave. They also have a Freshman team that might be able to play. Worth a shot anyhoo. Contact Jinx Cocerham or Suzanne Spore. We'll be at the Tandem or otherwise we'd come. Good luck.

Sorry, no time to post the schedule right now. It is available at brentwoodvolleyball.com however. Initial pools posted by vbdaddy do look correct. Times and further info available by downloading the Word document from the brentwood website. One note: teams may bring their own coolers and food this weekend because the JV is going to Louisville and we will may be a bit short-staffed. However, the concessions will be up and running and will have delicious food again. Also, all profits made in the BIVT concessions will be donated to the RED CROSS KATRINA RELIEF FUND.