monarchmom

The middle school Mule Town Classic is slated for Aug. 26 and 27. (Would post this on the middle school site but can't do without paying? so am putting it here.) Maybe you can move it over.

The tournament is being moved to Spring Hill Middle School (the hosts) and will also be played at Spring Hill High School (like last year). 5 teams are already registered: Spring Hill Middle. Zion Christian, Dickson Middle, Coopertown Middle, Hampshire, Carroll Oakland.

This is the 6th year for this tournament with 14 teams competing last year. For more info contact tournament director, Jason Kyle at 931/215-1965 or e mail kylej@k12tn.net. Teams that already have registration forms should be sending them in asap with $150 entry fee.

Congrats to our Monarch teams that competed in the Knoxville club level tournament. Our 15's finished 1st in the Gold Flight, the 13's were 2nd in Gold, and the 14's were first in the Silver flight. Great start to the season!!

For those who missed it and since I can't post on the middle school board I'm doing it here, the annual Mule Town Classic Volleyball Tournament was a great one this past Friday and Sat. 14 teams competed in 3 pools, 2 at Columbia Central H. S.and 1 pool at Spring Hill H. S. -- an indicator of the growth of this tournament. Teams competing included ALL Maury Co. middle schools- Whitthorne, E A Cox, Zion Academy, Hampshire, Mt. Pleasant, Santa Fe, and the new Spring Hill Middle School, several Williamson Co. schools- Heritage, Freedom, and the new Spring Station, also Summertown, siegel JV, Charlotte, and Dickson Co..

After pool play finished, gold, silver and bronze flights were set up. In the bronze flight championship, Santa Fe defeated Spring Hill Middle. Silver flight championship ended with siegel J.V. being edged out in 3 tight sets by Summertown, and the gold flight championship match was a display of talent better than most high school j v teams with Dickson Co. coming out on top of a perfect weekend defeating Heritage.

This was another indicator of the growth of volleyball in southern middle tennessee and all the teams, coaches, and parents involved should be commended for the roles they played in making this tournament such a success.

Thanks to all who attended and we hope to see everyone back next year and invite other interested schools to join the fun.

Former Spring Hill High School standout, Janay Yancey, is a senior blocking leader on the squad.

what does this mean?

By the way, the Page Classic was cancelled--- I guess so they could go play in the Harpeth Hall Tourn?! Was wondering how many teams that affected that signed up to play in the Page tournament?

Those of you who had planned to play in the Page Classic might want to consider this tournament since the Page Classic has been cancelled.

interesting posts all of you. just weighing in from an outside club/county. The williamson county clubs mentioned here do a great job of providing opportunities to play volleyball for those girls who can afford it and yes, it is expensive. the coaches do get paid decent wages. the school teams mentioned are powerhouses in the areas as well and club play does help, although rutherford county and others close by are certainly doing a great things for their girls as well. There are other less expensive clubs in the area that girls can play for and they also provide good programs, such as Spike and Dickson Co., just to name a couple- there are others.

Our county, Maury, is/has had economic struggles in recent years, yet we have been able to give those girls interested in playing club in our area the opportunity to do so as well. Maury Monarchs (and I believe Middle TN Twisters, if they don't mind my including them, is about the same) offer the same amount of practice time and tournament play, quality uniforms and equipment, and knowledgable coaches (who also are involved with school teams) as the "bigger" -select, impact, etc clubs offer their non-power level teams. Our coaches DO NOT get paid and the fees are half as much as the impact, select, or nashville one clubs. True, our school teams aren't finishing as high up the ladder as some others in the area, but we most certainly are improving our level of play and perhaps, in time, will have teams finishing better and better.

I am not saying this to advertise for our club, I am merely pointing out that there are clubs available for "every pocketbook" and parents merely need to shop around to find the club that is "right" for their child's needs, their financial status, or whatever their criteria is in choosing a club.

As adults, let's stop bashing the club programs etc, and allow the girls to play the game we all love, no matter what level, age, program, etc.

By the way, did any of you check out the volleyball played at the Senior Olympics this past week? great job williamson county, specifically, BGA, USBA-Select- Tracey--- Thanks to all!! Sure didn't hear any complaining from all those participants, men and women, ages 50 and up!! Bet lots of them were parent, grandparents, etc of volleyball players from across the state!

Just an FYI: Spring Hill beat Forrest at their field last night 7 - 4. Yes, Forrest was using a main pitcher and it was a varsity game. Spring Hill's pitcher, Sam Usher, struck out 6 while walking only 1 and had a home run (over the fence) to her credit as well. Also, hitting a homer (WAY over the fence!) with a runner on, was senior center fielder, Bre Thurman.

All ther Raiders are healthy now and playing well as they get ready for district play next week.

Take us (SPRING HILL) off the loser list-- in as many ways as possible-- i went in and added our roster and the schedule info is as complete as can be-- there is no way to indicate a rainout in place of scores (is there)? It often isn't a lack of caring as far as coaches are concerned-- they are also teachers, counselors, parents, etc. and only have so much time in the day to do everything!!

We are back on track as far as winning district games, etc. Note our last outing was a 12 - 0 win over district team, Hickman Co. Sam Usher pitched a 2 hit, 9 strikeout, and only 4 walks-- game (she's only a jr!) and her fellow pitchers are on the mend (LaFevor and King). They are back in the line up and will be back to pitching soon. We had 12 hits on the night, including 7 dbls. -- everyone in the line-up contributed and we were error free defensively!!!

The end of the season is when it really counts and we will be at full strength soon!

Once again, please don't put words in my mouth. Have never said anything about SH pitching staff. Only "advised" Mr. Noitall that there may be a suprise team in this district and also "advised" him that they had more than pitching. And I am trying to figure out why beating SH last year matters this year?

Good Morning MrNoItAll- just a quick update for you. Spring Hill easily beat Page last night 12 to 1. Bree Thurman hit a home run with 2 runners on. It would have been out of the park if their scoreboard had not gotten in the way. As a team they collected 18 hits spread out among 6 players. You will probably see the 2 girls who have been out with injuries back in the line up with in the next week. Usher threw a 3 hitter, walking only 4 and striking out 7.

columbia central has another speedster join the team this yr. her name is also cheyanne...

Maury Monarchs VBC will hold tryouts on November 16 at Columbia Central High School. It is for ages 11 - 17. Go to jasoncherikyle@bellsouth.net for more information.

Yes, congrats to Page.

However, in regard to the other comments, didn't Community lose twice to Eagleville in the regular season? Eagleville is a good, hard working team and they earned their place in the standings and at the tournament (No, I am not from Eagleville).

Also, the brackets went out to the coaches by fax back on October 1. Why didn't Community's coach voice an objection between then and before the tournament started rather than the DAY AFTER play had begun?

Communuty played hard and is also a good team and should be proud of their accomplishments. It was an unfortunate situation but totally unfair to place the blame on the host school's athletic director (and NO, I am not from Van Buren) when all the schools had the OPPORTUNITY to voice an opinion and correct the error.

Congrats to all the girls receiving all season and all tournament honors!

Congratulations Page. You have a great team.

Now, with that said, let me comment on the fact that the game with the Community girls should have been the finals. Thanks to a tournament director who did not know how to make out a bracket, the two best teams did not play for the championship. This may have simply been a mistake, but it was a correctable mistake that was not remedied before the matches even began. As a result, a very deserving and hardworking team will not be going to the Region tournament. Thank you, Van Buren A.D.

GREAT JOB, Community, we all know that you were deserving of better treatment than you got.

Amen to the above post by the coach k;

There are girls to the south (past williamson/davidson co. and murfreesboro) worth watching. some aren't so tall or well known since their club and school ball team's aren't as well known, but they have every bit as much heart and are fun to watch-- some WILL go on to play college ball.

The girls he mentioned do have talent. Also, from the south: Spring Hill- Atlanta Westbrook and Kelli Gallamore- soph and freshmen middles with great verticals; sr. setter, Kirsten Agent- this team may surprise some people in their district/area this season. Having lost all but 2 matches last yr and losing 4 - 5 to graduation, this is a varsity with primarily 9th & 10th graders.

Also, there are individuals on several other teams down here to WATCH: Culleoka has a tall, talented jr.,middle-- Kristen Ratley; Summertown boasts jrs-Paige Perry OH and Devin -libero; Santa Fe has great leadership and quickness coming from sr., veteran Johnna Conner.

I've enjoyed readin this post so far. I have also noticed a similar pattern in coaching positions in the volleyball world and it more than likely reaches into all the girls sports as well as a number of the boys activities. This thread ought to be on all the sport board postings.

It seems the only way for things to get better is for all the pieces of the puzzle- coaches, players, parents, school admin, booster clubs, etc- to make a cooperative effort to get things done. I believe that all the sport teams at a school ought to be working together to make things happen, rather than each sport trying to promote their program individually, which so often seems to be the case. I think that the coaches in the various sports should make a better effort to "share" the athletes at their schools rather than pushing the kids in their programs to only play "their" sport.

Maury Monarchs are a new club (started last year) in the Columbia area. It was formed specifically to give players in the area who either could not afford the other clubs or didn't want to travel (to Impact,Select, etc) the opportunity to play and learn the game.

The directors have high school and club coaching experience and several of the coaches on staff are area high school coaches as well. They emphasize technique while preparing the teams for competition.

Last year all the teams were placed in the club division not power as that was where the directors felt the majority of the players should play given their current level of ability and it turned out to be a good fit for all.

The fees for this club are about half that of others, yet the teams get the same amount of practice, have quality uniforms and equipment, and attend the same amount of tournaments as most of the other clubs in the area.

There are other small clubs in the mid-tn area that also do a good job of providing a club experience for players whose families can't/won't provide their kids additional volleyball playing time. Some who come to mind right now are Dickson Dynamite, Franklin Flashes, Spike.....

As someone previously stated, "we are all in it for the love of the game..." whether it be coaches, players, parents.

That is not fair to the girls that play in that district to call what they are doing mediocre. They get out there and play hard. Sure we may not be as strong as other districts, but we are getting there.

I don't think hillmen was being unfair, just pointing out fact. The girls in the district do play hard and are getting there, but they have to understand that like it or not, they need to play club ball to even have a chance at "getting there." club is available and affordable..... check out the newly formed (as of last club season) Maury Monarchs Volleyball Club based out of Columbia. There are also clubs in Williamson Co, Nashville, and Murfreesboro.