CheckerboardEndzones

St Marys 5 Hutchison 0

1) Houston

2) St Agnes

3) Collierville

4) St Benedict's

5) St George's

6) Germantown

7) St Mary's

8) Briarcrest

9) Hutchison

10) White Station

 

Gut-Feel PRE Season picks. Let the slinging begin

Pretty solid IMO.

I think that 1-3 are really strong picks. 4-10 could probably be and probably will flop around a bit as the trials and tribulations of the season take effect. I would think that ECS and Harding, based on recent year's would be in that mix for top 10 as well.

St. Mary's at #7 peaks my interest a little. I am guessing they did not lose much from last year? SG not lose too much as well?

Your pick: Week 2 - St. Mary's @ Hutchison - opening game @ Hutchison's new expansive turf field.

We all decided not to field teams this season since none of us were included in the "Elite Program" conversation. Figured we save a few dollars and all play church league instead.

....seems like a coin has many sides.

 

Don't think "your" team is the only team with injuries, if you are your kidding yourself and are already formulating a rationalization for the season ahead.

 

 

Wow, I am glad that based on one statement, you already assume that you know I think. I am fully aware that all teams have injuries. I was simply stating the facts for that particular game. Most of those kids will be back before the season starts or early in the season. I was in no way taking anything away from C'Ville as they are a very solid team.

And for the record, I have no problems with the MS Private Schools playing 7th and 8th graders. We have played 8th graders on the Varsity before. These same teams have been coming to this preseason tourney for years now, playing young kids each year, and I have not heard to much about it. If that is what they have to do to field a team, then more power to them.

Welcome back everyone! Looks like we are off to a great start...and we haven't even heard from WaterDog yet! Always fun to spice up the message board. Now, onto soccer....

 

The Collierville pre-season tournament began tonight. Briarcrest played Jackson Academy out of MS to a 4 to 0 win. Like a typical pre-season, a third of the game was played JV who fought hard to keep JA out of the goal but was not as successful as the Varsity against them. All four goals for Briarcrest came from different girls...which is really great to see a lot of girls step up in light of the fact that we lost a lot of seniors. We are a young team this year starting six Sophomores and a Freshman keeper rounded out by two Juniors and two Seniors.

 

I watched the first 20 minutes of St Agnes versus Starkville Academy game...SAA scored in the first minute off a nice header and was up 3 to 0 after 20 minutes. SAA has a pretty young team this year, also. In an earlier game, I had heard that Collierville was up 2 to 0 over Hutchison who lost a lot of seniors this year also.

Final was 5-0.

With all do respect to Collierville, I am not sure how indicative the score is of either team. Yes, Hutchison is a young squad, but they were without 6 players, 5 of which were starters from a year ago, to injury/illness. With 2 of the 6 being the #1 and #2 keeper, they were forced to insert a freshman with little to no experience into the goal after only a couple of days practice. To her credit, she made a couple of nice saves.

5 sport, you and stbulldog are 2 of the biggest haters on here. Maybe the "drama" was caused by you trying to live through your kid? Or was it you having her play 5 sports?

 

One hit wonder, because the Arnold girls had 2 good years.

 

Keep ranting, just proves the point even more!

Says the person who is in a thread hating on Greenbrier.

I agree with the rule too. But I am not sure if this makes anything easier for coaches. As I stated earlier, most coaches and parents will err on the side of caution. Those that are willing to take a chance on a child's health probably will find a way around the rule anyway. That is sad. I would not even consider taking a chance on any child's health for any reason. But other factors enter into play, (a player that knows something is wrong but hides it for fear of losing playing time. Or a coach who is so caught up in the win for any cost philosophy just ignores any signs and looks the other way). I am not sure that rule will affect these few coaches that may exist. Lastly I am not so trusting in the establishment to believe that a rule implemented will solve this issue. I wish it was that simple. But it will come down to what most issues in high school sports come down to and that is integrity, honestly, and serving the welfare of the student first and foremost. PS I agree totally that there are some coaches who will risk most anything to win, sadly this is true.

In these economic times, I highly doubt it will happen, but I would advocate seeing a State or TSSAA rule that makes it mandatory for every secondary school to have a Certified Athletic Trainer in at least a part time role. Of course I am biased given it is my profession, but it would help with a lot of these concerns. In light of the concussions, Athletic Trainers can provide baseline testing so that in the even of an head injury, there is some standard as to the athletes normal state.

I will give props to CBHS. For the past few years, they have used the IMPACT testing. This is the testing system that is used in the NFL and among most high profile college programs. It is a more expensive form of the baseline testing, but it is a highly accurate measure for determining the presence or severity of a concussion.

If this new rule is actually needed, then that is sad. I believe you would have to search far and wide to find any coach that would not require a player to go to a doctor if they exhibited sighs of a concussion. Not to mention that 99% of the parents would take them to a doctor with or without the coaches opinion if they saw signs of a concussion. If there are no signs, then the only option is asking the player and its up to them to tell the truth knowing they might have to sit out some games and or go to a doctor. So the rule is implemented, but the process remains 99% the same.

Unfortunately, it may not be that far of a reach to find such a coach. The fact is that while the overwhelming majority of coaches, athletic trainers, or administrators would do the right thing, there are still some that don't. While you think the parents would seem to know better, there are always some who do not. Because of this, in our lawsuit friendly society, these "common sense" rules will continue to go into effect. Of course, like a lot of things in sports, this is a trickle down effect from the concussion issues recently raised in professional and collegiate sports.

I will say this for the concussion rule. I personally like it bc it does a few things. It protects the athlete and makes the decision easy for the coach. Head injuries are not always textbook and it can sometimes be challenging to make that decision on whether the athlete is safe for return to play or not. Also, while many parents are great, I have seen my share of those who think they know best on the situation, when in reality they do not. With this rule, the decision is simple. If you have symptoms, you are out. There is no debate, no tough decision for the coach, etc.

Actually,from the TSSAA's point of view, that's totally correct. If you don't believe it, go ahead and ask the TSSAA's Executive Director, Bernard Childress, who explained that rule to me himself exactly as I have explained it to you.

 

Now, with the NCAA, it's a different story altogether. An entering athlete must declare his amateur status for the NCAA and may NOT have taken any kind of monetary award.

 

Two totally different systems with totally different rules. Makes a ton of sense, doesn't it?

I don't have to call Bernard. What you are saying is wrong. If you really did talk to him, then he either misunderstood you, or you misunderstood him. Any logical person on this board can understand the fact that it is illegal for an amateur athlete to accept money or gifts for their athletic ability and that in doing so, they forfeit their amateur status.

Amateur Rule

 

Section 18. A student who has never used and is not using his/her knowledge of athletics or his/her athletic skill for pay in the sports which this Association governs and who has always contested under his/her own name is an amateur. (Accepting money for officiating athletic contests or for working as an employee in a city or county recreation program is not a violation of this regulation.) A student who violates the amateur rule shall be ineligible for 12 months in the sport in which the violation occurs.

 

Such a student may be reinstated as an amateur after a period of one calendar year from the time he/she was declared ineligible has elapsed, provided he/she has not violated the amateur rule during this period.

To help you out, I even bolded the word NEVER so that you can join the rest of us in this little thing we call reality.

Again, the key here is when the award happens. If the award is for a performance that occurs while the athlete is eligible, then the athlete may not accept it. However, during the period of time that the athlete is not eligible--between seasons--the athlete may accept whatever award he likes. That comes directly from the current Executive Director of the TSSAA.

 

If you have any question at all, though, I'd advise anyone to ask the TSSAA directly. Each sport has an Assistant ED.

Wrong again.

<-- Response you will get if you are someone that tries to use this defense for taking money as an amateur athlete.

That doesn't seem fair. If I play volleyball and want to go to Catholic it is ok for my church to pay my tuition? Why can't Grace Baptist church pay the tuition for one of its members to go to Grace Christian Academy?

 

This is why Grace Christian got in trouble. The church paid part of the tuition for one of its athletes. There are more Baptist schools in TN than Catholic schools. Why does the TSSAA only make the exception for Catholic schools?

Look at St's first post again. The individual parishes are donating money to reduce the tuition of ALL students. GCA was in trouble because someone paid for one particular student.

I response to IM on accepting gifts/money. I am not sure where you got your info, but i am pretty sure the TSSAA Bylaws clear it up in the Amateur Rule..

Award Rule

Section 19. A student may accept a medal, trophy, state championship ring, high school letter, sweater, jacket, shirt, blazer or blanket but nothing else of commercial value. (A sweater, jacket, shirt, blazer or blanket must carry the high school letter or other appropriate award emblem.) None of the approved awards shall be accepted from an individual or a non-school organization unless the giving of such award has been approved by the principal of the school the athlete attends. Acceptance of forbidden awards will cause a student to become ineligible for 12 months in the sport in which the violation occurs. Bowling, golf and tennis students will abide by USBC, USGA, and USTA regulations in accepting awards.

 

Section 20. A member school that has any connection with the presentation of a forbidden award — such as assisting in the selection of the person to receive the award, permitting the award to be given at a school function, or holding the award for a student until he/she has graduated — shall be subject to suspension from tournament play in the involved sport(s) for one season.

Hey PHargis Who is looking into these rules? About half of them are being broken at most high schools. Again whose in charge of enforcement? I had sent a list to TSSAA, A friend told me today the board didnt even look into these folks. These are serious needs that needs to be addressed, my understanding they are now in the waste can. I am deciding whether or not to send these to my local newspaper its the only way I see to get this out. I am not posting this to start anything just a simple question of whose in charge?

Edge,

If you are really confident that rules are being broken, I would suggest that you sit down with the AD or Principal at your school and share your concerns with them. If they see merits in your claims, they will then take the appropriate action. Sometimes you may believe that rules have been broken when in reality they have not. Their are certain loop holes, special circumstances, etc.

TE, you are beginning to make me nervous again. By posting this set of rules, just before school starts,, gives all the opportunity to check themselves out. No one intentionally breaks rules. It is not the nature of man or woman. Even a watchdog like you has not ben able to make a case without undisputable facts. Case is closed and I for one believe in the integrity of those whose job it is to maintain the system and those in the system. Let the games begin.

If you think that people under the umbrella of the TSSAA do not break rules without intent, then I have some lovely beach front property in South Dakota that I would love to sell you. I could probably fill a books worth. Oh wait, someone already wrote a book and had a movie, with violations abound, but they went unscathed.

This camp will be coming to a close at noon today (Thursday) so I thought I would add some final commentary.

Overall, I think that the Hutchison Team Camp was a success. Of course I am somewhat biased, but the others involved seemed to have had a good time. There were only 4 teams in this the inaugural year, but I imagine that number will grow in the coming years and only add to the level of play.

The kids received a break from the on court action Wednesday afternoon as they sat in on a informative presentation on college volleyball and the recruiting process. In addition to the athletes, parents were encouraged to attend and many took that opportunity. Of course not every kid will play Volleyball beyond high school, but I thought some of the advice could be also be applied to the regular student who needs help weeding through their college choices.

As for the teams....

SBA - simply put, the defending champs are good again.

Houston - young and athletic. They have some weapons for sure. It may take this team a little time to work out some kinks, but they will be dangerous by October.

Hutchison - young and scrappy. Definitely not void of talent. Success will be dependent on the rate at which the talent is developed.

Note: The 4th team was from out of state, so any impression would not mean anything to people in TN.

Good luck to everyone else across the state for the upcoming season!

St.B -- Thanks

Hargis,

To answer your first question. I am not sure that our new coach saw anything in particular to change what we have done in previous years. She more or less has a vision of what she wants and has a plan on how to achieve such. I think it has also given some in Memphis yet another opportunity to promote volleyball and enhance the kids skills without having to travel to Nashville, a place that we will likely already visit 3-4 times this upcoming season.

In reference to question 2. Every night the teams scrimmage each other. The day time sessions are filled with periods of skill work and individual team coaching. In addition, there are rotations through "classroom work" that touches on various topics ranging from strategy, mental toughness, college recruiting, etc.

As far as Houston, they look a little younger but still look talented and as good as usual. I think they are missing a player or two for this camp, so they will probably step it up even more by this weekend.

SBA looks tough as well. I think they only lost one starter from a year ago, but will add Caroline Sabbatini, an all-state setter/libero, to the fold once she becomes eligible (around State time) after transferring.

Not sure I can give you that good of an assessment on Hutchison yet. There is some talent there and they appear to be a scrappy bunch, but once again, they will still be a young group overall.

Just thought I would throw out what is happening on the West side of the state...

The 1st Annual Hutchison Team Camp is underway. The camp that consists of Hutchison, Center Hill H.S. (MS), St. Benedict, and Houston H.S. runs from 9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. in a 3 session format. The first 2 sessions are spent working on various aspects ranging from team bonding to skill work to mental training, while the 3rd session is game play.

Notable instructors include

Penny-Lucas White - 1st year Hutchison HC ; played collegiately at LSU, former National Team member; played professionally overseas and state side; 20+ years coaching experience: Asst at Auburn, HC at Memphis, and 14 years HC at The Air Force Academy. Also, is a Cadre member of the USAV and travels for the organization hosting clinics for both players and coaches.

Ruth Lawanson - Asst. Coach at Univ. of Nevada Reno, over 10 years collegiate coaching ; Former National Team Member, including 1992 Olympic Bronze Medal squad; All-American at Fresno St. ; played professionally overseas and state side.

Verna Julaton - 15+ years collegiate coaching. Former Division 2 All-American. Played professionally for the Colorado Thunder with Lucas-White.

Diana Cole - USAV Director of Coaching Education

A good camp so far. The camp was limited in number this year, but will seek to grow in size and competition in the coming years.

Welcome vbfantenn!

 

Thank you for eloquently stating what I was having trouble finding the words for...enrolled. That's it

By signing a contract at a private school, you are technically enrolling your child in that school for the next year.

At the same time, there is an exception here. Because the kid is coming from a school that in not affiliated with the HS in question, there is no issue. If the kid were moving from the 8th to 9th grade at the same school it would be an issue.

Hutchison School in Memphis is began the process last week of adding another multi-purpose Soccer/Lacrosse Field to its campus. The new field will be made of artificial turf and feature a larger playing surface and improved seating for fans. The field should be ready in time for the 2010 Soccer season.

 

Congratulations! Briarcrest will look forward to playing on it!

Briarcrest still has, in my humble opinion, one of the best soccer fields in the city with a good field, ample seating, and the nice new soccer fieldhouse recently built. Looking forward to the Fall season!

Thanks! Briarcrest no doubt has a first class facility. I am just looking forward to us having stable field conditions, no matter the weather (too many rainouts this past year). It should have all the modern amenities that Briarcrest and other newer facilities have.

Hutchison School in Memphis is began the process last week of adding another multi-purpose Soccer/Lacrosse Field to its campus. The new field will be made of artificial turf and feature a larger playing surface and improved seating for fans. The field should be ready in time for the 2010 Soccer season.

If you go to TSSAA calendar for 2010 the date of volleyball's 1st practice is July 26th.

Good find.

In typical TSSAA fashion, they have managed to update only a portion of their website, while leaving other parts to reflect wrong information.

CB, I hope I am interpreting this correctly... Does this mean schools could hold practice daily from July 12-16, 19-23 and 26-30 (15 days) and still be in compliance? Or any combination of days from July 12-Aug 1 (including weekends) as long as they practice no more than 15 days during this time? Have I interpreted this correctly? Also, do multiple practices in a day count as 1 day or multiple days? Thanks for your insight.

I believe that you are correct. The wording is 15 days, so you can hold as many practices as you want in one day and it still counts the same as if you had one.

I doubt you will see any movement of the dates like is being discussed with football. Volleyball can not really start any earlier at this point in terms of working with a coach. The only things that could change would be the start of official practice, but that would absolutely reap havoc with Team Camp schedules at this point.

TSSAA Volleyball Calendar

We are currently in a Dead Period until March 15th.

From March 15th until the End of School: weight training, conditioning, and open facilities are permitted.

From the End of School to the Summer Dead Period: Permitted 3 practice days. Beyond that, weight training and conditioning are permitted. No open facilities.

Summer Dead Period: June 27 – July10

July 12 – Aug 1: 15 days of practice permitted. 10 of those practices may be with other teams (this is the time that you can schedule your team camp).

Aug 2: First official practice date. Must hold 3 days of practice before you can scrimmage.

Aug 23: Can begin match play.

Coach White will work towards finalizing her staff over the course of the spring.

Hutchison is proud to announce the appointment of Penny Lucas-White as the school’s Head Volleyball Coach. Lucas-White comes to Hutchison after serving 14 years as the Head Coach for the Uni

ted States Air Force Academy’s Women’s Volleyball program. Following a stellar playing career at the collegiate, national and international levels, Lucas-White became the first coach in the Falcons' Division I history. She joined the Academy staff in 1996, as Air Force was making the jump from Division II to Division I status.

During her tenure on the Falcons' bench, 18 different cadet-athletes were named to the academic All-Mountain West Conference team (including one MWC Scholar-Athlete of the Year), while four others earned academic All-Western Athletic Conference honors.

Lucas-White joined the Academy staff in 1996 from the University of Memphis, where she compiled a 95-80 record in five seasons as the head coach of the Tigers.

The Sting’s new Head Coach draws her coaching expertise from an impressive playing career at the collegiate, national and international levels.

Lucas-White earned first-team All-SEC honors, as well as the MVP award, in her first season playing at Louisiana State University. Lucas-White is still ranked among the program's top-10 for assisted blocks in a season (129) and digs in a season (400); both which she set during her junior year. After an outstanding three-year career at LSU, Lucas-White opted to leave the collegiate ranks to play on a higher level overseas in the German Professional League.

Two years later, the U.S. National team came knocking at her door and the middle hitter was chosen to play with America's best in the NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean) tournament and at the 1985 Pan-Am Games. Remaining stateside, Lucas-White spent two years playing professionally in the U.S. Pro League, splitting her time between the Dallas Belles and the Chicago Breeze. While there, she received awards for both blocking and spiking efficiency.

Overseas play called once again and Lucas-White departed the United States to join the ranks of the Italian Professional League in Matera. During the 1988-89 season, she competed with the team in Argrigento and was named to all-tournament teams twice in three years. Also during the 1988-89 season in Argrigento, Lucas-White served as a player and coach.

While competing professionally in the United States and Europe, Lucas-White remained active during the collegiate season as an assistant coach with the Auburn University women's program from 1987-89. The Auburn team boasted a 63-47 record in her tenure, achieving back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1988 and 1989.

When her tour with the Italian League ended in 1991, Lucas-White accepted a position as the head coach at the University of Memphis. While there, she combined skill on the court with skill in the classroom, as her Tiger players maintained an average grade-point-average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

As a player, Lucas-White continued to hone her skills, earning both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors for her United States Volleyball Association Open team in the summer of 1993.

While coaching at Memphis, she finished her education, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1993. Lucas-White continued her professional play during the 1997 season with the Colorado Thunder of the National Volleyball Association (NVA). She was the number one pick in the NVA inaugural draft, was voted the league's most valuable player, selected to the All-Pro team, and was the Colorado Sports Woman of the Year.

Despite a busy coaching schedule, Lucas-White has been a grant writer with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and an active member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and USA Volleyball. In 2005, she helped the AVCA receive a NCAA minority women's coaches grant for a program entitled "Volleyball: Live It! Love It! Coach It!" Since this time she has served as the chairperson and on the board of directors as the at-large representative for minority coaches with the AVCA. In addition, she has completed Level III Cadre Coaches training with the United States Coaches Accreditation Program and travels around the country as a trainer and spokesperson for USA Volleyball.

Mentioning on this site is good and will be seen like you did it but a wider range of viewing, if one likes, is to go to TSSAA site and to the bulletin board and to the positions open and see if that would be best to list it there. If so, call TSSAA to see how it might be done.

Thanks. This is the first time that we have ever hired a coach and we were unfamiliar with the proper methods of posting a job listing. I just marked my calendar to make sure that calling the TSSAA is the first thing that we do on Monday morning.

Don't be intimindated by so many FB's(Football) positions listed. It's that time of year. VB can be put in front of your position.

We are not intimidated in the least. In fact, we are currently trying to not only lure a top Head Coach, but we are out looking for top notch offensive and defensive coordinators. We will take listing under VB into consideration.

For those schools looking, IMO this is the time to do it. Waiting till the end of the year only does not recognize that VB is the first sport of a new school year and puts a school behind in planning ie, making out a schedule, doing tryouts, checking on uniforms and sizes, planning on money raising events, providing consuling on summer activities, being familiarized with parents.

We better rush out and hire someone. I mean its already November. There is nobody else at the school can make a schedule or size uniforms. I am most worried about the kids. Despite the vast majority playing club, there is no way they will figure out how to improve in the offseason. Lastly, I forgot about tryouts. If the coach is not in place immediately, there is no way that they will be prepared to hold tryouts in late may.