BruinBabe

I agree that it is hard to find quality coaches. I also think you have to be careful about moving young club coaches to big time programs. Let them start out as asst at big programs and move up or at small programs and then get hired. Clubs love to place these coaches at big schools because it is a feeder to their club.

Really ther are only about ten or so big time programs. Memphis has none. In middle tn you have Brentwood, Father Ryan, Page as well established with Ravenwood, Indy, siegel, Cent, Goodpasture and some others moving into that year in year out quality program. Any of these could win it all in any given year.

In Chatt you have GPS, Baylor, Red Bank, and East Ridge as long time powers with Soddy Daisy, Ooltewah, Cookeville and others developing solid yearly squads.

In East Tenn for years it was only Sullivan South and Anderson County. Lately Dobbins Bennett, Karns, Catholic and Stone Memorial have risen up. Club is largely responsible for the growth, and parity, of the sport. It improves the players basic skill level, and allows for year round play with individual instruction. However, it takes a real coach at the high school level to bring everything together. That is why Brentwood has been so good for so long, coach C. She knows how to coach, and to get the most out of club. The same could be said at all of the long time powers like Father Ryan, East Ridge, GPS, etc.

What is sad is you post something to get a response then you edit your posts to try and look level headed. I will not be baited into bashing siegel, which does have great support and was on the way to becoming a strong program. Your original post, before you edited it, was full of false statements. I responded. You the followed up with other false statements, which were either edited or deleted.

I wish this young coach well. I think she will do a good job. My point was that siegel is too good of a program to hire a young coach, with no experience, and let her learn on the job.

As far as club, I coach club. I used to work with Jay. We all know what happened and it doesn't need to be aired here.

You are too sneaky and good at manipulating these posts.

I stand by what I say.

You MEN are misreading this post. Siegel was on the way to becoming an elite program. There would have been real coaches interested in this job. This is not a program where you learn as you go.

Clifford, your post is offensive when you call parents insane. Not Brentwood parents. They support the school.

What is insane is when parents pay Jay enough money for a Vandy education to play club with a false promise of college.

The two Woods are the state standard. End of discussion. Don't twist my words, read my posts.

Siegel won't even make regionals. Blame the parents who pushed this club coach. Wouldn't happen at Brentwood.

Dad, you don't even come to the playday? South is not in the same league as Brentwood, Indy or Ravenwood. No debate. You are small, slow and not that we'll coached. According to the Central fans you won't even get out of district. Our jv would whip you.

No surprises. Teams with a lot of club players looked sharper. Means nothing in July. Also, it was interesting seeing which teams changed things up and tried new things. My thoughts are Brentwood is in the mix to win another title. Ravenwood is not the same team. They are good, but beatable. siegel looked awful to have so many club players.

Soddy Daisy was surprising. Shows what a real coach can do (hint to Seigal) liked them.

Indy was up and down, but loaded with big athletes, if they come around both should be tough.

Liked Sullivan Central, they may be the top team in upper east TN.

Brentwood, Ravenwood are the two top teams in the state. The next level is crowded, interesting to see who steps up. Any of 10 schools could make it.

Sorry mr. Hargis, Seigal just doesn't have it. Don't expect them to make it out of district.

Sullivan South dad you didn't even come to this play day and you are talking smack. South is definitely going no where if dads get on and post about events they did not even attend! What a loser. As PP pointed out today it was Sullivan Central (who are a fun group and much better than south) that came. The Central fans confirmed that South is not in the mix. Way to try and stir something up south dad, real cool.

Also, I am keeping my shoes!

T quit trying to start something with this poor dad! You better quit posting and start worrying about playing, this camp is loaded.

South dad, I wasn't trying to slam your team. Good luck this year. Another poster was practically predicting a south state championship then deleted his post. My post was a response to his.

Why do you dislike The Wood? All we have done is be the volleyball standard in this state for the last twenty years. Take a look at our trophy case this weekend. Our DS and L won't have to duck because I doubt your little OH will get around the block. From what I saw lat year you tipped more than you hit.

You know what is pathetic. Your state tournament memory is taking a game off of a real team!

Keep those standards high south dad!

Ha! As long as you and Liz don't bring out the stinky yellow knee pad I will honor that bet!

I think we will be strong this year. How do you guys look?

I think the top AAA teams are us, Ravenwood, Seigal, Indy, Cent and Anderson County. Blackmon may be in there but it is a tough road for them out of district.

Mr. Hargis was touting Sullivan South and Farragut earlier but I don't know anything about them. They didn't look that good at state last year and my program says they lost a lot of seniors.

How is Page going to be?

See ya tomorrow night.

Sorry, didn't check here for a couple of days. PP I will be hanging at the middle school most of the time on Friday, come on over during a break. We are going to be good, and we want to see how we stack up against Seigal, Ravenwood, Indy and Anderson County. I think all of the top teams are here this weekend. It will be a good early look. Page better be ready for a thumping.

Mr. Harris, why did you delete your response? I.was going to respond to your state predictions which I thought were a little...odd.

I don't think you were being sincere when you said this choice was solely that of the principal. How many of these players are members of this club? This is another case of parents getting involved to pick a coach. Just ask Page, or Harpeth Hall, or Franklin how that works out.

I like your posts, but you need to be truthful. To say that the parents weren't the driving force in this hire is not cool.

I thought siegel was on the way to becoming a volleyball power. This will be a step back, which is sad. If siegel isn't in the final four then they have underperformed.

I don't blame the parents, they drink Jays kool aid. He is a con man who is interested in his bank account getting bigger. Trust me, we lived it. Now he has another feeder. Great for his club, sad for a school that had a chance to do something special.

This will answer the question that gets debated often, whether a former player and club coach with no real coaching experience can be a top tier high school coach.

Siegel should be in the state final four this year, and compete for a state championship. The district and region, and state as a whole are down. No one should really be able to keep Siegel from being in another final four. If Mr. H is right, that club is superior to high school, then Siegel should win its first state championship.

I, however, disagree. I think Siegel made a mistake going with someone so young with no real coaching experience to lead a team with so much talent. I predict that they won't get out of district.

Jay G. was an awful high school coach. Good at club,but didn't have the ability to move up to the high school level.

There have been great high school coaches who have done well at club, but there has never been a club coach with no real coaching experience move up to high school and do well without spending time to mentor as an asst.

J and J from our district are prime examples of club guys who couldn't deliver at the high school level.

Mr. H, I hope you are right and club is the way to go, but with a program like siegel, with the talent to win a state championship, I would think that they would go with a proven leader.

Time will tell.

Lets get REAL!

8 teams make state, but not all can win state. Houston and Collierville will make it and end 7 and 8. Riverdale will beat siegel, and finish 6th. Sullivan South will beat either Hardin Valley or Farragut and finish 5th. That leaves 4 teams:

Anderson County and Soddy Daisy will finish second in their pool and finish 3rd and 4th, leaving.....

Wait for it.....

The only 2 teams that have a shot at winning it all..... Brentwood and Ravenwood.

Those 2 teams are a level above everyone else. If three could come from this district Indy would be in the mix.

They will meet in the district finals, the regional finals, and the state finals.

Before you quickly hit the reply button think about it. Of the other 6 only Soddy Daisy and Anderson County even have a chance to pull an upset, and it would be a big upset. Soddy has a great hitter, and are experienced, but they play up and down. Anderson County has the athletes but they are young.

It will be either BrentWOOD or RavenWOOD, whoever has the stamina to win it all.

PH has been nothing but class. Stbulldog, not so much.

Have any of you ever played a competitive sport?

I estimate that in the last 40 years 7000 teams and over 100,000 athletes have tried to win a state championship. Of those 100,000 + athletes only about 500 have a ring. State championships are special. There are alot of schools, over 85%, that have never won a state championship in ANY sport.

Being a 1 hit wonder is fantastic for that team. What GB did is special, they are elite. They hold 25 of the 500 rings!

That doesn't make the school a power, it makes the Arnold sisters great players.

Just making it to a state tournament is special. Making it to the final four, or the finals is fantastic. Teams that year in and year out that are in the mix for a title are state powers.

This post was never meant to be critical. Some posters like 5 sport dad, and Stbulldog, just like to say mean things and stir stuff up. The 2 GB teams deserve everyones respect because they are elite. That doesn't make them a power.

I started this topic, and I think Stbulldog has totally missed the point.

At Wood we talk history with Coach, alot. In this state, during the 40 years of volleyball, ONLY 28 schools have won a state championship.

28

All are not power programs, some are 1 hit wonders. Likewise, several that have never won are legitimate powerhouses.

Stbulldog, Kirkman won 5 state championships, in a row. Are they still a state power? Still even a school?

They won at a time when VB was dominated by East TN. According to coach THE 5 VB schools were Kirkman and ER from Chatt; Norris (now called Anderson County) and West from Knoxville, and Sullivan South from the Tri Cities. South, AC, and ER are still winning, and are legitimate powers.

NOTE: to Stbulldog you seem to really not like AC. We don't either (who does), but each year they do more with less, and all of the attention they receive is earned. No school in the state would pick to play them in a big game because they are the most intense and aggressive school in the state.

USN and Bradley have 4 titles. Still a power?

No. They had a great group come through, and then they were done. Just like Hume Fogg, Livingston Academy, South Doyle, Lipscomb and Greenbriar.

Wood, Ryan, Germantown, Harding academy, AC, ER, Baylor, GPS, Red Bank, Page South all have titles, and all are POWERS.

Independance, DB, Notre Dame have titles and are becoming powers. Ooltewah, Farragut, Catholic, no title, but are established powers.

By the way, what school do you follow?

AC, ER, South have been at the top since the begining. Wood, Ryan, Page have been great a long time, with multiple teams. GB had a good 2 years. They have not earned Powerhouse status, yet.

There has been alot of discussion on here about whether Greenbrier should be included with the elite programs of the state like Brentwood, Ryan etc.

Does winning 2 state championships make a school a state power. No, it does not.

Greenbrier had 2 great players, but before they came and after they left they are middle of the pack. Sometimes a great player or a great class can have a magical run. When they leave it is over. Thus they are a 1 hit wonder.

Sometimes a great program never wins a state championship but year in year out compete for one ie Ooltewah. Which is the better program, no question it is the Owls.

At Brentwood we think Father Ryan is a great program. Every year they are competitive. Several local schools are showing promise ie Seigal; BM and Ind, but haven't sustained it long enough to be established. Other schools like Page were 1 hit with Perilli, but became a great program by sustaining it with multiple coaches and now are an elite.

Germantown used to be elite, but now are mediocre.

GB had a pair of great players that had a good run. But put them in the record bin with 1 hit wonders!

Nothing wrong with that. They are Katrina and the Waves to the Wood's Rolling Stones.

I logged on here because I was board and saw a zillion posts about schools I have never even heard of. Is this a joke?

Who in the heck is Karns or Powell? Why would anybody even care who transfers in or out of these schools.

Surely this is a joke. If it is not a joke some of you posters are delusional.

My family has had players in the Brentwood system for over 10 years, and we play all over the state. I have never even heard of these 2 schools, and I can't imagine that they would be good enough to even make a ripple in the volleyball pool.

I assume from the posts that they are out of Knoxville? Other than Anderson County and Farragut do any schools in Knoxville even have teams?

East of Nashville the ONLY schools that we ever look at are Ooltewah, Anderson County, Farragut and sometimes a school from upper ET. (Although that Dobbins Bennett team was great this year).

OK, I just googled Karns. The Lady Beavers

This really is a joke!

It sounds like this Karns team (which I have never even heard of yet is all over coacht this spring) could use several recruits!

Not jokes, just not real volleyball coaches. Most non-club coaches are PE teachers, or teach some other subject, but never played volleyball. It is what it is. Look at a successful high school team and you will find a club coach that teaches the volleyball.

Whats to challenge? If your county wants to make this rule so what. It is none of the TSSAA's business.

Brentwood is TN volleyball. Period.

All we did was follow the model used in Louisville. You can't get better if you don't commit to playing club. Simple.

Does anybody complain about AAU travel teams? If parents and booster clubs want to raise money to hire club coaches (real coaches) that is the teams business. Why would you not want to play at a school where you win, and play for coaches who know the sport? Colleges can pay whatever they want for a coach. This is the teams money, and if they want to hire real coaches too bad.

All that means is make a little more room in the trophy case!!!!

Did you think the Wood was going to sit quiet after Independence lucked up at the State Tournament last year? We were needing a hitter, now it looks like we got one.

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What do you expect? Greenbrier pushes Kayla Arnold and nobody else. She gets all of the sets, and the offense is run to make her a star. Who has Greenbrier beat this year? Anyone that they shouldn't beat. Smith from Page is twice the player that Arnold is and she is only a junior.

Greenbrier fans on this board (That is you Mr. Arnold) openly talk that Greenbrier better win it all this year because when Kayla is gone Greenbriers run is over. Why act surprised that only certain girls get recognized? How many sets does she get, 2/3's. Then if she miss hits a ball what does the coach say, give her a better set?

Page and Greenbrier play first round of the tournament. Page wins because Smith is better than Arnold, and that is not going to be an upset.

In response to 5-sport dad (aka Mr. Arnold):

You may be a great speller, but there is no BUT in Brentwood!

Every volleyball discussion in this state begins, and ends, with the Wood. Every year people get on Coach T and talk about how "This is the year..." and every year we win. That simple.

Your daughter is a very good PLAYER, BUT..., she is on a team where she gets every set. At Brentwood, everybody hits.

You NEVER see our fans get on this site and disrespect anyone, let alone someone like Coach Neely who has spent her life promoting high school volleyball. Also, where do you get off predicting that another team is going to go "Ofer" at the state tournament. It must be nice to sit in the stands and taunt another team while you send your daughter onto the court to back up your boasts. Do you do that in all 5 sports, DAD? I assume that you are not worried about anybody in your district, region or sectional even taking a game from you either?

I wonder what you will say if East Ridge beats you at the sectional? "We would have won, BUT the coach didn't get my daughter the ball enough. We would have won, but the refs cheated. We would have won, but..."

If Greenbrier makes it back to the state tournament, and with the BIG GREEN TARGET you have put on their back that is highly unlikely, I will be cheering for whoever your team plays.

Greenbrier is not that good, where "Ofer's" can be spread so easily. In fact, I will be surprised if you can make it out of pool play. Of course you'll have plenty of "Buts" ready, won't you Dad?

Here is my prediction, Brentwood will work their Buts off to make it back to the state tournament. Brentwood will run their Buts off to get every loose ball, Brentwood will play their buts off, win or lose, and will respect every school.

This answers ALOT of questions about why the former coach was fired. For three years it has been talked about Nicole Smith playing for Brentwood. Each year the rumor is that she is coming. Is there ANY question that at least part of the motivation for the move was to make this mom the coach?

I do NOT like this move, and it shows why volunteer coaches can become such a problem. It is the job of the principal to hire and fire coaches, NOT parents and players. I also dislike a parent coaching there own child.

I was hesitant to say anything but this whole thing is bad. If the former coach broke the rules, then follow the rules. If you don't do what the boss says, then the boss fires you.

There is much more going on here then what is being posted. How many other schools are going to move a coach to let a mom or dad take over in order to keep a star player. The "STAR" treatment of a great athlete is NOT fair to the athlete or to the team. This is nothing more than a school bending over backwards to keep their best player (and mom) happy.

It happens in football and basketball all of the time, now it is in volleyball. Don't glorify this, call it what it is. Sports are to TEACH the appropriate way to things, this is not it. Letting a 16 year old and her mom call the shots is a bad lesson!

Please keep this thread open. I encourage more players and parents to talk about what it is really like, including having to play for impact.