bratman

I agree with you both, to a point. For clarification my youngest graduated more than 10 years ago and I am sure much has changed. I am looking at this from the perspective of a physician and retired pro athlete. I respectfully disagree with the stress on the body. The jumping, and the the lateral net movement puts more stress on the body than running. Don't equate contact injuries with long term stress injuries. Think Tiger Woods. It's great that your coaches don't allow weights! Those should be outlawed for high school athletes. In Louisville, our best club practiced in December, and when I observed their high schools the level of competition was way higher than what I saw in Tennessee. Also more intense. Good comments.

Just watched an interview with the director of the concussion legacy foundation. He is a Harvard trained physician and former college football player. His foundation believes that CTE is not caused by five or six big hits, instead he believes that it is the hundreds/thousands of small hits that youth players receive by playing tackle football as children. This medical organization is proposing legislation to limit helmets and pads until players are 16. What was interesting is that they don't limit the negative effect to just football. They are documenting the negative effects of over training on children. The doctors believe that children shouldn't have intense physical training until their bodies completely developed. Usually between 15-20. The long term physical effects we won't see until this generation hits their 50's, and my fear is if those of us who love volleyball and love our daughters don't start speaking out it will be do late. i am interested in hearing from someone who supports year round play and intense physical training for 12-18 year old children, and why they think this is good for the children.

TT, I think you hit the nail on the head, it is about MONEY. These are our children. It makes no sense why college and pro athletes are restricted from year round play but not the children. 10 years from now we are going to look back and wonder what we were thinking. The long term negative effects of the physical and mental strain we put on these children's body is wrong.

I agree with the above, especially on the number of high school matches. When we were in middle school age, mid 90's the high schools played over 60 matches! There was no limit on tournaments. I strongly agree with limiting to two tournaments and 25 non tournament matches for high school. Don't let matches play until the end of August, that gives everyone a month to get back in shape before live play. If we moved the state tournament back to the end of October and I love the 2 tournament idea, that helps, but we still have to deal with club, and the off season training. I am way removed from this but how are parents and coaches justifying not giving these girls at least 4 months off? Are the clubs pushing it? I believe this is a serious issue that affects the health of children. What rationale is being given to push so much play. Great discussion btw.

When my daughter went to college she was part of a study that talks about how much rest a college athlete needs. The results were eye opening. A Division 1 athlete needs a minimum of 4-5 months away from the sport and from anything close to serious training to stay healthy. When I played pro ball our contract gave us a MINIMUM of 4 months away from the club, and we were NOT allowed to do anything physical in able to let our body rest. A high school athlete should have the same time off as a college or pro athlete, even more. Parents have gone sports crazy, and clubs are so motivated by the dollar that they create a false idea that year round play makes you a better player. I would offer that it is the quality, not the quantity, of what you receive that makes you a better player. i stand with my last week of July Start for high school. Back the state tournament back up to the end of October. Start games the last week of August. No club play until February and end by first of June. How would this do anything but help the athlete?

First, thank you for taking the time to call me about this instead of making a childish response. This is NOT an attack on club in anyway. My daughters played club, and I played ball professionally and know what it takes to compete at the highest level. Parents have lost perspective and clubs have become more focused on making money. No one, even professional athletes, should play competitive sports on a year round basis. It is not healthy. As many of you know me, I played professionally for 6 years and I am now a physician. Year round play is harming your daughters, and if the club and high school coaches tell you different then they are either uniformed or intentionally misleading you. My suggestion is this: High School season run from August until October, like it used to. Club tryouts occur immediately after high school is over, but NO practice until January. Have the nationals end by the first week of June. This gives the athlete two (2) month breaks. what do you think?

That's rough. I am going to say something that I feel needs to be said. I think we may be pushing some of these young ladies too hard physically too early. Many, if not most, teams have year round players. That is too much for a 14-18 year old that is still growing and maturing. Also, a lot of club and high school coaches lack in athletic training experience. I was shocked to see a 15 year old doing squats, with weights, with poor form. Nothing but body weight should be used, and there needs to be an off season. Pro athletes rest. I think some parents need some perspective.

Sounds great! Which team will go farther in the playoffs, the football or the volleyball team?

KVM sorry I missed you, we are coming back thru TN during volleyball season and hope to see the new floor! I was stunned at the size and numbers of the incoming 9th graders. I know you have been around since the early 90s, but I think AC getting into club, and having Harshbarger take over the middle school programs and going back to AA is a smart move. The idea of havin two 12 and under teams for the 3-5th graders, a 6-7, grade team and an 8 grade team with Harsh running the middle schools was brilliant. These incoming freshman have had three years of club, and real coaching at the middle school. My daughter played club for the Hames when they worked for Carmen, and we were the only family that could play because of cost and travel time. The club AC started was smart because of the 10 total coaches, all played college, all coached club, 4 coached college and 5 of the other 6 coached high school. They are all AC alumni and dedicated to helping the high school. AC will never be a Brentwood, too small, too rural, to poor, but I am excited to see how the club experiment plays out the next four years.

Great seeing my old Anderson County friends this week! Makes me miss what was home for 12 years! The new facilities look great, a lot changes in 10 years! I bet the AC coaches are pumped about being back in AA and havin 4 six foot and growing incoming freshmen!

Lol! Because we are being respectful, sharing information and not talking trash!

No, that is the total cost. They play Dec-May. They practice twice a week as a team and once a week on position. It includes two uniforms and knee pads, no shoes. The coaches all have college or high school coaching experience. The little ones only play 5 tourneys, the 13's and 14's play 7. The difference is the club is not being run to make any profit, it is done solely to get the girls to play better. They also don't go farther away than Atlanta. These families don't have the income to pay the cost of a K2 and it is over an hour drive to practice at K2.

I am tickled to be closer to TN South Carolina, and to be back in the club scene. I loved the club assessment above. Somebody did their homework! One of my best friends is an AC coach. They thought they would be back at state last year but injuries killed them, they lost their Middle, the Junior on the K2 referenced above, their L, and their Setter to injuries and Farragut, who was simply better, beat them in the Region. He agrees that the Knoxville senior class was strong. AC had no seniors, and even with the injuries beat Maryville, Heritage, Harden Valley, Berean, CAK, Hume Fogg etc? They are LOADED coming back and pumped about double AA. But here is why they are stoked. AC has struggled to get girls into club, geographically and financially it is hard. Two years ago they decided to form ACE for their elementary and middle school teams, and to allow the high school girls to play who don't play in the bigger club, last year the 13s played 7 tourneys and did not lose a match, winning all seven, including two matches against teams ranked in the top 10. They are coached by an ex college coach. The 12s won 5 tournaments and finished. 3rd in the Atlanta qualifier beating a ranked team. These girls play on apthe Norris Middle Schoo, team coached by Jeff Harshbarger, former great coach, and they won the Middle School sectional which is the state tournament for middle school this year and favored to win next year. The 12 and under team they started this year has over 40 girls, most are daughters of alumni, coached by another ex college coach and AC alumni. I say this because AC understands that to get back to being competitive at the state level they had to develope a strong club team with 100 percent participation and start at elementary school. This will be its third year, it has almost 80 participnts, and all are in the AC feeder system, the Director they hired was a former state tournament MVP and alumni who was a club director in Colorado. The coaches all have college coaching experience, and strong ties to AC. They have put in former coaches at the middle schools and now have open enrollment where players can transfer in, this years freshman class will be the first to have gone thru ACE. With open enrollment two 6 foot incoming freshman will join them. The club is being financially backed by AC supports. For 7-9 tournaments, two uniforms, three days of practice a week, two team one individual skill, and with the coaches paid the same as K2 the cost is less than six hundred dollars for middle school less than 500 for elem total. What is the cost for K2 or Alliance? AC knew they had to get competitive in club to stay competitive in high school. I still say they have the top high school staff in the state, now that they have the club staffed and running they have the financial backing and are building a club facility on the AC/Knox county line to attract the North Knoxville players. I think they will be in the state finals this year in AA and now that the club and Middle school programs are set for many more years to come!

And Anderson County is playing Farragut in the regions! Maryville had all of the talent and still failed to make it out of District. Has Maryville ever even been to a Regional?

I would speculate that AC didn't really give much thought to beating Maryville, in that they usually beat Maryville. Has Maryville ever even won a District? Why people would post something stupid like that on a bulletin board against a better team that they knew they had to play is not to smart.

Anderson County has been hurt all year. Last week was the first week that they had their starters on the court together, both OH's missed at least 10 games, MH missed 15 and L was out over a month. They also lost a setter for the season, but the sophs and juniors stepped up. They are 11-1 with these players back and have wins over Hardin Valley, CAK and Sullivan Central this week. Maybe too young to challenge, they have 9 juniors and 4 sophs and 1 senior, but when they get excited and attack not a team play in the tournament when they are hot.

Beach boy, killing time between flights and checked coacht! Do you think this model will work at other schools?

Does anybody have scores from tonight's District Finals?

Ashley Pittman has been named the new coach at CAK. Congratulations to coach Pittman, she was a freshman at Anderson County when my daughter was a senior. As a player she was Prep Extra player of the year and a multi time All State and All State Tournament player. She went on to be an all conference player in college before returning to AC as an asst coach. I don't think it was a coincidence that CAK never got over the hump until she joined their staff. Expect a rise in the competitiveness of CAK as Pittman was a warrior as a player, and ALOT of fun. Anderson County has produced more high school and college coaches than any other TN program with their alumni winning state championships in Georgia, North Carolina and TN. CAK just made a great hire.

That is fantastic news! Coach Pittman was a freshman my daughters senior year at AC. She was a great player for AC and a great person. She coached at AC before taking a teaching job at CAK. This is a big time hire for CAK. She played college ball and with her AC roots will be a big time hire. Great move by CAK snatching her up.

I agree with kr1416. I used to enjoy reading and posting on this board. This past few months it has devolved to a club is awesome, you can only play college if you play club etc. it has also devolved into a flat out assault on highschool coaches. It is wrong. I played D-1 ball and pro ball. My daughter played at AC and for the Hames club team. She was a two time all state setter and played college volleyball. We loved our high school experience and had fun playing club. They are two different experiences. I coached AAU and won a national championship and coached high school baseball at two powerhouses and at a D-2 college. AAU is much easier to coach than high school. My AAU teams were already good players, and if I needed another bat I went out and got another big bat. High school was hard. Some years the talent level was high, other years the pantry was empty. I don't know if I would let my daughters play club today. The cost is way to high. The time commitment too great. The travel to exhausting. Playing club has little bearing on the elite player. The big colleges are evaluating the player on size speed and jump. We are putting too much on these kids. Parents, relax. I stand by my older posts. I thought the AC coaches and coach Jones at Catholic were as good a pure coach that I have observed. I like the Hames, especially Kris. Solid technical coach, she treated my daughter well. This meaness needs to stop. I never met the Bearden coach, and can't comment on him. But to say that there are no players other than in west knoxville is just silly. A good coach will make a player better.

I was line judge when my daughter played at Anderson County. Coach Jones was always my favorite from the other schools. I played pro ball for a while in Texas while he was there. My daughter's soph year was my first year line judging. That years seniors had a four year record of 218 wins against 9 losses. They went over ten years without losing a game, yet alone a match, to a Knoxville team. I made a close call (for AC) and he growled at the ref. When the game was over he walked over to me, shook my hand, and made a joke about next time giving Catholic some calls because they needed the help! A couple of years later they beat AC and a real rivalry was born! Our last year in TN, daughter long gone playing college ball, I still came to the AC/Catholic games. That year Coach Cantrell had to coach by himself because Harshbarger resigned, and Coach Smith had left to take the Oak Ridge job. AC had one senior, three sophs and four freshman that played. Catholic was LOADED. All matches were close, but Catholic won the district and region. The Catholic fans HATED Cantrell. Every team AC played hated Cantrell. He is loud, intense, and the most competitive man I've ever met, but anybody that ever played for him loved him, and he did more with no club players than I've ever scene. After the Region (in which Catholic literally destroyed AC in 3 ) Jones came over and gave him a pep talk. He knew it was a hard year, but told him that the young girls were getting it. At state AC made it to the finals and but for an injury would have been state champions. I tell you this because Cantrell respects Mike Jones more than any other high school coach. He never let a negative thing be said about his friend even when the rivalry was red hot. My favorite state memory was sitting behind those two, and coach Neely at State and listening to these three old war horses tell stories. Mike Jones can coach. Coach Cantrell told me once that if Coach Jones was still coaching when his daughter got to high school he would want her to play for Jones because he doesn't think a father should coach is own kid, and that that he trusted his daughter to play for Coach Jones. I thought that was pretty cool. I don't know these people you are talking about on this thread, but I know sports. I agree with those that think club coaches have no business in high school, and it is a ton harder coaching a high school team than a club coach. Can't Catholic convince Coach Jones to come back and train another coach. That's what we did at AC. Coach Cantrell teaches the young coaches as much as he does the players. If Jones will come back ill come back to TN to call line for the AC/Catholic game! Why doesn't someone call Cantrell and have him coax or goad his old friend back to the gym. I PROMISE you he can be pretty persuasive! Happy Thanksgiving to all, and Hopi or Ghost, tell the girls howdy!

Wow, that hard! BB I think the Templins played into 04 because Rachel was a senior when my daughter was a soph. Other than AC I don't know of another school that produced the talent that AC has. On the states top ten list to ever play they would have to have 2 or 3 of the best ever. I don't think any other school produces the sheer number of great players that AC does. Hopi's daughter who went on to set 4 years in college and competed for a couple of national titles was my favorite to watch. Best ever I'd hard. Eckerly was a three time all state middle that everybody wanted, and there was a setter, can't remember name who was OVC player of the year. My favorite non AC player was Perilli at Page, but that is too far away.

I agree with Beach Boy, mostly. Coach Cantrell is going no where. After thirty years I think it's safe to say he is a MFL! Coach Smith won't leave either, for a couple of reasons. She played and coached at AC (she and Cantrell are long time friends and both fiercely loyal to the program and both have daughters hitting middle scholl) Before taking the Oak Ridge job and building them into a real volleyball program before being recruited back to AC. Second, I would argue that AC is one of the top three or four volleyball jobs in the State. It pays close to 15 thousand which is probably 5 times what these other jobs pay; the Administration gets behind and supports the program; now that she has developed two powerful middle school programs and has even swindled Coach Harshbarger to come out of retirement to coach Norris Middle (she must have something on him!) added to the fact that a new Club is forming in Anderson County which will open club up to all elem, middle school and high school players, something AC has never had, the future is brighter than ever. Finally, with the history and tradition AC is simply a better job ( but I would argue that the Farragut job is a close second). These three jobs would be a step back for her. Beach boy, Coach Sewall has college coaching experience and head coaching experience but I don't see her leaving. I think the asst position pays close to 9 thousand, and she is really close with Cantrell and Smith. The other asst, Coach Dew, may be in play. Several AC grads come back and serve as JV coaches fora couple of years after their college playing days are over. It is a much better training ground than club, where you don't learn how to coach. In recent years several AC assts have gone on to highly successful high school and college coaching careers. One former asst is currently a head coach at a 6A school in Georgia and already has a state championship, another went on to win a state championship in North Carolina. I don't know if Coach Dew would be interested, I was told she plans on taking a college job after another year at AC but you never know. I think Catholic should contact Mike Jones and have him come back. He was a great coach and created Catholic volleyball. If he is still around he would be my first job. Until the other jobs actually come open, if they come open, I don't think it is appropriate to even speculate. Bring back Jones!

BBV thanks for the score updates! Did any AC girls make all tourney? I am proud of the girls, they were the youngest team by far starting three freshman and three sophs. How do they look for next year? The big middle who broke her leg will be back.