Knoxville Area Teams

[Truthtellerdad]

Wow. That is too much negativity for me. If you are such a Karns fan, why not have some faith in the kids. There is genuine talent on that team. It just has to be harnessed correctly.

[Truthtellerdad]

ORCAT you are full of it if you think Wright isn't as good as Severs. Height ain't everything. We won't see you at districts. You will be beat in the first round.

[orcat]

Coach K, oh I mean TT, are you kidding or was that a real post about Wright and Seviers?

 

Seviers, not Wright SEVIERS killed us last night.

 

It wasnt the coach, it was one player who played fantastic and beat us. I had to go back and see who you were talking about and that is what made me laugh.

 

I doubt you were even at the game. Complain about the ref, the line judge and slam OR players who had you down 2-0 before Seviers took over the match. Give this player her due. She is your entire team. Why she even listens to your coach is beyond me.

 

As far as districts who will beat us? The finals will be us and you as it should be. A great rematch that I'm looking forward to.

 

TT it's odd that I have to get on here and defend a Karns player from a "dad". Seviers is your team. I wish we had her!

 

Also, I don't know who Big Blue is, but I respect his/her opinion. BB didn't say anything negative. The coach is a shameless self promoter. Do you know why she put a picture of herself in the gym?

[Truthtellerdad]

Wright got hurt during warm up and was also running a fever. Before you count her out watch a few more games. I have no idea about the picture. Yes, you respect Big Blue because he disrespects his own team. This is my last interaction with you. You clearly do not know volleyball. BTW, Wright not Severs won MVP last year. Get your facts straight. They are both great. . I'm thrilled to have them both, but give credit where credit is due. Also? One of these girls was offered D1 money. Guess which one it wasn't?

[orcat]

What MVP? I thought you got knocked out of districts early, and an HV player got district MVP? Are you talking about team MVP? If so was that given by the coach?

 

I don't know Big Blue, but I have never heard him disrespect Karns. No disrespect meant to the other Karns players but Seviers is the only college level player on that team.

 

Also, why won't you answer the picture question?

[bigbluevolley]

First of all, I've never disrespected my team. I don't, however, sugar coat things. I call it like I see it. We use to have a GREAT team. That's when all the girls played club together and stayed at Karns together. The problem is, we have very little "God Given" volleyball talent and our coach can't coach them up. If we had a different coach, who knew volleyball, then we would win some matches we weren't suppose to. I hate to say it but the problem on our team isn't the girls, it's the lack of coaching. She's a problem. Ask the Handel family why they left PR. Ask them how they were treated by their "beloved" coach after they made the decision that they felt was best for their daughter. There's another family that used to be "all in" with PR and now their youngest daughter is playing for K2. Ask one of the best coaches PR had, why she left and went to K2 and how she was treated after her announcement. IT ALL GOES BACK TO THE PORTRAIT!! Think about what type of coach would put a portarit of herself front and center. That's what it all goes back to.

[clubonlyforus]

I couldnt agree more Bigblue.  I know the people you are talking about and it is true.  Matter of fact, when Wingate signed Handel, the coach told them to leave PR and go to K2 because she would be exposed to bigger competition, play in better tournaments, and therefore get better.  Her dad was very loyal to PR and really didnt care for the move but done what was best for her.  Then she was treated like crap at school because of it.  That is what turned me off of the Karns coach and PR.  I felt like Karns should have been in state contention a few years back when she had all the tall players, but she could not coach them to victory.

 

But, in reference to lack of coaching at your school, that is typical to East Tennessee.  There are many many more inferior coaches at high schools than good ones.  It is sad to see players that have some raw talent and could do good things, maybe even get some scholarship money at a small school, but doesnt have a coach that knows what they are doing, and doesnt have the thousands of dollars it takes to play club.  Thats what sucks about crappy coaching to me.

 

By the way, the Libero for HVA last year, Winstead, is sitting on the bench for HVA.  I dont know if/what college she is going to, but she is helping with the team.

[K2ruth]

I agree with Clubonly and Big Blue. The Karns coach only does High School to funnel players to PR. I disagree with TruthTeller. I think Seviers is a great player, but I don't think she has gotten any better since being at Karns. In fact, I think she was better as a soph, and has actually gotten worse being exposed to such bad instruction.

 

The Handel situation was so bad that the coach should have been removed.

 

Club only I think there are some really good coaches in East Tenn, but I agree that many are poor. Webb is well coached. Catholic too. Do you agree?

[bratman]

I got mad and posted on another thread, so Ill post here too. My daughter played at AC back in 01-04. We thought hour high school coaches were great, and I got to know Coach Jones at Catholic and thought he was great.

 

My daughter and none of her teammates played club. It was expensive, they all played other sports like basketball, track and softball, and she got a scholarship and so did most of her teammates. I hate it when people get on these anonymous boards and slam high school coaches just to promote their clubs.

[clubonlyforus]

If you would go back and look at the last couple of seasons, you would see where I fully supported AC in their ability to truly coach and do it without club player.  I always felt that if you were to take out all the club players at every school and play only high school players, AC would never lose a game because they knew how to coach players to be better.  AC usually started out a little low, then increasingly got better as the season went on.  Unlike most other schools that just leveled off.

 

I do think that since coach Wade is gone, it is not the same.  Only time will tell now if it is.  I know AC graduated most of their players last year and will be down for a year or two, but then we should see a change or it will be telling about coach Wade being gone.

 

But most high school coaches in our area are not much on volleyball coaching.  They simply dont know what to do.  The exception might be private schools, but they are able to afford bringing in top coaches, even some that coached college before.  For the public schools, that is not the case.  Good coaches that know the game are far and few between.

[bratman]

Thanks for the response Club Only, I don't get on here often but I do remember you speaking well of AC.

 

I think AC will be fine. Oddly enough I had dinner in Chicago with coach Cantrell last weekend. He was in town and he and his wife met me and my wife for dinner. We have remained friends since we left, He told me that Jayme Smith, a former player and assistant, and Randi Mellon, a former college setter coach and he were coaching. He told me they graduated Five seniors who played alot, and this years team was freshman sophomore filled with one or two upperclassman.

 

It's funny, but I asked him how they would do and in typical fashion he thought they would win the district! Those who know him know that he is one of the most positive minded coaches ever and his enthusiasm is infectious.

 

I liked what you said about getting better, because what I remember most was their love of teaching the game and using ever opportunity to improve. I think AC is in good hands.

[theknack]

Does AC's lack of success since moving up to AAA 5 years ago have anything to do with a lack of club players?  I'm afraid in today's kid-centric society we've gotten to the point that you have to specialize in one sport and play it year round to stand out.  And, even worse, kids are being forced to chose which sport at earlier and earlier ages.

 

Yes, there are still the occasional multi-sport athletes that manage to stand out without paying to play away from school, but they are getting rarer, especially in sports like volleyball and soccer that cost a lot to play in high-level clubs.