New club team

[Osage]

22 hours ago, clifford20 said:

Osage, did you get to see the Alliance 16 team?  if so, what are your thoughts.  I thought they looked better than anticipated, but will be average at best.

I did. "Average" is a relative term... they'll be among the top teams in the state of Tennessee, top 5 probably. There are some really good players on that team, future D1 kids. But it's probably unrealistic to expect that group to reach the levels of success they've enjoyed previously. What stands out about that team is size... size matters as you move up to 16's and beyond. With a couple of exceptions, this is a short team, by 16 Open standards. Short teams win (MAVS won 16 Open last year with a 5'8" middle), but they do so with a combination of outstanding ball control and athleticism, and / or on the back of a terminal / dominant player. I don't see that with this bunch. If they are going to be successful, they'll have to be one of those feisty ball control teams that doesn't make many mistakes, is difficult to side out against, and makes you beat yourself.

Like a KIVA team. 

[clifford20]

yeah I completely agree with you.   I have seen Kiva teams and a couple of Munciana teams that weren't tall but passed circles around teams.   They def aren't to that level and prob never will be.  I like their Libero a lot, but the OHs have to get better in serve receive--and they will I think.    The big Right Side girl could be a difference maker, she just have to be more confident I think--seems tentative.   Their Brentwood middle is about the only consistent hitter.  Will be interesting to see how it plays out.  

[Apostle]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 1:14 PM, clifford20 said:

Apostle - "in the past several seasons, the team responded to and performed best when their Coach worked hard at putting players in the best position for success and sincerely enjoyed watching the kids' succeed.  The team tended to underperform their ability when their Coach did not care about on-court success and lost interest in them when the team did not play well. "Coaching personality" seemed to really matter to this group." 

Clifford - "Apostle, so you are saying it was the coaches fault that the 15's last year underperformed?  And that the coaches last year and before didn't care about results, didn't put kids in a position of success, and didn't enjoy seeing them succeed?  While I agree the coaching change last year was disruptive I don't agree that the coaches didn't care about those things.  Athletes have to perform.   It's a ridiculous statement that a coach didn't want success for the team."   

Your interpretation is surprising.

Most coaches care deeply about teaching the game, trying to put kids in a position to succeed, and in some measure, results or on-court performance. 

Some coaches, just like players, are more gifted than others at achieving consistently high performance.  These coaches and players exhibit accountability, motivation and are often effective communicators. 

Other coaches offer signals that players do not respond to.  It does not make them a bad coach - it may simply mean the "fit" of "coach personality" to "team or player personality" is a work in progress and inconsistent results may happen.

How the Coach responds is telling.  The best coaches keep teaching and plugging continually trying to find what helps their kids succeed.    

This year's Coach tandem is excellent.  I would bet there is an improvement in the quality of play from the first tournament to the team's second tournament so hang in there and stay positive Clifford!!

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Apostle
One more thing

[clifford20]

I am def not being negative.  I am just going to support coaches as much as I can.    Both coaches last year cared a lot about their team.   I will almost never listen to a parents evaluation of a coaches ability to coach the game. Especially with volleyball.  90% of parents have no idea what's going outside of your are allowed to have 3 touches.   I thought Peter did a really good job with the team. 

[TeeterTot]

Looks like it was a tough weekend for Alliance in Indy this past weekend.  13's had the best finish with a 9th.  16's had the worst finish with a 24th place finish with all the rest finishing in the teens.  

 

Alliance and TPV 15's & 16's will be in Muncianna this weekend in the same tournament so there's a small chance we see these two clubs play again very soon.

[VBDad615]

It looks like the only possibility of a meeting between clubs will be on Sunday between TPV 16 Alpha & Alliance 15 Ren if both finish 1st & 2nd in their respective Pools. In Indy, the 17/18's won't meet up either.

https://results.advancedeventsystems.com/event/PTAwMDAwMTU5Mjk90/divisions/68577/overview

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by VBDad615

[TeeterTot]

34 minutes ago, VBDad615 said:

It looks like the only possibility of a meeting between clubs will be on Sunday between TPV 16 Alpha & Alliance 15 Ren if both finish 1st & 2nd in their respective Pools. In Indy, the 17/18's won't meet up either.

https://results.advancedeventsystems.com/event/PTAwMDAwMTU5Mjk90/divisions/68577/overview

 

so the "small" chance went to the "slim to no" chance.  Thanks for the info

[Osage]

Central Zone is a deep tournament. The Open Divisions in particular had multiple teams at pretty much every age division who have a chance to compete for National Championships. I'm surprised TPV wasn't there... it's not a USA Volleyball event, so they could have gone. With a couple of exceptions, Alliance teams finished within shouting distance of their original seeds. I wouldn't have expected them to do much different than they did.

Turning to Power League... only 3 TPV teams entered. Why so few? I think this will be a good weekend for that 16's team. Their opening pool isn't very strong, and though I'd expect the Sunday match-ups to be more competitive, I still don't see either team from the other pool beating them.

[Apostle]

18 hours ago, Osage said:

Central Zone is a deep tournament. The Open Divisions in particular had multiple teams at pretty much every age division who have a chance to compete for National Championships. I'm surprised TPV wasn't there... it's not a USA Volleyball event, so they could have gone. With a couple of exceptions, Alliance teams finished within shouting distance of their original seeds. I wouldn't have expected them to do much different than they did.

Turning to Power League... only 3 TPV teams entered. Why so few? I think this will be a good weekend for that 16's team. Their opening pool isn't very strong, and though I'd expect the Sunday match-ups to be more competitive, I still don't see either team from the other pool beating them.

 

 

 

 

 

Central Zone offers an early season chance for a team to compare itself against good “Open level” competition.  “Top 2-4” finishing teams in each age division can be competitive in National Championship tournament play – beyond that, probably not.  

 

 

Osage - TPV plays the 3-day JVA World tournament in early April instead of Central Zone.

 

 

Alliance teams finished within “Shouting Distance” of their original seeds? 

Out of 6 teams (12-17):

0 exceeded their seeds

1 matched their seed (15's)

5 underperformed their seed (4 out of 5 missed their seed by 5 spots or more)  

 

 

	12's	13's	14's
Original Seed	4	4	7
Order of Finish	12	9	16
# of Teams	16	18	18
SUN's Pool	Silver	Silver	Bronze
Sat AM	-	1-1	0-2
Sat PM	-	0-2	0-2
Sat	1-2	-	-
Sun	1-1	2-0	1-1
Overall	2-3	3-3	1-5
	15's	16's	17's
Original Seed	19	17	13
Order of Finish	19	24	T-15
# of Teams	27	27	27
SUN's Pool	Bronze	Copper	Silver A
Sat AM	0-2	0-2	1-1
Sat PM	2-0	1-1	0-2
Sat	-	-	-
Sun	2-0	0-2	1-1
Overall	4-2	1-5	2-4

Osage correctly stated that a good measure of national competitiveness is Gold bracket finishes in larger tournaments like BlueGrass, Triple Crown, Qualifiers and Nationals.  And maybe some wins here and there against teams that have Gold bracket finishes.  Alliance had close calls with some good teams but not with any of the top placing teams. Looking to redeem this weekend.

 

 

 

Mideast Power League (MEPL):

 

This is 1^st year participation for both Alliance and TPV in the MEPL Power League (MEPL) - both Clubs likely reassess sending their #1 and #2 teams at the end of year 1. 

Weekend #1 (only 17's/18's played)

Alliance 18-1's 4-1 Alliance 17-1's 3-2 Alliance 17-2's 1-4     TPV 18 Paragon 3-2 TPV 18 Bravo 2-3 Safe travel and good luck to all.

 

[clifford20]

Interesting to see that TPV went 2-2 this weekend.  Saw they lost to Kiva 15. I Couldn’t find who else they lost to.  Alliance 16-1 went 5-0. Beat Kiva red.  Seems like they have figured out a lineup since that rough start.   Great weekend for those kids.  

[Osage]

On 2/1/2019 at 5:12 AM, Apostle said:

Alliance teams finished within “Shouting Distance” of their original seeds? 

Out of 6 teams (12-17):

0 exceeded their seeds

1 matched their seed (15's)

5 underperformed their seed (4 out of 5 missed their seed by 5 spots or more)  

You had more time to spend on the question than I did. I agree that the younger Alliance teams should probably be disappointed in their central zone finishes. And though it's hard to get excited about finishing 24th in a 27 team field, results suggest that 16's team competed well and lost close games to good teams. 

I also stand behind my comment about the depth of that tournament, especially at the Open divisions. Any event where the top teams from Legacy, KIVA, Circle City, Milwaukee Sting, Mintonette and AVC Cleveland are playing is a really deep event, regardless of age division. Then throw in a few other one-offs from Lions, A5, Michigan Elite, Tri-State and others bringing strength at various age levels. Good early season test with a lot of teams that will be in the National Championship conversation in June. 

Congrats to the TPV 18 2 team for another strong weekend, and for the 18 1 team for sweeping their weekend. Results say the TPV 16's lost to the KIVA 15-2s, and Munciana 15-1s, no shame there, those are good teams.

[clifford20]

I do not think TPV 16's should be losing to a 15-2 team with all the talent they have on that team.  That is surprising to me.  I can understand the Munciana loss I guess.  Not saying it's a bad loss, but def surprising.   Am I wrong?