How was your daughter's experience @ USA HP in Arizona

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vballcoach	How was your daughter's experience @ USA HP in Arizona	Lead	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 14 (07/30/08 3:19 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None It was a great experience for my daughter and she wants to make it there every year from here on! Just wanted to know what your experience was like. Was is worth it or not? Did your daughter learn anything different than she would have in club ball and was the competition better? etc.... From the feedback I received from my daughter, all the answers to those questions were YES!
BigTenVball	Just curious	#1	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 1252 (07/30/08 3:53 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	who did she play for?
austinokie2		#2	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 35 (07/30/08 4:21 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I said the exact same things! I absolutely loved every minute of the camp and tournament. I'm so glad that I went and I know I'll work hard this year to make it again next year! I think one of the best parts was the friends I made though. They are some of the most amazing people (and all tall too!) and we're already discussing plans to get together over Spring Break! haha I loved talking to all the people from out of the country too, that was really interesting. Anyway, I had a blast and I know that most everyone I talked to loved it too. Definitely planning on making it next year. =) (oh by the way I'm on my mom's account)
austinokie2		#3	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 35 (07/30/08 4:24 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Oh and yes the competition was AMAZING and really really really fun to play close games almost every match. (I love close games, haha) And I feel like I definitely learned a lot and I especially got a lot of good work on my defense and new perspectives on different things, which is always good to have.
sscshs		#4	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 4 (07/30/08 5:51 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	My daughter also had a fantastic experience in Tucson. She was on USA Youth Blue. We had some great matches with some really tough competition. I thought it was very organized and everything ran smoothly. This is something she would definitely want to do again next year. This was my first time ever in Tucson. I must say, I hope this event is never held there again. It was very run down and there was nothing close. Not a grocery store or pharmacy within walking distance. very limited restaurants. The InnSuites have wonderful potential to be a really great place to stay but it desperately needs to be gutted and redone. However we came away with a great experience, one that she will always remember!
Jockodog		#5	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 74 (07/30/08 6:26 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	This is our second year at HP Championships and I agree with the previous posts. We, parents and players, from Northern California, had a GREAT time, again. The reasons: The talent and players The professionalism The referees, including lines,....... for the most part The coaches (new for every player, USA teams or Regional) -- It is nice to see coaching from a different view. The scheduling The rules (only one substitution per player, serving time limit, holding paddle, etc..) The size (only 15 courts, with room in between) The matches, best of 5 The players -- playing different positions (with only one sub, you have to be able to play front row and back) The college scouts The competition Maybe we should keep how great the HP Championships are a secret..... We have been to 4 JO's and numerous qualifiers -- this is our favorite!
vballcoach		#6	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 14 (07/30/08 8:42 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Jockodog, I agree! It is better than J.O's and I tell you what; AAU's in Orlando was not that shabby either! Not only was the competition better, but the girls really enjoyed all the fuss that was made over them with having opening and closing ceremonies etc..... that is what our J.O's should be like, everyone should be able to have that kind of quality and feeling of importance. Our girls work really hard all year and that is a great way to end the season with a big hoot and celebration! J.O's need some work in comparison.
luvvbsc		#7	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 4 (07/30/08 9:37 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	We all had an excellent time at HP in Tucson. The kids and parents from all the teams were really nice. I know the girls also liked watching the powerful boys on the next court! I spoke with several people affiliated with the University of Arizona athletic department, and they were horrified that HP recommended the hotels they did as they were in grubby areas. - visiting Pac 10 teams don't ever stay downtown. Tucson is very inexpensive in the summer and we stayed close to the University in a beautiful area with a great pool, free buffet breakfast and an ice cream sundae bar every day! It was a 7 minute drive to the convention center. The parents made grocery store runs for waters and gatorades, and it wasn't a problem. It was gorgeous once you left downtown! Our coaches were amazing and we already can't wait to see each other again! Last Edited By: luvvbsc 07/30/08 9:54 PM. Edited 1 times.
Dipnut	Go JockoDog	#8	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 2 (07/31/08 1:06 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Ruff-Ruff
sscshs		#9	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 4 (10/10/65 1:17 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Vballcoach.....I agree about AAU's. We also played there and thought it was fantastic!!! I hope we do that tournament every year!
sscshs		#10	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 4 (07/31/08 7:48 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Does anyone know where the HP championships will be held next year????
UniversityAthlete	2009	#11	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 146 (07/31/08 7:55 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Ft. Lauderdale
live4vb	HP Tucson	#12	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 648 (07/31/08 10:18 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I was a bit astonished to see all the great athletes.... plenty of high caliber players at HP from USAV, JVDA, AAU, AND SHOCK JOCKS WITH NO CLUB AFFILIATION. Each match was exciting. Some of the rallies on the ladies courts were 45 seconds.... plus! Men's however... WOW! Explosive quick points. Tucson... University of Arizona is beautiful! Staying downtown in walking distance was a def. plus. No complaints on our end. We had the pool, free breakfast, great room service and everyone at Hotel Arizona was very accommodating. Last Edited By: live4vb 07/31/08 2:51 PM. Edited 1 times.
vballcoach		#13	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 14 (07/31/08 3:46 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Between AAU's (Orlando,Florida), J.O.'s (Miami,Florida) and hopefully USA HP (Ft.Lauderdale,Florida) anyone want to go in on a rent house somewhere centrally for all 3 events for the summer!!!!!!!!!!!! lol might as well stay, they all are pretty much 2-3 weeks from within each other! I don't want to even think about the cost for flights for all 3 events!!!!!!!!!
Volleypaul		#14	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 64 (07/31/08 10:46 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	My daughter played for So Cal Blue Youth, it was her first experience with HP. The very first day she said "Dad, I wish this was my team." It wasn't long before I was feeling the same. Her team played with an intensity that neither her club or HS team did. That was a key to me. The girls were all on the same page. Typically my dd is one of the few to be really upset with a setback...at HP, every girl was intense. The coaching was excellent, as were the facilities. Tucson.....hmmmm, too darn humid, but otherwise OK (we went to Reno, so that's my comparison.) I was very impressed with the quality of play, all around. No Reno jokes, please. SCVA regular season is extremely competitve, as all you JO combatants are well aware. I was, however, not real impressed with the US teams. I expected the National teams to dominate, but they did only in height, not talent.
SpikenHard		#15	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 9 (08/01/08 12:44 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Volleypaul, I couldn't agree with you more about the USA Teams. I told my brother that they looked like they had been chosen with a clear bias toward height. They were talented but there were other teams that were at least as talented. I think that had a couple of plays in set 1 or 2 gone Florida's way against USA Red, it would have been an AZ/FL final. The fun matches to watch were in the National level. Though clearly not at the level of the Intl. division nor perhaps even a gold bracket at a Qualifier, the matches were hard fought. The girls certainly got their moneys worth. My question Volleypaul is how did the coaches choose your team for Tucson?
oldnugun	of course	#16	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 9 (08/01/08 7:21 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Without a doubt Height MUST be a major factor in determining the HP Pipeline kids but after you pick those kids out then it is a matter of seeing what they can do. I was VERY impressed with virtually all the Select Girls that USA pick this year. Not only tall but tremendous athletes and potential that in essence will be refined into future Youth/Junior and National Team members. All those girls 7th/8th and a few 9th Graders played up in the Youth International division against girls that were 2 years older, had just as much infact more training and were clearly a bit more developed in they muscle and fast-twitch development. But yet the Select Red and White teams played at a very dominant level in this division and the Blue team which was the biggest of the three looked competitive at times even though they were a hodgepodge crew of converts from different positions and all new to the HP experience. I was totally impressed with the experience and the foresight of USA volleyball to get this Pipeline even more refined and helping the development of these girls. A number of college coaches were there
Volleypaul	Select was impressive	#17	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 64 (08/01/08 12:21 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I will definitely agree, the US Select squads looked more impressive than the Youths (or 'Yutes' to Joe Pesci fans and everyone else from New Jersey!) They did in fact play about as good, or at times even better, than their older teammates. Still I can't help think there is a little bit of not seeing the forest for the trees ('height' pun intended). While it's true these girls are young and can (conceivably) be taught everything (except height), it's the age old question of how intangibles fit in. Can you teach an athlete to over achieve? Who do want on your fantasy football team, Doug Flutie or Todd Marinovich? You can't teach my girl to be 6'3", but can you teach a 75 incher to want to play with a broken nose, or give her the desire to insist on playing a CIF game 10 hours after surgery to fix same nose? No to both questions I guess, but two thing are for sure: Height is much easier to measure and it is a tall girls' game. Spikenhard, I was/am quite confused with the selection process at SCVA. Case in point: I know of a girl who was at SCVA HP tryouts who was Fab Frosh, Super Soph, all league, hits the ball a ton and her dad said to me half way through the tryouts "how are they supposed to know how good my daughter is, we've been here two hours and she hasn't hit a ball yet." She was not picked up by SCVA, and I didn't see her on a USA team. One gal made a team who was, for lack of a better word, a mistake. She just wasn't up to the caliber of the other girls and rumor has it her mom called up to even question if they had the right girl. She made the team, but do not believe she played a lick. Someone jot down a wrong number? Wonder who was supposed to get that spot? I thought my daughter played very well; received many, many compliments on her ability; totally fit in with the caliber of play...but she was selected as an alternate, and only got on the court with a defection. There was a lot of time spent at tryouts on the measurable "tangibles": height, vertical, etc... and not a whole bunch of time with setters setting and hitters hitting. Some girls were very aggressive and continually jumped into the fray and received a lot of face time. Conversely, I'm sure there were some darn good athletes who may be more passive in the tryout setting, perhaps overwhelmed by the vast number of girls attending. This was not you average HS/Club tryout. One fact: it did seem to me that a significant number of the girls in the program this year were in the program previous years. None-the-less, the SCVA fielded very competitive teams and had excellent coaching to exploit that talent, so what do I know?
newvbcoach	USA Youth teams	#18	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 62 (08/01/08 12:59 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	The USA Youth (Red, White, Blue) teams I saw were very impressive and they were playing in the International Junior Division. These teams were loaded with heavy hitters and athletes and I saw several "big" college coaches sit down and watch entire matches of these teams. Now there were USA gold, silver, bronze that were there too and maybe you're referring to these. Referring to the tryout process, there will always be kids that get overlooked and kids that make it based on reputation or mistaken numbers. I think it might benefit USA and Regional tryouts to use a "resume" type application in addition to the actual skills tryout. Because the numbers keep increasing at tryouts, fewer and fewer kids get the reps they need to show their skills.
vballcoach		#19	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 14 (08/01/08 1:38 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I am a strong believer that height is overated in volleyball; whatever happened to pure athleticism along with great training, case in point: Outside hitter for USA Select Red only 5"10 and produced numerous amount of kills and named " Best Attacker". Select Blue had a 5"7 setter who was jump setting and jump serving to no end! 5'10 middle (extremely short for a middle at this level) produce probaly the highest amount of blocks on the Red Select team. All below average heights for their position but extremely athletic. From what I saw they all produced great things. Another example: Kim W. 5"11 made the USA 2008 Olympic team for outside hitter, it does not get any better than that!!!!!!! You can't teach height, yeh that is true, but you also can't teach true/pure/natural athleticism either! That is why (in my opinion) USA Select faired out better, while the Youth may have had all of the height, Select had more athleticism. Last Edited By: vballcoach 08/01/08 1:42 PM. Edited 1 times.
oldnugun		#20	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 9 (08/01/08 3:37 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	As I said the refinement of the selection process is getting better every year but of course it is not perfect. Volleypaul don't lose the faith many of the coaches out there are getting very good at selecting athletes, body movement, body lines, fast feet and as they move up coachability. If your daughter or players that you have seen out there were missed this past year they will get seen by somebody soon. To reiterate the Select A1 group was very deep with girls that met all of those points and it will be very interesting to see see this group of 30 girls as they develop over the next year. I have a feeling that a few will begin to hit their stride as they gain a little more experience and strength. It is amazing to see that many of these girls are already getting letters of interest and contacts from universities while they are just entering 9th grade. AS far as athletes and height take a kid like Kristin Carpenter from RVC . Already committed to a major school, the girl can hit as well as any player that I seen in a while, can bounce a ball in warm-up and games , blessed with a terrific jump , great body control and vision and very good hands. Only at 5'7 she is on the Junior National team as a Libero/Setter. It is funny that you mention the blue team's setter. She is barely 5'7 yes but probably the most athletic setter of the bunch and when she gets a little more refinement and control in her game will be pushing to lead that group. Another example the Red and White Liberos have been trained and playing that position for a number of years and come from the Jammers program who does an excellent job of training while the Blues's libero was learning on the spot and making some very strong plays by the end of the tourney. There are a few girls in the program who are better athletes in my opinion but just need a little more control, experience and training. They are all in the first year of the HP cycle and it will be very interesting and fun to watch their journey. As coaches and parents I know we all have high hopes and dreams for all these girls but hopefully we can all enjoy the journey even more. Cudos to the HP staff for an excellent job.