volleyball wrote:

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We expected to compete with local top teams, not attending JO`s, but we got some great competition from the teams from out of the area. Both teams we played were top contenders, equal to several of our local teams who went to JO`s, and could have attended other tournaments but chose So Cal.

You were fortunate to play two teams from out of the area as there were only eight teams (out of 152) in the entire tournament from outside Southern California. As far as any top local teams, the top seed in the 18's division finished the regular SCVA season in 38th place. ASC was miserably hot except for Monday. As far as I'm concerned, the best part of the tournament was not having to check out of a hotel and get on an airplane to go home.

volleyball wrote:

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My perspective was mainly from a younger division. You should be happy, since your team must have won the tournament due to the lack of competition in 18`s.
Was the heat a shock to anyone? (only to those who play in lower divisions, who do not have playoffs and have not experienced the ASC in the latter part of the day). The $1000.00 you saved could have paid for some ice and a portable fan. What was the weather like in Miami, Kentucky and Phoenix?
I have been to JO`s 6 times. Every year, we have played D4 type teams from all over the country in the first 2 rounds in club divisions (National and American). This tournament was no different, the action started Day 3. We beat a D1 team in the final, and had plenty of competition along the way.

Actually, we didn't win our division but, we had a mediocre team and some how we still managed to win a lot more than lost. If we were a good team we wouldn't have been playing in Anaheim and you wouldn't have either. The Soiree was a good tournament for teams that didn't have a better option and provided good competition for average teams like yours and ours. Yes, you should be proud of your girl's accomplishments, winning any tournament is a great thing and you have my congratulations. However, let's not over estimate the quality of the teams that were in Anaheim. You beat the #1 seed in your division to win the gold but they finished 24th in the regular season so they were slightly above average at best. Frankly, I'm more impressed with the Laguna 16s team that played up a division and finished 15th.

My biggest issue with the Soiree was that we played the same teams that we had played all season long. 144 of 152 teams were SCVA teams, it was a Regionals redux. As a side note, the venues in Miami, Kentucky and Phoenix are all air conditioned. If SCVA didn't do everything on the cheap, we could all have played at the convention center in air conditioned comfort.

Lastly, I believe that Disney participated in the sponsorship of the Soiree to make money. They didn't fill many hotel rooms with only eight teams coming from out of town and I doubt if they sold enough admission tickets to recoup their investment. If there is a 2nd Annual Summer Soiree my guess is that it will be "stay to play" event and very few SoCal teams are going to be willing to pay for 4 or 5 rooms for a three night minimum.

I'm sure that probably wrong about all of this but my advice is to book your rooms now for next June in Phoenix.