The WSHSBVA has updated its logo.  The new logo features a Molten VM5000 replacing the boring volleyball of old. Adding this new ball will help differentiate the Association from past volleyball organizations.  Another change to the logo was changing the black lettering to white to make the letters more prominent.  Finally the stars were changed from green to black.
We need a few more high school aged boys for the UW camp two Mondays from now.  If you want to attend please visit http://www.jimmclaughlinvolleyball.com/ and register if you are having any trouble please send me an email: brian@wshsbva.com.
The following made the 2014 Spring Open Tournament:
MVP: Anatoliy Krot, Lynwood High School (Played with Cascade High School Students) , Senior Outside Hitter
Libero: Adam Tainter, Curtis High School, Freshman
Setter: Jacob Ruley, Graham-Kampowsin (Played with Washington High School Students), Sophmore
Outside Hitter: Â Jonathan Carlson, Curtis High School, Freshman
Opposite: Â Igor Stakhmyuk, Cascade High School
Middle Blocker: Â Brian Porter, North Thurston High School (Played with students from O’Dea High School), Junior
Middle Blocker 2: Nick Tsaruk, Cascade High School, Senior
Last year the group of students from Cascade High School were caught flat footed in the championship game against a seasoned club team mostly from Graham-Kampowsin High School, this year they were not to be denied.  The foe in this years final was a group of students from Curtis High School, most on the South Sound  Volleyball club team.  As the afternoon wore on it was becoming apparent that this group comprised mostly of Jrs and Srs were not going home without hosting the trophy.  There commitment to volleyball was evident when after the tournament the group huddled together and talked about playing later that evening in Mill Creek, WA, close to the Cascade High School Campus.
The differences in style of play could not be any more apparent in the championship game. Â The team consisting of mostly students from Curtis High School ran a consistent 5-1 throughout the tournament. Â The Cascade students ran the setter out of the middle and rotated to the setter position. Â As the commissioner put it, “It’s not the style of play, but the perfection of the style of play that wins at this level of volleyball.” Â To get to the championship the students from Cascade played a host of students from Washington High School, the first ever member school. Â The play was great, and though the eventual champions won in two, Washington came within a few points to push the game to three. Â The more energized match, which may have been the students from Curtis’s downfall was the O’dea students pushing the young team to three games and losing only by a score of 17-15 in the third game. Â The Tournament Team will be announced tomorrow.
This years tournament featured only 4 teams, but the commissioner blamed it more on moving the date into June, than on lack of interest. Â “If we had kept the same weekend, we would have easily eclipsed 7 teams and really pushed to eight teams. ” said Brian Boyer The commissioner of the WSHSBVA. “It’s a great lesson to learn now, and next week we will have our dates for next year all finalized this time much earlier in the year.” Â WSHSBVA also announced that they would be hosting a Boys Doubles Grass Tournament, next year. Â Dates and locations have yet to be determined. Â Â Â The tournament was held at the Five12 courts in Puyallup, home to the Lake Tapps Volleyball Club.
Last week the association was at the WESCO District Macho Volleyball Tournament in which 14 schools were represented at the Tournament. The tournament features many athletes most of them Seniors, since to qualify you have to go through another tournament put on by each school. To help with the fun of the tournament the nets are at girls height. Towards the end I met a young man who was downtrodden after his team had lost in the quarterfinals. This student looked shocked and stunned, staring into the distance. I knew who he was, that he played for Space Needle, the high octane club that produced Matt West, and I sat with him and told him he was slightly overreacting because in a week and a half he would be playing on guys size nets against competition that would make this brand of volleyball look childish at the CEVA tournament which features about 10 teams traveling from across the northwest. It cheered him up slightly but the reality set in as a friend from his High School, the other dominant volleyball player on his team a non club member, sat with him and began to nudge him toward leaving.
The truth is the student athlete wanted to win this tournament more than he wanted to win any other local tournament this year. Hec, he may have wanted this low level tournament more than the National USAV boys tournament. What makes it so different? Even if his team wins the Gold/Open highest level (not sure what they call it) U-18 bracket, no one at his school will know. He could tell them, and then they may look it up, but other then that, no one knows. However if he won this tournament, maybe not everyone at the school, but at least a larger portion would know, and he would have been the best player on that team. SNVF may win this weekend, and they have a good shot of doing it, but again, I will know, his family will know, the volleyball at large community will know, but no one at his school will know. That is what makes high school sports so important to the student athletes, more then varsity letters, jackets, or gym bags, is the fact that there community knows they are good at something.
List of Schools that Competed in order of finsih:
1. Lynnwood
2. Monroe
3. Marysville-Getchel
4. Cascade
T-5. Mountlake Terrace
5. Marysville Pilchuck
5. Mariner
5. Mount Vernon
T-9. Oak Harbor
9. Glacier Peak
9. Snohomish
9. Jackson
9. Kamiak
9. Meadowdale
UW is offering a boys volleyball camp for those interested from July 21-23. Some of the best coaches within the area will be there to provide volleyball instruction to you and your children. To register visit http://www.jimmclaughlinvolleyball.com/ The cost is $150 from Monday to Wednesday July 21-23. Registration opens March 4th. If you want advanced registration email: wshsbva@gmail.com.
From the website:
BOYS ONLY CAMP
Boys Camp July 21-23 Monday- Wednesday for 4th-12th graders $150 5:00-8:00pm
***Boys camp will be ONLY for boys and will be run separately from the girls in Night Camp 2.
2014 Spring Open Tournament is now ready for registration. Click here, to register your team. If you are an individual and you would like to register fill out the below form:
[contact-form subject=’New Individual Registrant’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Year in School’ type=’select’ required=’1′ options=’Graduating Sr. (2014),Jr. (2015),Soph (2016),Freshman (2017),Incoming Freshman (2018)’/][contact-field label=’High School’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Playing ability’ type=’textarea’/][/contact-form]
WESCO Tournament at Marysville
Boys Tournament at Highline Community College in Des Moines, WA
Katelyn Lahair from Shorecrest High School held a Macho Volleyball fundraiser. Â All the proceeds from the game went to the winning class. A total of 12 participants showed up and all played well. Â The seniors won the event in two closely contested games. Â The first set winning 25-23 and the second 25-19. Â A valiant effort by both classes below is a slideshow, depicting the game.
[slideshow]