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Cave Creek’s Lora Webster Named Sitting Volleyball Player of the Year

USA Volleyball announced Cave Creek’s Lora Webster was the 2007 .Sitting Volleyball Player of the Year

Webster served as the team captain for the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team and played in all 2007 matches including the five June matches against the Netherlands, four matches at the Shanghai Invitational with wins over Australia, Japan and Malaysia and the first-set win over China in December. These were all significant events for the team, which has qualified for the 2008 Paralympic Games.

Webster, 21, led the team in attacking with a 0.414 efficiency percentage and a kill percentage of 0.517. She finished the season with 14 aces. Webster was second on the team in blocking with 10 solos, 15 assisted and five blocked serves. She was also second to the libero with 47 digs and her serve-receive led the team. Webster, who had her left leg amputated after being diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 11, was one of the main reasons the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team captured the bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Congratulations Lora and the Webster family.

AZ Region Girl’s High Performance Coaches Selected

The Arizona Region High Performance Program has announced their two Regional Coaches that will field teams in the HP Championships held in Tucson in late July. These coaches were selected by a coach’s selection committee from the applications the Region received.

         
Molly Stark will coach the Youth age group. Stark brings an unprecedented wealth of experience to the squad. As a graduate of Notre Dame, she was a player and coach internationally for 10 years. She is currently the head coach at Valley Christian High School. Her assistant coach will be Pat Mooney, who is currently the Head Coach at South Mountain Community College. Mooney has also coached at Phoenix College and was the Assistant Coach for the Arizona Regional High Performance Team in 2005.

The Select age group will be headed by Tucson’s A.J. Malis. Malis has 18 years of coaching experience ranging from elementary school to being the first assistant coach at the University of Arizona. Malis is currently a finalist for the University of Arizona-Circle K Teacher of the Year Award. He will be assisted by Amanda Burbridge, who owns two 5A State volleyball titles as the coach of Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale and owns several records as a former outside hitter for the ASU Sun Devil Volleyball program.

Stark and Malis join Tony Oldani, who will be coaching the Arizona Region’s first boy’s team in the program’s history. Oldani will be assisted by Kursten Olaso.
For more information, go to the Arizona Region website and click on the High Performance link.

2008 National AND Regional High Performance Information

USA Volleyball has announced that the Arizona Region will host the 2008 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Tucson July 23-27th. Matches will take place on 15 courts in the Tucson Convention Center exhibition halls and arena in downtown Tucson. Over 80 teams are expected to participate in 5 age divisions.

In addition, USAV will be training their A1 and A2 training teams in Tucson the five days leading up to the event.

It is the first time the state of Arizona has hosted the High Performance Championships and if all goes well, organizers have said Tucson might be a host city again in 2010 or 2011.

USA Volleyball has also announced that Phoenix will be the site of a pair of High Performance National Team Tryouts for both boys and girls. The Boy’s tryout was January 13th at Phoenix College with 58 participants.

The Girl’s tryout is scheduled for March 9th, also at Phoenix College, with the Youth age division from 10 a.m. till 2 .m. and the Select and Junior divisions from 2 p.m. till 6 p.m. USA Girl’s High Performance Director Heath Hoke will be running the tryouts with help from others from USAV’s High Performance program and local volunteer coaches chosen by the Arizona Region’s High Performance Department. There are only a handful of these “stand alone” tryouts scheduled each year.

To register for the tryout, athletes must do so on line at https://secure.infront.com/usavolleyball/tryouts/tryoutapp_1.asp
While National level talent will be identified thought these tryouts, the Arizona Region will use these tryouts to evaluate and choose three teams for the Championships; a Girl’s Select team, a Girl’s Youth team and for the first time in Region history, a boy’s High Performance team.

USA Volleyball’s Education Department has also scheduled a CAP I and CAP II clinic to coincide with the Championships in Tucson.

For more information, go to the HP link on the Region’s website.
The age groups for these teams are determined by the FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) and differ from USA Volleyball Junior Age Definitions. There are no waivers possible for these age divisions -


2008 Women / Girls' Age Groups 

 

Women's Junior

 

 

Women born in 1990 and 1991

 

Girls' Youth

 

 

Girls born in 1992 and 1993

 

Girls' USA Select

 

 

Girls born in 1994, 1995 and after

For more information, contact Eric at erichbke@msn.com

Adult Beach Volleyball Still Going Strong

The  Arizona Beach Volleyball Association, or the AZBVA is going strong with Adult tournaments throughout the winter and spring. For more information, go to their website at http://www.arizonavolleyball.com.

Nominations for the 2008 Service Awards are now being accepted

Nominations for adults who have served the Junior Division of USA Volleyball on a local, regional and national level are needed for the following categories:

  1. Outstanding Program Director
  2. Outstanding Female Coach
  3. Outstanding Male Coach
  4. Outstanding Parent
  5. Outstanding Clinician
  6. Outstanding Service

Please consult the USAV Guidebook for specific criteria for each of these awards, this information can be found in the 2008 Guidebook.

You do not need to be a coach or club director to nominate someone you feel has made a positive impact on volleyball in Arizona.

Nominations should include:

  1. Nominees Name and Region
  2. Address
  3. Phone Number and Email Address
  4. One page explanation of the nominee’s accomplishments and reason for nomination.
  5. Name address, phone number and email address of the person submitting the nomination.  (See nomination form on following page.)

Nominations must be submitted no later than February 15, 2008 to:
Chris Clauss
cmwarner24@aol.com

American Volleyball Challenge coming back to Arizona

The American Volleyball Challenge is again coming to the Tucson Convention Center in 2008. The competition dates are April 19-20th. Divisions offered this year are 14, 16 and 18 Club. The entry deadline is March 31st and anyone wanting information should contact Lisa Naughton at the region office at 602-454-1367 or lnaughton@qwest.net

2008 Region Golf Tournament Information Announced

The 2nd annual Arizona Region Golf Tournament will be held September 20, 2008 and will be played at the Phantom Ranch golf course at the Pointe South Mountain.

Anyone may participate. The Region is not only looking for golfers, but for those willing to involve themselves with sponsorships and donations as well. All donations will be used as prizes at the event or included in our Development Grant fund.

The Arizona Region aims to facilitate both indoor and outdoor volleyball in a safe yet competitive environment for all those interested. As we continue to grow and our athletes continue to thrive, it is our goal to continue to provide for them as best we can. In doing so we have created a fund that will benefit projects to grow the sport of volleyball here in Arizona; for example, the money may be used to create a club in a low-income area where volleyball may not exist for financial reasons. By playing or making a donation, you will be promoting a safe and competitive environment for our athletes.

Feedback!!!

Please let us know what you think of this newsletter and any ideas you have for future e-newsletter stories or suggestions. Also, what did you think of the Region’s newsletter Covering the Court that was mailed to your home last week. Please send feedback to erichbke@msn.com Thank You.

If you are interested in advertising in the Quick e set Arizona Region e-newsletter, contact Eric at erichbke@msn.com