Highlights for the year included 14-1 knocking off a power MAVA 15’s team in Indy and both 14-1 and 14-2 making the gold round of the Dunes April Classic.  14-1 finished 3rd in both the Motor City Madness tourney and the Dunes April Classic, narrowly losing out to the eventual champs each time.  14-2 also had a nice showing going 7-1 but finishing only 5th due to some “interesting” formatting.  The 14-1 Team finished in the middle of the pack at nationals while 14-2 knocked out 4 wins in some very tough pools!  Between Michigan, Louisville, Indy, Dunes, and Orlando we saw some great competition and improved every time out.

I’m so pleased at some of the club development this year; 7 different coaches helped out with the two teams, girls headed to 7 different high schools played on our teams, and we proved again that the periodization format can and does work!  The girls all developed physically through the workouts with Maryellen in January and February, they all improved their skills during the training period, and we saw very little burnout and zero drama within the teams as was the case in year one.   

A big thank you goes out to all of the coaches, parents, and players for another great year at TR.  There are MAJOR plans for the 2011 season including teams in all age groups, adjustments to the training, and some fantastic new coaches coming on board.  Stay tuned!

Viva!!!!!

On April 10th TR will host an 8 team, single day tournament at Notre Dame Academy.  Any and all 14’s teams are welcome regardless of their OVR/USA/AAU/JVA affiliation.  We provide the insurance!  We’ll consider stong 13’s teams as well.  This will be a more relaxed tourney designed to be a chance to try out different lineups etc. while getting ready for bigger national type tourneys. 

If you are interested in entering a team, reffing this event, or just want more info, drop me a line at smattera@cfpohio.com

Thanks!

Email me for more detials

I need all of my TR people there at NDA at noon to help me get the gym set up.  We are only having three teams so we’re going to set up the main court and pull out the bleachers.

Play will begin at 12:30 with TR playing against CVC Black.  That will go from 12:30 – 2:00  At 2:00 Blackswamp will come in to play CVC until 3:30.  At that time CVC will eat and get on the road while Blackswamp will stay on and play TR from 3:30 – 5:00.  At 5:00 Blackswamp and TR will eat dinner and call it a night.

Fans are more than welcome to attend as this will be the only time we play in Toledo this year.  Please drive around to the back of the building and enter the main entrance back there.  Don’t bother with chairs as we will have the bleacher pulled out.  There won’t be an entry fee or concessions.  Also, the teams may not play games that keep a normal score.  I have already discussed running some different drills with CVC and they agree that might be more useful than actual games. 

In terms of expectations, i’m encouraging everyone who comes to understand what this is.  It is our first chance to play against anyone other than ourselves and we managed to get two of THE BEST teams in the region.  I expect our techniques to be solid, but we’ve barely scratched the surface on installing our offensive and defensive systems.  We are still in the technique development period of our schedule until after Motor City Madness.  Our goal has never been to peak in March.  We want to play well at bid and peak at the end of the season.  Saturday just gives us a chance to see where we are, what we need to work on, and who can play where effectlvely or at least shows potential in positions.

Thanks to those who made a point to mention that they missed the updates.  Some even wondered in public chat forums!  It’s good to feel like people are paying attention.  These girls deserve it!  There just wasn’t much to write about unless you want details of the workouts…those might be trade secrets for Maryellen though

Well, the conditioning part of our training ends with a final workout on Saturday.  Maryellen has done a fantastic job of working with these girls in a way that’s targeted, fun, and most of all, athleticly beneficial!  You can actually see a major difference in the way that they move, their balance, their strength, and even in their posture.  I can’t wait to get them in the gym on Monday to start the long task of directing that athletic ability into proper techniques.  Don’t worry, just becasue we are moving out of the conditioing period into the technique training period doesn’t mean we forget about conditioning.  We will be doing warm up workouts everyday before practice and a cool down stretch and core work session at the end of each day.

On a team chemistry note, the girls have really turned the corner in this area.  I had mentioned a few times how quiet they were in workouts and at open gyms.  Well I can assure you that it’s not an issue anymore.  After working out together for so long and a couple of team sleepovers…I can’t get them to shut up!   Now we need to see if that energy translates to the court.

There have been many questions about our playing schedule and the actions taken by other clubs and the OVR against us.  I wasn’t going to comment on the controversy as I thought just falling on the sword and moving forward would be the best thing.  However I’m finding out that in our culture, silence is judged as guilt and leaves all kinds of room for speculation.   I am still undecided as to weather I should issue a public statement about what we feel was a major injustice or just hold my peace and let people say what they will.  Rest assured, we have a very competitve schedule of 6 tournaments and none of the controversy has effected our girls in the least. 

Thank you to Blackswamp, CVC, Mavrick, and all the others who have remained friends, offered their support, and took the time to hear the whole story.   Also a huge thanks to Scott Monroe at Oiler Attack for all of his support.  We’re proud to be under the Oiler Umbrella! 

Finally several people have asked if I am planning to blog after every practice.  The answer is, I’ll try!  I can’t guarantee that it will happen EVERY night, but I really like the idea of putting out there what we are doing and how we are doing it.  Several parents and coaches have commented on how much they like it so I’ll try to do it as much as i can.  Maybe I can even get Coach Dave to write a blog or two, after all he’s already on facebook!

As always, please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.  See you all next week….

Viva!