Open Gyms M/W 3:30-5pm

Open gyms have started! The RHS gym will be open from 3:30-5pm every Monday and Wednesday to play volleyball. Due to the “no contact” period until June 1, the coaches will be present to ensure safety and will not be allowed to coach.

Starting June 1st, we will be running drills and giving feedback to players. Open gyms are available to anyone interested in playing volleyball regardless of past participation in the program. They are not mandatory for returning players.

We met cool people

This last weekend, three of the Roosevelt coaches had the opportunity to attend a coaching clinic led by (the list is long) Bill Neville-former UW coach and founder of Nevillizmz, Hugh McCutcheon-USA men’s national team coach & recently hired USA Women’s coach, Diane Flick-my fave and WWU coach, Russ Rose-Penn State coach and possible part time comedian, and Brad Saindon-Western Oregon Coach.  Here is our courtesy photo.  Notice the person standing behind Stacey is none other than Karch Kiraly, there as a student, sort of (if you don’t know who this is, you probably came upon this blog by accident or you need to google him right now.)  They might actually be touching in this photo…

Russ Rose, Bill Neville, Azure DeMeules, Brad Saindon, Stacey Dozono, Karch Kiraly (behind Stacey), Diane Flick, Fred Choy, Hugh McCutcheon

Anyway, we all learned a lot, but mostly just confirmed what the coaching staff at RHS already believed–you have to build a strategy and an identity around the personnel on your team.  It was mostly fun to hear all of the different perspectives and ideas.  Each coach was different and had their own strenghts and weaknesses, but each was successful.  A lot of times in this area we seem to get stuck on the idea that there is only one way to teach and play volleyball.  This clinic affirmed that there are in fact many many ways to teach and play the game.  The coaches talked a lot about how excited we are for next season!   At one point they made us write down our coaching philosophies.  I finally decided mine was “Anything is possible.  Figure out how and do it.”  Maybe it’s a life philosophy, I don’t know.

2008 State Tournament

The 2008 RHS varsity qualified for the Washington State Tournament for the first time in Roosevelt history.

In the first round of districts, they went up against Newport’s 6 foot outsides, Allie Bagley and Kelsey Moore, edging them out 25-23 in the first game. Newport came back in the second and returned the favor, winning 25-23. In the third game, Roosevelt stepped up the intensity and crushed the Knights 25-16, and again, Newport came back and won game four 25-16. The pressure was on in the fifth game, but the Riders came out with an 8-3 lead and after the Newport coaches had called their final timeout, the Riders marched on to win 15-7. The match highlights were Libero, Dominika Marczak’s 19 digs and freshman OH, Sarah O’Connor’s 12 kills and 10 digs.

They went on to lose to #1 Bothell in the second round, sending them into the consolation bracket and several loser out games.

They defeated Woodinville, who they had lost to earlier in the season three games to none and faced Newport a second time in the 3rd/4th place match. The loser would head to Vancouver, WA to face undefeated Skyview HS and the winner would play on their home court.

This time, they finished Newport with a little more ease. OH Michelle Woodworth matched OH Sarah O’Connor’s 10 kills, making the Riders balanced and unstoppable. The final game scores were (W26-24, W25-19, L 19-25, W25-18)

They won the right to play Heritage High School at Roosevelt. In a dominant performance, they clinched their first state berth ever and made the trip to Kennewick, WA.

They faced the home team, Kamiakin, who would go on to place second in the state. They put up a fight, but were unable to get the momentum to win a game. Finally, in their second state game, they faced Rogers of Puyalup and though they played well as a team, were unable to come away with a victory. Despite the losses, it was a truly amazing experience. We will sincerely miss the class of 2009, but are excited about the young talent coming back next year. Go Riders!

Jump High – Hit Hard!

Total Domination takes vision, determination and commitment.                      

Vision: set your goal high.  How high do you want to jump and how hard do you want to hit the ball?  Take a look at Leonel Marshall who plays for the Cuban National Team.  His vertical is about 50 inches.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoKhEiAHfYs

Determination: have a plan.  Jump training & conditioning packets were handed out at the end of this year’s season.  If you need a copy, email Fred at fjchoy@gmail.com.  There is a great program called “Air Alert III” that you can google and download the PDF.  I would recommend that you suppliment “Air Alert III” with some core conditioning.  If you have your own plan, great!

Commitment: Practice, practice, practice.  Having a goal and a plan is only 2% of your success, 98% is doing it.  Keep a log and record the date/day, how many sets and reps you are doing.  Don’t leave it up to memory.  The best way to see your progress and push yourself to higher standards is to keep a log.

Azure DeMeules

Azure is a contributing writer and head coach of the Roosevelt volleyball team. She has been coaching volleyball for six years and still loves every minute of it (only a slight exageration). When not coaching, thinking about coaching, or planning for Roosevelt domination, she works on boats and travels. Azure will not be in Seattle this winter, but will be helping out the team in her heart and via email from Colombia France. After seeing Roosevelt make it to the State Tournament for the first time in school history, she, along with the other contributors have created a new vision. Yep, you guessed it! Total Domination (TD). The plan is to get the Roughriders stronger, faster, jumping higher and thinking more about volleyball and TD. Contact: (206) 604-6753 goazure@gmail.com

dominate and

thrive

Fred Choy

Fred pedaling a cyclo & its driver in the streets of Hue, Vietnam.

Fred is the JV Assistant Coach at RHS.  He enjoys visiting third worlds and working with its leaders to make a positive social and spiritual change.  Fred is known to eat just about anything and loves the adventure of something new to eat.  Fred’s hope is that our program will help girls jump higher and hit harder than they ever imagined.