Club Spotlight: Motion Volleyball Program

Club volleyball season has officially started in Badger Region. Players are attending tryouts, coaches are filling their rosters and club directors are busy running the show behind the scenes.

In the midst of all this chaos, Motion Volleyball Program (MVP) took some time to chat with us about their growing program.

Dave Goetzel and Mike Pridavka started MVP in the summer of 2012. Both men had daughters in the volleyball world, which gave them first-hand knowledge on what makes a program successful. Their vision was simple: to build a club around a great coaching staff.

"We felt it was important to build a club around a philosophy." Pridavka said. "We felt that if you can find a great coach with similar values and let that coach run his team, you could build a great club."

According to their model, a key part of the equation for a great club is to find great coaches. When Pridavka and Goetzel identified a local coach who fit the bill, they realized their vision could become a reality.

"When we came across a great coach living in Madison who had coached in the area previously and taken a year off to get situated in his professional career, we started to think this vision for a club could be a reality." Pridavka said. "We pitched him our concepts and he fell in love with the idea."

From there, the fabric of MVP began to take shape. Goetzel, Pridavka and the coach, Kurt Derenne, met several hours a week to plan and prepare for their first club season.

MVP started small, hosting one club team during the 2013 season.

"We didn't expect to grow very fast because we are very picky about who we have coach." Pridavka said. "We understand that there was more to being a great coach than just being able to teach or play volleyball."

MVP's vision and philosophy got them started, but their objective and methods for achieving their objective have given the program legs.

"We have a multi-phase approach to achieve our objective," Pridavka said. "Through the combination of practices, tournaments, film sessions, nutrition plans and workout programs, MVP will meet their objective of helping dedicated players and families set and reach their goals as a volleyball player and give them the tools to reach and accomplish those goals."

Apparently, MVP's vision, philosophy, objective and methods have a market in Badger Region. MVP has expanded to include five teams in their second season: two teams at the 12 and under (12U) age level along with two teams at the 14U age level and one team at the 18U age level.

"This year, MVP grew faster than we thought." Pridavka said. "We were approached by some fabulous coaches who wanted to try other opportunities and liked what our club stood for. We went from one team our first season to five teams for the 2013-14 season."

Running a successful club is no easy feat, and MVP has faced their share of challenges as they navigate this competitive youth sport world.

"The hardest part about being a club director is that everyone has a different opinion of reality." Pridavka said. "They have different opinions of what should be done and how it should be done, who is better than who. You have to take a lot of information in, process it and then make quick and sometimes not so popular decisions. At the same time you have to be flexible and patient so you can explain the details on what and why things are being done a certain way."

MVP has handled this tricky aspect of youth sport and kept their focus on the tremendous upside of working with young athletes.

"The most rewarding part of being a junior club director is helping girls get better and reach their potential in a sport they love." Pridavka said. "We know our players are learning lessons that will stick with them for their entire lives. We really try to teach that nothing comes for free, you have to work hard for it and earn it."

The end result of molding human beings is rewarding for a club director, but the journey getting there is rewarding as well. Pridavka mentioned several here-and-now moments that make club directing worthwhile.

"The smiles on the girls' faces when you present them with an offer is great," Pridavka said. "Also, when a team takes the floor in their brand new uniforms for their first tournament or how our 16-1s team rallied around one of our directors, Dave Goetzel when he went through his cancer treatment."

Pridavka wasn't the only one touched by MVP's support of Goetzel. USA Volleyball ran a story featuring the club and their use of video streaming to keep Goetzel involved in the team's performance while he battled cancer. Click here to read the story.

It's evident by the story above that MVP has created a club volleyball family, and we are glad their program is a part of our Badger Region family.

Veterans Day Done Right

How awesome is this. Colorado State University women's volleyball honored Veterans Day by doing a whole lot more than just talking the talk.

Read this article about the special ceremony the players coordinated to honor their Air Force opponents. 

It's about a lot more than volleyball, people. A whole lot more. 

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20131117/COLUMNISTS149/311170078/matt-column

Club Spotlight: Northern Trailblazers

Welcome to the 2014 junior club volleyball season in Badger Region. As the season proceeds, we'll be taking time each month to chat with one of our clubs. This month, our spotlight is on the Northern Trailblazers. 

The Northern Trailblazers are located in Antigo, Wisconsin and run by Club Directors Valerie McCarthy and Kevin Fischer. 

The Northern Trailblazers started in 2009 with four teams: girls' 13U, girls' 15U and two girls' 17U teams. Since then, the Trailblazers have expanded to 10 teams and hosts volleytots/MINI Volleyball programs. 

Every club is a little bit different. According to McCarthy, the Norther Trailblazers club program focuses on skill development and life lessons. 

"Northern Trailblazers Volleyball Club believes that every child should be offered the opportunity to develop the skills that will enable them to excel and compete successfully at the interscholastic, regional and/or national level of youth volleyball," McCarthy said. "Along with teaching each player life lessons and/or skills to help them achieve their goals in life. Volleyball, or any sport, is taught on and off the court."

Volleyball is a sport taught on and off the court, and it teaches life lessons to players, coaches and parents alike. McCarthy cherishes the opportunity to watch her players grow during their time in the program. It makes the long hours she spends behind-the-scenes worth it. 

"There is so much hat needs to be done to run and maintain a good club volleyball program," McCarthy said. "With the distance of the schools in the area, it is hard to draw High School or College coaches. The closest college is UW Marathon in Wausau. This is one of the main reasons we offer to send our coaches to the coaching clinics that Badger Region or USAV has available."

The coaching education opportunities that the Northern Trailblazers provide their staff are beneficial to all members of the program. 

"We are happy that our coaching staff takes advantage of this opportunity," McCarthy said. "And we are happy they have returned to coach for the Trailblazers. Our members are fortunate to have such devoted coaches that are willing to better their coaching education, philosophies and techniques."

One of the ways the Trailblazers focus on developing their skills is at Wednesday "Skills & Drills/Open Gyms." Players from all age groups come in for extra court time. McCarthy stated that it is a pleasure to watch her players of all ages interact and learn about volleyball together. 

When asked about her favorite memory as a club directory, McCarthy pointed towards a time when her team lost. You heard us right. Lost. 

"In 2011, I was coaching our 18's team at March Mania in the WI Dells," McCarthy said. "We were in the Championship game Sunday on Court 1 playing I-80 Blues from Iowa. The girls were very excited to play on Court 1 with so many spectators surrounding the court. It was a very close match; we went point for point with I-80 Blues. We lost, but the thing I remember the most is the way my players looked and acted after the match. They knew they played their hearts out and left it all on the court. They knew they lost the the match but also knew they won. It was such a pleasure to see that they understood what it is like to compete. You can win and still lose, but more importantly you can lose and still win."

As the Northern Trailblazers look to the future, they hope to continue fielding teams in each age group. McCarthy wants to see two teams per age group in the 14U and older age levels, along with the Volleytots and MINI Volley programs. 

Wishing the Northern Trailblazers and all their parents, coaches and staff luck during the 2014 Badger Region Volleyball season.

Badger Region Website Restructure

In case you hadn't noticed, the Badger Region website has a new look!

We've transitioned to a new back-end that gives us increased control on the structure of our content and have been tackling the massive project of reorganizing all of the information to be more user-friendly. That means new tabs, new navigation structure and so on.

Be sure to click around and check out the different sections. We've got some cool stuff on there! Several sections are "coming soon," and we will be updating those over the course of the next few months.

Click here to check out our new look.

HP Championships Recap

We had a great time down in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. with our five Badger Region High Performance teams. Thanks to all of the parents, players and coaching staff that made this trip a success and beneficial experience for all involved.

The Boys National Team finished 10th in the National Division (roster, results).
The Boys Regional Team finished 2nd in the Regional Division (roster, results).
The Girls National Select Team finished 10th in the National Select Division (roster, results).
The Girls National Youth Team finished 19th in the National Division (roster, results).
The Girls International Youth Team finished 4th in the International Youth Division (roster, results).

If you were at the championships and have pictures, please email them to deb@badgervolleyball.org, post them to our Facebook page, share them on your FB wall and hash tag #BRHP2013, post them on Twitter and tag us (@BadgerRegionVB) or post them to Instagram and tag us (@badgervb). 

Follow the BRHP teams at the USAV High Performance Championships!

Five Badger Region High Performance teams are at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., this week (July 23-27) to compete in the international tournament. Click here to see the schedules for the Boys Regional, Boys National, Girls National Select, Girls National Youth or Girls International Youth teams and click HERE for links to live streaming for courts 1-6 all week! Good luck, play hard and HAVE FUN to all of the Badger Region teams!!

Badger Region Announces Boys HP Teams

Badger Region Volleyball Association announced the rosters for the two Badger Region Boys High Performance teams that will compete at the 2013 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships being held July 23-27 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

The event is slated to draw over 100 national and international teams to compete in seven divisions: Women’s International Junior, Boys’ International Youth, Girls’ International Youth, Girls’ National Youth, Girls’ National Select, Boys’ National and Boys’ Regional.

 Badger Region is sending one team to compete in the Boys’ National Division and one to compete in the Boys’ Regional Division.

Team rosters were selected at the conclusion of the 2013 Badger Region High Performance Camp, which was held July 12-14 at Lakeland College.

BOYS NATIONAL: Click here for the team’s schedule

Zach DeRosier (North Shore)

Andy Keeler (Capital Volleyball Academy)

Andy Rowley (Southwest)

Markus Riemer (Southport)

Ashton Lehner (Northshore)

Aaron Wendels (Wisconsin Volleyball Academy)

Colton Parsons (Wisconsin Volleyball Academy)

Dalen Instenes (West Allis Lightning)

Lucas Werth (Southport)

Keahn Dunn (Capital Volleyball Academy)

Coach: Kelly Vecitis

Coach: Jake Kujak

BOYS REGIONAL: Click here for the team’s schedule

Kenny Schubart (Wisconsin Volleyball Academy)

Michael Hiroskey (Wisconsin Volleyball Academy)

Ryan Korom (West Allis Lightning)

Mike Skora (Club W)

Jacob DeRosier (West Allis Lightning)

Will McNabb (West Allis Lightning)

Patrick Vandendriessche (Southwest)

Griffin Spence (North Shore)

Brett Biscobing

Coach: Mike Ziegler

Coach: Mike Voigt