Mizuno The Journey

Mizuno is running a contest in honor of the Summer games and our future Olympians.
The grand prize is a volleyball clinic given to the winner's team in their hometown, conducted by a USA Volleyball team member.

Mizuno is asking young volleyball players to submit video diaries, photographs and essays, showcasing their own personal journeys and elaborating on how competitive volleyball has affected their lives and made them better, stronger individuals.

Everything that you need to know about entering this contest can be found at: 
http://mizunovolleynews.com

Congratulations! High Performance Camp Selections Announced

We are excited to announce the selections to this years Boys/Girls Badger High Performance Camps. Both camps will take place on July 13-15. For the first time the Boys will spend their camp experience on the beautiful campus of Wisconsin Lutheran College. UW-Green Bay, one of our favorite locations, will once again host our Girls camp. Head Coaches Chad Schreiber and Paul Schlomer will select their teams from the camp that will then represent the Badger Region at the High Performance Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa from July 23-27.

The following are the Boys Selections
Parker Baerenwald, Logan Baerenwald, Evan Charbonneau, Morgan Griffith, Connor Gross, Alex Harty, Regan Hess, Evan Humphreys, Dalen Instenes, Glenn Karsten, Andy Keeler, Collin Klimisch,  Brad Larson, Ashton Lehner, Will McNabb, Caleb Mobile, Jake Romano, Andy Rowley, Mitch Theisen, Michael Wamboldt, Nick Wildes, Eric Zirzow

The following are the Girls Select Selections
Aileen Herman, Alexis Alden, Ally Bialo, Anne Rasmussen, Annie Leo, Annika Gereau, Chloe Jakscht, Erika Dunnam, Erin Dietzler, Hope Werch, Jordan Toon, Jordyn Dutkiewicz, Kathryn Christian, Katie Frohmader, Kyra Verheyen, Lauren Litzau, Lexi Hollmann, Lisa Bedessem, Lizzy Kalous, Logan Welti, Madalena Macht, Madeline Mosher, Maureen Schick, Maya Roberts, Rose Syversen, Shannon Herman, Shannon Kebisek, Sinead Prentiss, Sydney Faehling, Victoria Brisack

The following are the Girls Youth Selections
Abigail Verheyen, Alyssa Scuric, Anna Nyberg, Annie Staskunas, Blake Buchholz, Bridgette Jaeger, Brooke Schumacher, Caitlin Koska, Caitlyn Coffey, Carley Ramich, Carly Townsend, Clara Baumann, Elizabeth Herman, Emily Kind, Grace Schlict, Haley Sedo, Kaitlin Berrell, Kayla Chosa, Laney Lovell, Margaret Liebeck, Mary Dodge, McKenna Larsen, Micah Nier, Mina House, Morgan Koth, Sam Anthon, Sami Leach, Sarah Konchan, Savannah Kolhagen, Taylor Wilkerson

Congratulations to you all.

Badger Represented on USA Men's JNTT!

There's a Badger men's player on a national training team!  Nick Olson is on the U.S. Men's Junior Training Team Roster.  Best wishes to him as he strives to earn the opportunity to compete at the NORCECA Men’s Under-21 Continental Championship, which will be Aug. 27-Sept. 1 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Always great to see a Badger player standing out in the nation.  Congratulations!!

http://usavolleyball.org/news/2012/05/01/u-s-men-s-junior-training-team-roster-announced/47823?ngb_id=2

New Coaching Clinics Announced!

Badger Region is proud to announce two separate coaching clinics to be held June 9-10 in Appleton and Wisconsin Dells. This unique format will focus on coaching different age groups and abilities. The morning session of each clinic will deal with coaching the younger ages (12-14) while the afternoon session will focus on the older ages (15-18). Click here for more information and be sure to register today!!

2012 Beach High Performance Tryouts - Coming To Des Moines, Iowa!!

Below is a great opportunity for girls interested in pursuing a future in beach volleyball!! Because we like to support all volleyball, we wanted to pass this along from the Iowa Region:

Please click here for the Iowa Region website regarding the HP beach tryout.

USA Beach Volleyball is on the RISE and the High Performance programming is amazing!

We want YOU to have opportunity to be a part of it all too, so we are bringing a 2012 High Performance Tryout to Des Moines! Come join us for this tryout and perhaps, it will open a whole new beach volleyball opportunity for you!

Selected athletes will comprise beach national teams representing the United States in various national and international competitions including the Beach High Performance Championships on July 18-22 in Hermosa Beach, California, as well as USA Beach High Performance Teams, and regional Beach High Performance Teams.  

TRYOUT SPECS…
·         Location:  June 3rd at Volley’s in Des Moines from 8am to Noon.

·         Duration:  Each tryout will include 3-4 hours of beach time where athletes will receive instruction and strive to be selected for one of the USAV Beach High Performance Programs. Athletes are evaluated and ranked based on the entire tryout population from across the country.

·         Fee:  Registration and a fee of $70 per tryout are required; athletes may attend more than one tryout. Participants must be USAV members.

·         Eligibility:  Tryouts are open to all beach athletes ages 12 to 25 who were born between Jan. 1, 1987 and Dec. 31, 2000. Registration for tryouts is online at: USAV Beach HP Tryout Page.

·         More Information … http://www.iavbreg.org/index.php/outdoor/outdoor-events/beach-hp-tryouts-2012/

Tryouts will be led by USA Volleyball beach staff. All athletes will receive a written evaluation and do not need to sign up with a partner.

For more information contact USAV Beach Programs: 200 Pier Ave., Suite 134, Hermosa Beach/South Bay, CA 90254 Phone: (310) 975-3030 Fax: (310) 376-7300

Beach High Performance Coordinator: Patricia Daugherty: patricia.daugherty@usav.org - 310.975.3030
Beach Events Coordinator: Jonpaul Roepke: Jonpaul.roepke@usav.org - 310.975.3030
Beach HP Tryouts Iowa Coordinator: Jim Sixta:  jim@iavbreg.org - 515.727.1860

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Also be sure to check out our big upcoming Badger Region beach events, including the Central Open Qualifier (June 17) and the USA Beach Junior Tour Championships (July 28-29)!!

UW Whitewater Warhawks are Great Hosts

There is nowhere better to be on a Sunday in April than at UW-Whitewater to experience one of their many hosted events. UW-W Head Coach Stacy Boudreau and her staff of UW-W players do an outstanding job of running tournaments. Any team that has the opportunity to play in one of their events will leave knowing that their money was well spent. The halls of the Williams Center boasts seven courts, three of which are in the Kris Russell Volleyball Arena, where many a Warhawk player has worked hard to bring home that Division III National Championship trophy. On April 15, the Warhawks hosted twenty-nine teams in the 14's, 16's & 18's divisions of the UW-W Open.

The play heated up throughout the day of which lead to matches that saw some extremely long rallies as was witnessed by a standing room only crowd in both gyms. Throughout the day, the setting of the majority of the teams seemed to be commanding most of the attention, as it should be at this time of the year. There is nothing prettier than a setter that has full command of the court. The team with the most interesting story on the day was Milwaukee Sting 18 White and their Head Coach Katie Berry, who went on to capture the 18’s Division Championship. Amazingly, this team has only been at full strength for 4 weeks. Right after the team was selected, one player needed jaw surgery (Emily Gary) and another dislocated her shoulder (Taylor Luce) playing basketball. During this time, many players stepped up and played out of position until the two players on the DL could finally get back into the swing of things. Now all 10 players are finding a way to contribute to the team experience. The middle/setter connection between Jen Heller & Morgan Cizauskas/Luce was exceptional all day as it proved to be very difficult to defend for their opponents. Gary also seemed to be on top of her game as the Outside Hitter found numerous ways to score whether it be powering the ball through the block or snapping it for a quick kill down the line.

Thank you to all teams, as you all put on a great show. It’s obvious that many players and coaches are putting in the necessary time to be competitive as they are approaching their final leg of their season.

Beach Volleyball - A Wisconsinite in Florida Making Waves

Even though the weather in Wisconsin in March has felt a little bit like Florida, Kelsey Smith (Oregon, Wis.) is enjoying the actual Florida weather on the beaches. And not just laying around, either. Kelsey is actually making history as one of the first participants in NCAA Sand Volleyball at the University of North Florida. Kelsey played for Badger Region clubs SE Dane (2004-05), Acers (2005-09) and Wisconsin Select (2009-10) before her college career in Jacksonville. Here is the team's roster.

Smith scored UNF's first sand point (with Casey Giovanazzi) in the program's inaugural match against crosstown rival Jacksonville on March 9. Here's the full story.

2012 North Florida Sand Volleyball Team, with Kelsey on the far left

Kelsey, passing the ball

Congrats Kelsey and keep up the good work!
Click here for the UNF Sand Volleyball homepage for the schedule and more information.

If you're looking for sand/beach opportunities in the Badger Region area, you're in luck! We are actually going to be hosting the 2012 USA Beach Junior Tour Championships on July 28-29 at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee! Click here for more info.