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Post by BuckysHeat on Jan 31, 2018 11:10:18 GMT -5
However, a lot of those girls on Mn Select were already committed before they switched from Northern Lights or Crossfire typically. Does not diminish the teams though but they underperformed last year with all the talent they had and this year is a crapshoot so far from early looks. I was speaking of the year before, same group of kids +1 middle if I recall. They won 18 open with one 18 and one 16 (again going based of memory, which is spotty). Last year they not only lost their 18, but a few girls to early graduation including Sydney Hilley who was obviously a huge part of what they did. I did not think last year they under performed THAT much because they lost some pieces that were key to their success. At the beginning of the season they were tabbed as one of the very top teams and certainly the one to beat at AAU even with the losses. That changed when McGraw got hurt in Milwaukee and was out - I think for the rest of the club season. The following weekend they won Vegas over KC Power and finished 11-0. But by June, they did finish in 3rd at AAU Nationals but ONLY because they won just enough in the power pools to make it to gold, they finished 3-6 with an 8-13 set record. But I believe you are right, in 2016 Mn Select took 2nd at AAU and won USAV I think.
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Post by boh on Jan 31, 2018 11:21:37 GMT -5
I was speaking of the year before, same group of kids +1 middle if I recall. They won 18 open with one 18 and one 16 (again going based of memory, which is spotty). Last year they not only lost their 18, but a few girls to early graduation including Sydney Hilley who was obviously a huge part of what they did. I did not think last year they under performed THAT much because they lost some pieces that were key to their success. At the beginning of the season they were tabbed as one of the very top teams and certainly the one to beat at AAU even with the losses. That changed when McGraw got hurt in Milwaukee and was out - I think for the rest of the club season. The following weekend they won Vegas over KC Power and finished 11-0. But by June, they did finish in 3rd at AAU Nationals but ONLY because they won just enough in the power pools to make it to gold, they finished 3-6 with an 8-13 set record. But I believe you are right, in 2016 Mn Select took 2nd at AAU and won USAV I think. Don't even get me started on those power pools...nationals at 18 open last year was pretty unimpressive to watch. I would not put that on MN select when everything was bad
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Post by ProfessorPlum on Jan 31, 2018 11:39:39 GMT -5
At the beginning of the season they were tabbed as one of the very top teams and certainly the one to beat at AAU even with the losses. That changed when McGraw got hurt in Milwaukee and was out - I think for the rest of the club season. The following weekend they won Vegas over KC Power and finished 11-0. But by June, they did finish in 3rd at AAU Nationals but ONLY because they won just enough in the power pools to make it to gold, they finished 3-6 with an 8-13 set record. But I believe you are right, in 2016 Mn Select took 2nd at AAU and won USAV I think. Don't even get me started on those power pools...nationals at 18 open last year was pretty unimpressive to watch. I would not put that on MN select when everything was bad You mean Pick Up Natl’s. It was unimpressive because most of the top teams were missing many players to injury, early departure to school, forgot to get a plane ticket or forgot to give a s—t. At least 3 of the power pool teams and eventual champion had free agents playing as well. Don’t blame the power pool format...the AAU 18 Open Tournament is dying a slow death. TAV, NL, A4, & A5 are the latest power clubs to bow out of the 18Open pick up nationals
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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 31, 2018 12:06:11 GMT -5
I don't know any of these teams.
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Post by boh on Jan 31, 2018 12:13:57 GMT -5
Don't even get me started on those power pools...nationals at 18 open last year was pretty unimpressive to watch. I would not put that on MN select when everything was bad You mean Pick Up Natl’s. It was unimpressive because most of the top teams were missing many players to injury, early departure to school, forgot to get a plane ticket or forgot to give a s—t. At least 3 of the power pool teams and eventual champion had free agents playing as well. Don’t blame the power pool format...the AAU 18 Open Tournament is dying a slow death. TAV, NL, A4, & A5 are the latest power clubs to bow out of the 18Open pick up nationals I am not specifically blaming the power pools, although re-reading my post it sure sounds like I was. I just think that the power pools added to the lack of caring by the players. Most of them are already mentally in college, or at least mentally not playing club ball anymore, then you tell the absolute best teams in the entire convention center "hey, you can screw around for the first two days and it won't really matter" Our club is also talking about ducking out of AAUs, or at the very least just throwing all of the 18s that want to go to nationals on teams and having a mixed group from our club (no free agents) and let them have fun one last time together. My competitive side hates it, and I also hate (selfishly) not having the kids for a longer period of time. I have really enjoyed having one last big hurrah for kids I have worked with for 6-7 years positionally and for 7 months as a team and seeing what it all adds up to at the end. I completely get why it is turning into what it is though. I'd like to see our club move 18s to USAV nationals (wont happen) or AAUs move their 18s divisions to earlier also. Maybe 2-3 weeks after World Challenge or something.
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Post by ProfessorPlum on Jan 31, 2018 12:20:39 GMT -5
You mean Pick Up Natl’s. It was unimpressive because most of the top teams were missing many players to injury, early departure to school, forgot to get a plane ticket or forgot to give a s—t. At least 3 of the power pool teams and eventual champion had free agents playing as well. Don’t blame the power pool format...the AAU 18 Open Tournament is dying a slow death. TAV, NL, A4, & A5 are the latest power clubs to bow out of the 18Open pick up nationals I am not specifically blaming the power pools, although re-reading my post it sure sounds like I was. I just think that the power pools added to the lack of caring by the players. Most of them are already mentally in college, or at least mentally not playing club ball anymore, then you tell the absolute best teams in the entire convention center "hey, you can screw around for the first two days and it won't really matter" Our club is also talking about ducking out of AAUs, or at the very least just throwing all of the 18s that want to go to nationals on teams and having a mixed group from our club (no free agents) and let them have fun one last time together. My competitive side hates it, and I also hate (selfishly) not having the kids for a longer period of time. I have really enjoyed having one last big hurrah for kids I have worked with for 6-7 years positionally and for 7 months as a team and seeing what it all adds up to at the end. I completely get why it is turning into what it is though. I'd like to see our club move 18s to USAV nationals (wont happen) or AAUs move their 18s divisions to earlier also. Maybe 2-3 weeks after World Challenge or something. Agree with all of this. Good luck with your group’s last hurrah! A lot of traditional AAU 18 Open attendees are looking at West Coast Challenge, JVA World’s & Columbus as late season alternatives for their 18 season ender.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 31, 2018 12:40:01 GMT -5
Is it bad of me to admit that the last time I paid attention to high-school-age girls playing volleyball was when I was in high school?
I also don't study minor league baseball and know all the prospects in the farm system either. I understand why some people do, but I just watch the major league teams. Same for college volleyball.
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Post by boh on Jan 31, 2018 12:45:10 GMT -5
Is it bad of me to admit that the last time I paid attention to high-school-age girls playing volleyball was when I was in high school? I also don't study minor league baseball and know all the prospects in the farm system either. I understand why some people do, but I just watch the major league teams. Same for college volleyball. Having a vested interest in it changes that. If you had a daughter playing and were at all the major club tournaments, or were coaching and had to coach against these big time teams you would probably feel differently. As a college fan, some want to see what is coming in and some dont care until they're there...Nothing bad about it, just different strokes for different folks
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Post by indianscoach on Jan 31, 2018 13:29:06 GMT -5
You mean Pick Up Natl’s. It was unimpressive because most of the top teams were missing many players to injury, early departure to school, forgot to get a plane ticket or forgot to give a s—t. At least 3 of the power pool teams and eventual champion had free agents playing as well. Don’t blame the power pool format...the AAU 18 Open Tournament is dying a slow death. TAV, NL, A4, & A5 are the latest power clubs to bow out of the 18Open pick up nationals I am not specifically blaming the power pools, although re-reading my post it sure sounds like I was. I just think that the power pools added to the lack of caring by the players. Most of them are already mentally in college, or at least mentally not playing club ball anymore, then you tell the absolute best teams in the entire convention center "hey, you can screw around for the first two days and it won't really matter" Our club is also talking about ducking out of AAUs, or at the very least just throwing all of the 18s that want to go to nationals on teams and having a mixed group from our club (no free agents) and let them have fun one last time together. My competitive side hates it, and I also hate (selfishly) not having the kids for a longer period of time. I have really enjoyed having one last big hurrah for kids I have worked with for 6-7 years positionally and for 7 months as a team and seeing what it all adds up to at the end. I completely get why it is turning into what it is though. I'd like to see our club move 18s to USAV nationals (wont happen) or AAUs move their 18s divisions to earlier also. Maybe 2-3 weeks after World Challenge or something. This is the first year that we are trying the early USAV Nationals as opposed to sending a BS/halfway/don't care 18's team to AAU's. My club has the luxury of not having burned the USAV bridge completely like a lot of JVA clubs have done. The girls so far seem motivated by that early season end and it is a lot easier to keep them motivated till April rather than late June
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Post by ProfessorPlum on Jan 31, 2018 14:15:26 GMT -5
I have not talked to a player yet that does not enjoy the early end to 18’s or that wishes their team was ending early. Not one. And I personally felt exactly the opposite as I was similar to BOH and didn’t want it to end. USAV got this one right!
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Post by boh on Jan 31, 2018 14:25:46 GMT -5
Because we are trying to gauge what we will do at the end of the year I have asked my players who wants to go and who doesn't. We have 3 on my team that want to, but 1 of them is only if the entire rest of the team is going. Everyone else does not want to go. So there are a couple on my team that actually want to end the year late. They are super high motivated and competitive kids that do not need to report to school the following week though
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Post by eazy on Jan 31, 2018 14:27:48 GMT -5
I have not talked to a player yet that does not enjoy the early end to 18’s or that wishes their team was ending early. Not one. And I personally felt exactly the opposite as I was similar to BOH and didn’t want it to end. USAV got this one right! I have talked to plenty of players that didn't want an early end to 18's year. They understand how special it is when a core group stays together from 14s (roughly) through 18s year and they know that while college will be a great experience, it won't be the same and not everyone enjoys their collegiate playing experience. Colleges are making it much harder now that they are pressuring them into taking summer courses just to get them on campus and in the gym earlier. We may have had some lower level 18s teams throughout the years that had checked out early, but our 18 Open teams never seem to have that problem.. We also take care of our athletes so they don't develop the overuse injuries that so many colleges complain about.
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Post by boh on Jan 31, 2018 14:45:37 GMT -5
I have not talked to a player yet that does not enjoy the early end to 18’s or that wishes their team was ending early. Not one. And I personally felt exactly the opposite as I was similar to BOH and didn’t want it to end. USAV got this one right! I have talked to plenty of players that didn't want an early end to 18's year. They understand how special it is when a core group stays together from 14s (roughly) through 18s year and they know that while college will be a great experience, it won't be the same and not everyone enjoys their collegiate playing experience. Colleges are making it much harder now that they are pressuring them into taking summer courses just to get them on campus and in the gym earlier. We may have had some lower level 18s teams throughout the years that had checked out early, but our 18 Open teams never seem to have that problem.. We also take care of our athletes so they don't develop the overuse injuries that so many colleges complain about. I agree. Generally speaking my teams have worked hard until the end. A few times I've had teams that finally started to figure it all out their 18s year after having really poor club performances every year and really got it done their final year and did something they are still very proud of to this day. They were always sold short by all the other teams and came out like gang busters their 18s year. Those are my favorite years, I still get emotional thinking about those teams (I'm getting softer the older I get)
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moody
Banned
Posts: 18,679
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Post by moody on Feb 11, 2018 19:23:44 GMT -5
At the beginning of the season they were tabbed as one of the very top teams and certainly the one to beat at AAU even with the losses. That changed when McGraw got hurt in Milwaukee and was out - I think for the rest of the club season. The following weekend they won Vegas over KC Power and finished 11-0. But by June, they did finish in 3rd at AAU Nationals but ONLY because they won just enough in the power pools to make it to gold, they finished 3-6 with an 8-13 set record. But I believe you are right, in 2016 Mn Select took 2nd at AAU and won USAV I think. Don't even get me started on those power pools...nationals at 18 open last year was pretty unimpressive to watch. I would not put that on MN select when everything was bad So you are defending Select's poor showing in the AAU power pools by saying the pools weren't very good? HUH???
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Post by dman on Feb 11, 2018 19:52:36 GMT -5
AAU Nationals for 18's is a joke! Many top teams don't come with their true team roster as many girls have already left for college. You will also find clubs poaching other girls to place on their rosters who haven't played for their team all year. It's ridiculous! I know this will ruffle feathers but USAV Nationals is much more competitive top to bottom and the winner of this tournament deserves the title National Champion!
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