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Post by thedudeabides21 on Apr 24, 2023 13:45:05 GMT -5
Ping to Skyline. This has pretty much been confirmed. Jason Nicholson denied he is going back to TAV Based off the extreme amount of talent on his rosters, it seems like Ping teams have underachieved since his arrival at DN… Has his luster rubbed off a bit in the mind of parents in NTR? Isn't this just his first year at DN? Agree his team is stacked on paper. There was talk of him retiring. Guess not |
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Post by volleydada4 on Apr 24, 2023 18:05:57 GMT -5
It’s his 2nd year.
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Post by Gladys Kravitz on Apr 24, 2023 18:14:38 GMT -5
Oh, if you thought 2022 NTR Tryout season was a circus, just wait til the 2023 edition. If someone knows the folks that do "Last Chance U" or "Drive to Survive" you may want to send them to North Texas in the next month or so. In true NTR fashion, Lone Star kicks off courting season and there is some news that is going to surface in the next month or so that is going to cause so much drama here and ripple outward that it promises to make for great entertainment. Stay tuned for the frenzy beginning any week now and concluding in early July. This is my favorite off season thread |
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Post by notvballdad on Apr 24, 2023 20:38:24 GMT -5
I think most NTR clubs are going to start making coaching announcements after Regionals...next weekend. That should keep the fireworks going a bit.
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Post by notvballdad on Apr 27, 2023 11:34:02 GMT -5
An update straight from the source:
Dear Drive Nation Family,
It's been brought to my attention that there have been a lot of false statements put in the sports community here in the DFW metroplex. So I wanted to personally address the lies!
Over the last five years we have built one of the most dominant programs in the country. There have been a lot of incredible coaches, directors, management, parents, and athletes that have had hands in with the growth and success of Drive Nation Sports! Make no mistake, it's been challenging to continue to find that perfection through success and failure. But the ability of student-athletes using their time here and the Drive Nation platform to get to college has been incredibly inspiring. With over 150 Division 1 Athletes coming out of Drive Nation over the last 5 years we are excited and getting geared up for the next 5 years of athletes.
With that being said I am “NOT LOOKING TO CLOSE DRIVE NATION”! Yes, I am planning to move the club away from the airport because of my differences with them. However, we will be relocating in the near future and I will continue to improve every aspect of the club!
Cheers to the future of Drive Nation!
Sincerely,
Jermaine O’Neal
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Post by stevehorn on Apr 27, 2023 11:56:53 GMT -5
An update straight from the source: Dear Drive Nation Family, It's been brought to my attention that there have been a lot of false statements put in the sports community here in the DFW metroplex. So I wanted to personally address the lies! Over the last five years we have built one of the most dominant programs in the country. There have been a lot of incredible coaches, directors, management, parents, and athletes that have had hands in with the growth and success of Drive Nation Sports! Make no mistake, it's been challenging to continue to find that perfection through success and failure. But the ability of student-athletes using their time here and the Drive Nation platform to get to college has been incredibly inspiring. With over 150 Division 1 Athletes coming out of Drive Nation over the last 5 years we are excited and getting geared up for the next 5 years of athletes. With that being said I am “NOT LOOKING TO CLOSE DRIVE NATION”! Yes, I am planning to move the club away from the airport because of my differences with them. However, we will be relocating in the near future and I will continue to improve every aspect of the club! Cheers to the future of Drive Nation! Sincerely, Jermaine O’Neal I always thought that the airport location was not optimal. |
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Post by outlaw on Apr 27, 2023 13:29:45 GMT -5
An update straight from the source: Dear Drive Nation Family, It's been brought to my attention that there have been a lot of false statements put in the sports community here in the DFW metroplex. So I wanted to personally address the lies! Over the last five years we have built one of the most dominant programs in the country. There have been a lot of incredible coaches, directors, management, parents, and athletes that have had hands in with the growth and success of Drive Nation Sports! Make no mistake, it's been challenging to continue to find that perfection through success and failure. But the ability of student-athletes using their time here and the Drive Nation platform to get to college has been incredibly inspiring. With over 150 Division 1 Athletes coming out of Drive Nation over the last 5 years we are excited and getting geared up for the next 5 years of athletes. With that being said I am “NOT LOOKING TO CLOSE DRIVE NATION”! Yes, I am planning to move the club away from the airport because of my differences with them. However, we will be relocating in the near future and I will continue to improve every aspect of the club! Cheers to the future of Drive Nation! Sincerely, Jermaine O’Neal I always thought that the airport location was not optimal. On the other hand I thought it was attractive to athletes on the west/south side of DFW- with every other competitive club in Plano area I thought the Irving location would be a good alternative to the hotbed up there… obviously did not turn out to be the case |
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Post by stevehorn on Apr 27, 2023 13:53:10 GMT -5
I always thought that the airport location was not optimal. On the other hand I thought it was attractive to athletes on the west/south side of DFW- with every other competitive club in Plano area I thought the Irving location would be a good alternative to the hotbed up there… obviously did not turn out to be the case I live in Arlington. What you state is correct. The problem is that the amount of open level talent on the west/south side of DFW is very small relative to the North Dallas suburbs. Also the areas on the west/south side that have a decent amount of talent are not "close" to the airport. By the time clubs on the west/south side (such as Image) pick off a few players, there isn't enough talent left to compete nationally so they are forced to rely mostly on North Dallas suburbs for players. TAV used to be located about a couple of miles south of Drive Nation (south of 183 off of 360) and they eventually moved closer to the North Dallas suburbs. |
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Post by winesalot on Apr 27, 2023 16:56:11 GMT -5
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Post by winesalot on Apr 27, 2023 16:56:59 GMT -5
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Post by vbfan999 on May 4, 2023 16:09:46 GMT -5
I’d heard rumors about Jason leaving but I thought those were “debunked”. Now I’m almost sure he’s leaving and that it’s basically been confirmed.
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Post by outlaw on May 4, 2023 20:44:30 GMT -5
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Post by vbwiz00 on May 5, 2023 0:01:15 GMT -5
Drive Nation isn't closing but Drive Nation Volleyball is, they are keeping the basketball.
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Post by thedudeabides21 on May 5, 2023 9:46:16 GMT -5
If DN Volleyball closes, it will be interesting to see where all of those top team players go.
Right now there seems to be 4 "top" clubs in the area: TAV, DN, MF and Skyline.
Wonder if another club will emerge as a new heavyweight or if the displaced players will stay at the "tougher" clubs but play 2nd team.
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Post by notvballdad on May 5, 2023 10:28:39 GMT -5
I re read Jermaine's post from the other day and it clearly omits any mention of volleyball operations, just that they are dedicated to continuing to operate. There will be volleyball this year but their viability as part of the big 4 is clearly diminished. I think where kids go is heavily reliant on age group. Yes, there are 4 teams worth of great players that are now going to try to squeeze into 3 teams.
At 18s, not sure it matters as much. There will be those that are hell bent on winning and those and that want to have a great experience with their friends, play hard, compete and sort of make it a victory lap for a unique journey they all made together.
At 17s, you'll have Ping at skyline and whoever coaches at TAV battling it out to put together 2 super teams to just pound on each other all season next year. But i don't know how deep those teams will be as compared to some in the past. A lot of those kids got to watch and realize how important it is to be on the floor playing, even if on a lower team for recruiting purposes so i think some of the "group of five" clubs could pick up some great players at the 17s level if they can staff them with strong coaches.
From 16s on down, that's where the new world order shakes out. Skyline, Madfrog and TAV all have really strong 15s teams that will be 16s so the drive nation kids could have a big uphill slog finding new homes.
The other issue that kid of stinks is that there is strong group of kids from the central and west metroplex area that are creating a pronounced presence on these top tier teams and DN gave them a place to go without having to drive 45 minutes to an hour and a half for practice and that is now effectively gone. Be interesting to watch.
Parting thought and nothing new in any level of sports and this is by no means unique to club (happens at all levels) but just imagine if players could start posting their new teams at this time of year on social. Coaches and clubs control player movement so heavily in terms of timeframe and here we go again, another year of chaos, with largely the same cast of characters creating really tough situations heading into nationals and kids now are more concerned with what team they are going to be on next year or if they are even going to have a home, and can't resolve it until after nationals. But they are supposed to focus solely on this current team and some with coaches that they know are already giving lessons and recruiting next years teams at their new clubs. Coaches will even manipulate practice schedules over the next 6-8 weeks to prevent kids from going to other tryout clinics to make sure they are focused on the team now and giving them really no semblance of resolution, all the while knowing they are secure.
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