February 4, 2009 | Volume 9, Issue 3

AVCA Association News

Latest News from the AVCA...

Runza Renews as Title Sponsor of AVCA Showcase... The American Volleyball Coaches Association has renewed its agreement with Runza® Restaurants as title sponsor of its College Volleyball Showcase, the organization announced. The 2009 Showcase will be played August 28-29 at Qwest Center Omaha, Neb., in the second of a three-year deal with the arena. Click here for the full story. 

2009 AVCA Spring Conference...Couldn't make it to Omaha in December?  You're in luck!  There are more great experiences and educational opportunities coming this spring!  The 2009 AVCA Spring Conference, 21st Century Coaching Skills, will take place May 7-9 in Provo, Utah, at Brigham Young University, with presentations scheduled by Carl McGown, Terry Pettit, Mary Wise, Beth Launiere and more! Click here for more information! 

AVCA Reminders...

AVCA Convention Classroom Seminar Audio Recordings, PowerPoint Presentations and Handouts Now Available on Web Site...Did you miss a classroom session you wanted to attend at the AVCA Convention in Omaha? With more than 60 educational sessions available, chances are you didn't have the opportunity to see everything you wanted. The audio recordings, PowerPoint presentations and handouts from the convention classroom sessions are now available on the AVCA Web site free of charge to AVCA members. Simply login to the AVCA Web site with your member ID and password, click on the Education/Resources tab on the home page and go to "Coaching Education" and then "Convention Seminars" for an index of classroom session titles. Be sure to make some time and take advantage of this great educational resource. 

2009 AVCA Annual Convention Coming to Tampa!...Make plans to join us in Tampa, Fla., Dec. 17-20, for the 2009 AVCA Annual Convention. The 2008 convention in Omaha was a huge success, with nearly 1,600 coaches and exhibitors in attendance. Planning is already underway to make the Tampa convention the biggest and the best yet, with several new enhancements you won't want to miss. Watch your e-mail and the AVCA Web site for convention details in the coming weeks.

2009 JVDA National Championships...Make your plans now for the JVDA 2009 National Championships, which will be held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., June 27-30. Click here for more information and to register. 

New AVCA Membership Group...High School Coaches now have the opportunity to sign up their middle school coaches for an AVCA membership for the special rate of $35! The high school coach must be an AVCA member in order to receive this discounted rate for the middle school coaches who have players who would feed into their high school. To obtain the required form, the high school coaches must contact AVCA Member Servies at members@avca.org or call 866-544-2822. The AVCA understands the importance of coaching education and we want to be able to reach out to middle school coaches to help educate them on the sport so that they can better prepare their athletes to compete at the high school level. For more information visit the Membership Page of the AVCA Web site or contact AVCA Member Services at members@avca.org.

NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Season... The men's volleyball season is underway. Be sure to check the AVCA Web site for polls (DI-II, DIII, NAIA), Players of the Week (DI-II, DIII), Stat leaders (DI-II, DIII), Weekly Results (DI-II, DIII) and news (DI-II, DIII) during the season.

 Other News in the Sport...

Remembering a Legend... This past weekend, North Carolina State women's basketball coach Kay Yow lost her fight with breast cancer. Both the NCAA and NACWAA released statements about her passing.

Remembering Yow, Hyman... Volleyball player Flo Hyman and legendary women's basketball coach Kay Yow are eternally connected. The loose connection puts them in the same red, white and blue clothes that adorned United States athletes and coaches in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Hyman was the star of the women's team that won America's first medal in the sport -- a silver. Yow was assistant to Pat Summitt for the gold medal-winning women's basketball team.

Digitaria launches new division to cater exclusively to sports organizations worldwide... Digitaria, a leading digital marketing and technology firm, announced the launch of Digitaria Sports, a new division devoted exclusively to partnering with sports organizations worldwide to develop world class online fan destinations and communities. As part of the launch, Digitaria Sports (www.digitaria.com/) announced AVP Pro Beach Volleyball, Inc., as a new client.

Akers gives fellow Hoosiers a taste of beach volleyball... Angie Akers didn't grow up dreaming about beach volleyball. Not in Fort Wayne, Ind., where she graduated from Bishop Luers High School. Not at Notre Dame, where she starred on the indoor courts for the Fighting Irish. Why not? Because she never got to see the sport. Now, as a member of the Association of Volleyball Professionals, Akers is making sure that doesn't happen to other athletes.

PAVO announces referee camps... The PAVO Referee Training Camp program is more than 10 years old! For over a decade, camps have been scheduled throughout the country with tremendous gains in referee standardization and competence. Individuals who graduated from the PAVO camp program have subsequently become NCAA Division I collegiate referees, USAV national officials, and even International referees!

Christy Johnson Signs Five-Year Contract... Iowa State volleyball coach Christy Johnson, who has led arguably the most rapid climb into national collegiate volleyball prominence in recent memory, signed a new five-year contract to continue coaching the Cyclones through Dec. 31, 2013.

U.S. Men Named USOC Team of the Year... The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team has been named the 2008 Team of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee, it was announced on Thursday. The U.S. Men were chosen from among both women's and men's teams submitted by each sport national governing body.

Online Registration for High Performance Programs... The Count Me In Corporation, whic has been the online registration provider for USA Volleyball's high Performance Department since April 2008, has filed for involuntary bankruptcy. However, its partent company, Arena Group, Inc., will continue to rpovide its contracted services to USA Volleyball.

For other USA Volleyball news, go to http://www.usavolleyball.org/. Here's a sampling:

* USAV Honors Women's Sitting Team 
* Priddy Named USAV Men's Indoor Player of the Year
* USA Volleyball Honors 2008 Beach Players, Team of Year 
* Lindsey Berg Selected 2008 USA Volleyball Female Indoor Athlete of the Year 

Argentine head coaches remain in vogue on international stage...The recent hiring of Daniel Castellani as head coach of the Poland Men's national team has once again highlighted the prevalence of Argentines in high-profile international coaching positions.

Blocking her way in... "No" wasn't an acceptable answer for Cassy Herode. Whenever somebody told her that 6-foot-2-inch women's volleyball players weren't supposed to play good defense or be able to pass out of the back row, Herode utilized extra practice sessions to improve in that area of her game. Now, the 1994 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year will be inducted as the fourth player in program history into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Her golden moment... Tara Roenicke always imagined that she would win a gold medal. She'd watch the Olympics on television, taking mental notes on how the gold-medal winners conducted themselves during the playing of their country's national anthem. The Los Osos High School senior thought she had the routine down. That was until she won her first gold medal on Jan. 18 at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, Australia.

Coaching Transactions... Gonzaga named David Gantt women's volleyball coach... Alan Segal has been hired as head coach at Eastern... Penn State assistant Salima Rockwell has been tabbed as a new assistant coach at Texas... William 'Ashley' Hardee has been hired as head coach at North Dakota... Jenny Hazelwood will be the new head coach at Mississippi State pending approval of the Board of Trustees... Click here for more transactions.

Things to Know...

AVCA Preferred Providers...AVCA members are entitled to members-only discounts on products within the AVCA Product Store. The AVCA also offers additional discounts to its members on products through the Preferred Provider program. These Preferred Providers offer special discounts on their products to AVCA members only. For more information on the AVCA's Preferred Providers, click here. Interested in becoming a Preferred Provider? Contact Toby Bishop.

Are You Receiving All of Your AVCA Member Benefits?...Update your information today by visiting the AVCA Web site at http://www.avca.org/. Simply log in with your membership number and password and click on the prompt to "update your profile." This will ensure that all AVCA membership benefits find you each and every month. Did you know? You can also customize your membership password to make it easy to remember. Just follow the steps above and update the "password" field in your membership profile to reflect something that is easy for you to remember.

Membership Profile Changes...As a reminder, AVCA members are responsible for changing their own membership profiles on the AVCA Web site. If members change jobs and do not update their contact and school information, the AVCA has no way of sending benefits to that member. Also, please be sure to update the sports information director and athletic director contact information as well. To update your membership profile, click here (you must be logged into the system to update your information).

Advertise in At the Net...The AVCA's At the Net newsletter is distributed to all AVCA members every other Wednesday. For information on advertising in At the Net, please contact Toby Bishop.
Drills Needed...The AVCA seeks drills for its Volleyball Ace Power Tips Drill Bulletin, which is distributed to high school and club coaches. Please send drills (and applicable diagrams) to: AVCA, 2365 Harrodsburg Road, Suite A325, Lexington, KY 40504. To email drills, click here.