New Parent Travel Meeting!
The qualifier season will be here before we know it and our first travel trip is almost a month away (yikes)! As we prepare to move into the most important (and most hectic) part of our season, we request that all parents of athletes new to Front Range plan to be at our New Parent Travel Meeting on Saturday, Jan 19th at 6:30 pm at Front Range. Many important aspects of travel and national tournaments will be discussed. Mark your calendar now!
It's Time: Power #1 (Part 2)
The Rocky Mountain Region will ring in the new year over the next two weekends with the first Power Tournaments of the season. This Sunday's playing sites are listed below. To see the complete list of teams, see this PDF . Click
here if you need directions to any of the sites. All sites have unique rules that govern their use; most sites do not allow coolers in the gym. Please represent Front Range well by being sure to obey the rules of the facility, as well as the tournament director. If you have any questions, please contact
your coach.
Blue: Coach James Beasley |
Gateway HS |
Red: Coach Craig Kingsley |
Gateway HS |
White: Co-Coaches Emilee and Michelle Hoffner
|
Doherty HS |
Cardinal: Coach Dave Youngblood |
Doherty HS |
Navy: Coach Aaron Shepardson |
Doherty HS |
Amber: Coach Shawn Kissman |
Colorado Christian University |
Royal: Coach Sasha Kissman |
Doherty HS |
Scarlet: Coach Erin Dilbeck |
Eaton HS |
Pink: Coach Jennifer Pokraka |
Eaton HS |
A reminder to all of you shutterbugs out there that picture submissions are always welcome for use in future newsletters as well as for use in the banquet slide show. Please email pictures to eduardo@frvbc.com or bring a CD-ROM with pictures to Eduardo at Front Range. Thanks!
Power #1 Weekend 1 Results
If your New Year's resolution involved getting off the couch more, Front Range teams tried hard to accommodate you last weekend by playing everywhere but Denver. Here's how the teams fared last Sunday.
Silver: Co-Coaches Miret and Fiallos |
2nd in 18's Div 2 |
Crimson: Coach Aaron Shepardson |
5th in 17's Div 2 |
Blue: Coach James Beasley |
1st in 18's Div 2 |
Red: Coach Craig Kingsley |
3rd in 17's Div 2 |
White: Co-Coaches Emilee and Michelle Hoffner |
1st in 17's Div 4 |
Amber: Coach Shawn Kissman |
2nd in 14's Div 1 |
Royal: Coach Sasha Kissman |
4th in 14's Div 2 |
Ruby: Coach Jolene Shepardson |
7th in 14's Div 3 |
Scarlet: Coach Erin Dilbeck |
2nd in 14's Div 2 |
What’s “Monkey Mind” and How Do We Control It?
by Tim Engels, M.A.
Last week we talked about how hard work beats talent that doesn't work hard. Some of the hardest work we do on the volleyball court is controlling our thoughts. Before reading further, take a minute to sit quietly and notice all of the thoughts that are going through your head in one minute.
All of those random thoughts are called “monkey mind.” These thoughts distract you in competition and sometimes they undermine your competitive determination and focus. Here are two examples from Sunday’s Power League tournaments.
White did a great job overcoming their initial nervousness about playing up in the 17’s and won their pool, winning all three of their matches. They then had a break that lasted over an hour before their championship match would begin. During the break the players were asking each other whether the match would be one set or a full match. One player said, “I hope it’s just one set. I'm tired.” Other players started to talk about being tired as well. Monkey mind at work! The players were unintentionally talking themselves out of being ready to work hard for one more match – the most important match of the day, the match they'd worked so hard to get into.
Their coach, Michelle Hoffner, caught what was going on and challenged them to be willing to work even harder than they had for any of their previous matches and they responded wonderfully, winning the tournament.
Silver had won their first two matches and the players started thinking about now having two chances to achieve their goal of finishing in the top three of their division and moving into Division l of 18’s, either with the next match or in a play-off. Monkey mind at work again! They were accidentally splitting their focus and in danger of relaxing in their next match. Remember - hard work beats talent that doesn't work hard.
Head coach, Jim Miret, spotted what was going on in their minds. You can hear his voice as he said to them, “We are going to achieve our goal by winning this match right now! Yes?” Silver won the match and played Blue for the championship, achieving their goal for the day.
Our minds hate quiet; they'll fill the space up with something, anything. Most of the time, our minds will fill up with distractions that undercut our competitive performance unless we control our thoughts consciously. How do we do this? We focus on our breathing, our routines, our jobs, and the goals we’ve set for the day.
So… notice where your mind goes when you’re not filling it purposefully. Notice how quickly it happens. Controlling your mind is hard work. It's the work that champions are more willing to do, the work that separates them from everyone else. Control your thoughts – think like a champion!
Front Range In The News Magazine
How closely do you read your issue of Volleyball Magazine? If you live in the Moss household, the answer is "not close enough". Phil Moss, parent of Front Range athletes Olivia and Mickey Moss said that the latest issue had been sitting around for a couple weeks when a package arrived in the mail. The package contained a volleyball and a letter congratulating Mickey on her letter of the month in Volleyball's January 2008 issue. Only then did the Mosses open up the issue to page 8 to find this: (Click the image to see a full size image of the page.)
What can we say? Thanks Mickey for inspiring all of us!
Season's Greetings From Jean-Marie, Somewhere Oversea
We recently received an email from a soldier in Iraq who received one of our holiday cards. We don't much more about her than her name, but then, that's about all she knows about us. Here's a card that we received in the mail this week. (Click on the image to see a full size version.)
Hey, Staff Sergeant Dawson! Looks like you have some competition! :^)
The Welcome Mat
Please help us roll out the welcome mat and welcome this year's crop of new Front Range athletes. This week, we welcome our 14 Amber newcomers to the fold. Pictured above, from left to right, are: Caitie Breaux, Elizabeth Svisco, Sarah Schmid,
Annie Hercher, Jennifer Wahleithner, and Mariah Cox. We are excited to have you join our family!
And Now For Something Completely Different...
Just like many of you are proud of and excited about your holiday travels, Front Range has some bragging to do as well. Club Director Kay Rogness, Head Coach Jim Miret, Strength Coach Billy Glisan, and Sport Psychologist Tim Engels traveled to the American Volleyball Coaches Association's annual convention to present seminars for college, high school, and club coaches from across the country. All three seminars were well-attended and brought excellent feedback as well as national recognition to the club. What were the seminars, you ask? Kay's was entitled "What Do We Want to be When We Grow Up? Some Legal Issues
Involved with Forming a New Club", Billy's was called "High Performance, Low Budget Training" and Tim's was titled "Catch Them Being Good". Jim assisted with both Billy's and Tim's presentations.
February and March calendars are now available online. Be sure to check it out here.
