See What We're Made Of

Jake had been waiting for this weekend to come since it was his practice weekend with his new volleyball club, Bay to Bay. And so was I. Since his practice wasn't till 5:30pm, there were a few things we needed to do. It was a Saturday after all.

First on the list was our hair appointment with our favorite lady haircutter, Wendy. After lunch, we drove to Milpitas to see Wendy. With enough time on our hands, we then headed back to Fremont to have my car washed, before going back home to prepare for practice. At 4:30pm, we left for San Jose.

Being his first practice with the 16-white team, Jake was excited. It would be the first time we would see who's in the team and their level of play. Being the third 16s team, it's probably not as good as the first two, but I was confident that it's better than his former club's 16s team this year.

As part of the club's regulation, parents would be allowed to watch the team practices for the first 2 weekends. They would be allowed to come into the gym and sit by the bleachers. After that, they could only watch from outside the door. Well, it's one way of saying, "just drop off your son and come back from them after 2 hours."

While we had the chance, the wife and I watched. From what I saw, the team was raw, but had potential. Some work would be required to make them competitive. From the 13 players, about 7-8 boys know what they were doing and have the skill. They just have to be refined. For the rest, more work was needed. And I don't know if 4 practices would be enough.

On the first practice day, the entire session was devoted to skills practice -- the basics. I think this was good on the coaches part to do so. From our experience last year (from a different club), I thought they lacked in the doing the basic stuff, and assumed that the players new what they were doing. Well, some didn't. And it showed during the 2-day league qualifiers in San Mateo.

Today's second practice day was not any different from yesterday's. There were more drills, and each focused on developing certain aspects of the game. Since the club's philosophy is in alignment with top collegiate programs, the approach and level of plays are much different from our experience from the previous club. And with experienced coaches, I am confident my son, and the rest of the team, will learn a lot and improve on their game.

Personally, I am excited about this year's team and the season, in general. I know that my son's level of play will be elevated and his skills will improve. And he knows that he needs to work hard and do his part to make that happen.

Here's to a promising club volleyball season.

(Bay on three. 1-2-3)...BAY !!!