Now for some volleyball

I thought I would take a break from all the Paleo talk and talk some volleyball instead.  My Carly Jo plays for the Dallas Synergy National team and participated in her first ranking tournament this past weekend.  This peeps was an eye opener.  I found myself amazed at the talent at this level.  I also found myself feeling really, really, really, really short.  Not sure what they are feeding these girls, but they were a tall, tall, tall, tall bunch.  I swear I wanted to check a few birth certificates and ask them what type of car they drive.  It was crazy how big and fierce some of these children aka beasts were. All I can say is wow!  And thank you baby Jesus that my Carly Jo plays libero on the back row.  

Although I am thrilled that Carly Jo has this opportunity to play volleyball I can't help but wonder how many of these girls will last in this sport.  See peeps, here in Dallas, we take our volleyball very seriously.  Some of these clubs have their kids in the gym 2 to 4 times a week.  Mind you these are 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old children.  The training is intense.  Could that be why so many of them turn down college scholarships because they just don't love the sport anymore?  I think yes.

Also, I was never so ashamed of some of the behavior of some of the parents and some of the coaches.  We had a delay of at least 15 minutes while one of the coaches had an issue with a call.  Again, these are 13 year old children competing in the silver bracket NOT the gold bracket (gold being the best teams that tournament).  You would have thought it was for the NCAA tournament title the way this guy acted.  UGH!  My heart was heavy and my child was tired.  Long day for all of us.

The best part about this experience is that our girls get better and better.  They learn to read one another.  They learn the court.  Carly Jo comes home with court burns, bruises,  and knees pads that are so dirty you would think she played in the mud.  She wore the Nike logo off of one of her knee pads this weekend.  They learn discipline, respect, and patience.  Carly Jo is blessed to play on a team where we train 2 times a week.  I have her train with me once a week.  I am determined that she keep loving the sport for a long time.  Her goal is to play college ball somewhere.  My goal is to keep her so busy she doesn't have time to get into any major trouble.  We both win!

Although we didn't win the championship this weekend.  We showed up and made it count!  We made it to the silver A bracket.  Pretty good if you ask me.  Do they have room to improve?  Oh yes they do.  Will I have the patience to survive it all?  Oh yes I will.

I came away with a pretty good shot with my new camera as well.  

Thank you Coach Shawna and Krysta.  Thank you Carly Jo, Sydney, Hayden, Ashton, Peyton, Kenna, Sarah, Cami, Erica, Emily, Heather and Megan.  This journey is going to be great.

Show up and make it count!