All good things come to an end

The 2008 volleyball season is officially over for my team. I haven't blogged much, okay at all since season started. So many fun things have happened over the course of the season. During pre-season we went to one of the players' cabin at Grand Lake. It is beautiful there! We did our pre-season routine complete with running red rocks with the help of my cousin Andrea. We ran up a mountain at three sisters. We also went to Regis team camp for three fun filled days. Once tryouts were out of the way we were off and running. My life was full of practice planning ( I actually typed 90% of the practice plans this season.) That fact should be impressive to my dear friends Amy and Nicole who have coached with me before :) We played against some of the best competition in the state and were able to give them a run for their money. We lost... a lot, 14 times to be exact, we lost close games, we gave games away and we left our hearts on the floor in others. We won 6 times, and those 6 times were all the more special because they were seemingly so hard to come by. It didn't matter what the outcome of the game was, it was always a joy to coach this group of young ladies. They were so funny, so bonded on and off the court and at times were simply amazing on the court. They were also high school girls, more concerned with homecoming and plans for Friday night than keeping their heads at practice. My favorite memories will be those times when the entire team collapsed on the floor laughing. That happened a lot, we had a few girls who just couldn't seen to stay on their feet. We had a practice at the Sport Oasis, a warehouse with 7 sand volleyball courts. We raised money for Caleb through the Light the Night Walk for Leukemia and Lymphoma at Wash Park. We had team dinners, they tried out for the MTV show Made, we had Saturday practices followed by lunches together. We tried just about everything under the sun to come up with win. What we did come up with was friendships that will last a lifetime and priceless memories. It is my hope that at least 2 of the seniors will continue their volleyball careers in college. It is my hope that they will look back on this season with fond memories. At this time of year I am typically very excited to be getting my evenings back to myself. This year feels a little different. I think that is due to the fact that the girls bought into the program and all my silly ways. They believed in what I was doing for the program and that will lay the foundation for success in years to come. I am proud of my team and will sincerely miss them. This has been my most disappointing season in terms of wins and losses. This has been one of my most rewarding seasons based on the impact the girls had on me and vice versa. I can't sit around and miss them too much....club tryouts are next Sunday and I will have a whole new crew of girls to work with....maybe someday I will take a break :)