We sent two Carolina Region High Performance teams to Salt Lake City for the World Cup July 22-27 to compete against High Performance teams from other regions as well as a couple of teams from other countries. Our teams each won a match and several other games (our team last year did not win any games) and played quite well. Congratulations to the players (listed on page 7) and to the staff on a job well done. I’d like to start by giving thanks to Mizuno (apparel) and Molten (volleyballs) for helping sponsor our teams. I want to give special thanks to Casey Caram and Hal Clifton (head coach and assistant coach of the Junior Regional High Performance team), Craig Lenniger, Ashley Powers and Rory Kelly (head coach, and assistant coaches of the Youth Regional High Performance team), and Tami Darwin (co-head coach of the Region High Performance Developmental Program. These coaches have worked hard and have helped to raise the level of play in our region. I would also like to thank Kevin and Aubrey Wendelboe (head of delegation and chaperone) for all their help with the trip to Salt Lake City. Finally, I would like to thank Tom Tait, Joe Sagula, Valerie Baker, Fred Wendelboe and Marilyn Thompson for serving on the Region High Performance Advisory Committee. We implemented the Region High Performance Program to provide additional training and competition for players and coaches in the region. This past season we held three full-day clinics (we held 2 hour tryouts last year) and a weeklong camp for 46 players (just 18 last year). We sent two teams to Salt Lake City for the World Cup (we sent one team to Colorado Springs last year). We must continue to identify and train these players from our region. We will be holding several full-day clinics again this year. Some will be like this last season, and will be used provide training as well as identify additional players and coaches to join our training teams. Others will be more specific and focus on various aspects of the game for the development of our training teams. We plan to pull the training teams together a few times during the season for competition. This competition will not be in conflict with their club teams. If you have an interest in finding out more about playing or coaching opportunities with the Region High Performance Program, visit the web page or contact the Region Office.

Our junior population continues to grow (in 1988 there were only 200 junior players, this past season there were almost 2000) and in an effort to allow us to handle growth, we are planning on moving some of the junior play (14s, 13s, 12s) to the same weekends as the adult play. This will allow us to better provide courts and officials for tournaments by balancing out the demand for courts, and officials to a more even usage week to week. We know that this will create some hardships for some families, teams and clubs, but if we stay the same, we will likely have to turn teams away from most tournaments. The tournament schedule is on the web, plan now to host a tournament or two and contact the office to get on the schedule.

Our adult playing population is decreasing slightly each season. We need to look for ways to support volleyball in local communities and invite some of those players out to our tournaments. The adult division has some programs they are developing to encourage people to try us out. We also need to explore other formats, etc. that might better suit the needs of our players. These might include formats that last about ½ day, etc. Each year there are several young women who graduate college (or high school and do not go on to play in college) who have played junior Olympic volleyball, yet we do not see many of these young women out on the courts. They have careers, families, etc., that place demands on their time, however, some of them might play if someone asked them.

We have a couple of groups that are working with us to develop and implement a region pilot program for young boys and girls ages 8-12. It will be a local program that meets 1-2 times a week for practice and play and will last 8-10 weeks at a time. If you have an interest in this program (participating or hosting) contact the region office.

I look forward with great anticipation to another season. I am excited about our future and the growth and development of our junior population as well as our coaches. I know that we can find ways to better meet the needs of our adult players. I know that our great group of volunteers (board members, tournament directors, club directors, coaches, officials and parents) will continue to work hard and will provide the foundation upon which we can build our future. Thanks for all your hard work and support. See you on the court.