Pick a partner and come out every Wednesday
to Victory Lanes Sports Complex and play two matches against
equal age competition for 6 weeks with a prize filled tournament
scheduled final week. Join us and stare down the desert heat
as a way of keeping your volleyball skills sharp, your feet moving
and most of all, HAVING A BLAST in the sand. The League can only
take 36 teams, so register early! All age groups are welcome.
Zia will open this up to ONLY Zia athletes
until May 1 st, and then open it up to the rest of the Arizona
Region players.
Where: Victory
Lanes Sports Complex
22603 N. 43rd Avenue, right behind Waterworld
When: Every Wednesday beginning May 24 and
ending June 28
Cost: Cost is $70 per participant
Info: Schedules will be posted on the Zia website
weekly on Monday nights for the upcoming Wed. match times and opponents.
Teams will play two matches a night. Every
effort will be made to have them play their matches back to back
but can’t be
guaranteed.
Teams cannot switch players.
AVP rules are in effect.
There are no make up dates for weeks missed.
Teams will be reseeded based on league finish for tournament
the final week
All participants and guests will be required to pay the Victory
Lanes $2 entry fee each week.
Questions? e-mail erichbke@msn.com
This program is not affiliated with the
Region Junior Beach Program and serves as a compliment program
to expanding the Junior beach game in Arizona.
SoCal
Proves Challenging for Zia’s 10 Teams
 Zia
sent 10 of its 14 teams to the west coast the past two weeks for
the Southern California National Qualifier to play against the
best teams in the country in their age groups.
Highlights included:
- The 15-Shock, coached by Tera Bahl finished tied for 35 th
out of 80 teams in the 15-Club division after a perfect 3-0 first
day! Well done Tera.
- The 16-X-treme coached by Stephanie Kohner and Lindsay Norman
finished 39 th out of 120 teams in the 16-Club division. Nicely
done ladies.
- The 14-Annihilators took 23 rd out of
72 teams in the 14 club division marking one of the best finishes
for a Zia’s 14’s
team at this National Qualifier. Three of Zia’s losses
came at the hands of top-ten tournament finishers, including
the tournament runner up.
 Region
Beach is Back!!!
The Arizona Region’s
Junior Beach program is back for its third year. The program
has become a model for other regions across the country and this
year promises to be even better!
In addition to 9 regular
tournaments in which the top point earners will have their entry
into USAV Jr. Beach Nationals paid for, there is also a High
Performance tournament wherein the winners will receive free
entry into the USAV Beach High Performance Camp, a Father/Daughter
tournament on Father’s
Day, a coed tournament and a tournament for female college players,
past and present!
To download the 2006 Beach brochure, go to http://www.azregionvolleyball.org/beach/BeachBrochure06.pdf.
For a schedule of times and events, go to http://www.azregionvolleyball.org/beach/index.html.
To
all Room Moms who went with us to Tucson and Southern California.
Your efforts are appreciated not only by the athlete’s
parents you took care of, but by a batch of grateful coaches
and club directors. Thanks again for your efforts in making
our out of town trips run so smoothly.
FitLife offering Open House
to Zia Athletes/Parents
Fit Life is offering two different Open Houses
for prospective clients to come check out the strength
and conditioning programs that have helped so many
Zia athletes over the years reach their physical
and team goals. Get a leg up on the competition by
being in the best shape of your life going into fall
tryouts.
To download the flyer, click
here. For more information, contact Justin at
623-776-8838.
The
Arizona Region has announced the particulars of its
High Performance Camp to be held June 2-4 th at Kingdom
Courts in Phoenix.
The Camp will be under the direction of Melissa Wolter,
the head coach at the University of Western Florida
and the Assistant Coach for the USA Youth National
team the past two years and Erikka Gulbranson, the
current coach at Vanguard University in Southern California
and the Assistant Coach for the USA Youth National
Team the past three seasons.
In addition to running the camp, these two
will also use the camp as a chance to identify any
players they feel might be possible material for
the National Teams that will be chosen in early July.
Perspective athletes will be advised by mail.
Age divisions for the camp will be
as follows:
The HP Select campers
must be Girls born in 1992, 1993 and after
The Youth campers must be Girls born in 1990
and 1991
There are no exceptions to this as anyone being considered
for the National teams will have to fall in these age
divisions.
The Arizona Region has trained and sponsored a team
the past five years that has participated in the High
Performance Championships. The camp figures to offer
more athletes the chance to be introduced to the High
Performance Program and the methods taught at the U.S.
Olympic training level, as well as give coaches a chance
to learn and teach these USA Volleyball techniques
as well.
The Region will reevaluate the program next season
and make a determination at that time to work on choosing
a traveling team once again, or continue the HP camp.
Camp
Itinerary
Friday, June 2
HP Select Check-in 11:30-Noon
HP
Select Session I Noon till 3 – (3 hours)
HP Youth
Check-in 3:00-3:30
HP Youth Session I 3:30-6:30 – (3
hours)
Saturday, June
3
HP Select
Session II 8:00 a.m.-10:00 – (2 hours)
HP Youth Session II 10:00-
Noon (2 hours)
HP
Select Session III 2:00-5:00 (3 hours)
HP Youth Session III
5:00-8:00 (3 hours)
Sunday, June 4
HP Select Session IV
9:00-Noon (3 hours)
HP
Youth Session IV 3:00-6:00 (3 hours)
Coaches
ERIKKA
GULBRANSON
 After four years of building
the volleyball team at Vanguard, hard work finally
paid off for Gulbranson and the 2004 VU volleyball
Lions. Coming off a winning 2003 season (14-12) she
and the Lions produced the program’s first
back-to-back winning seasons with a 25-14 mark, breaking
the school record for wins in a season for the second
straight year. In addition, the Lions finished 11-9
in GSAC and made the postseason playoffs for the
first time since the 1994 season. Lifting her overall
coaching record at Vanguard to 54-70, Gulbranson
will continue the process of taking the Vanguard
volleyball program to the next level.
Gulbranson has thirteen years
of coaching experience to her credit, including junior
national, club, high school, individual, camp, and
clinic experience. At the university level, Erikka
has been an assistant at CSUB, University of Idaho,
Utah State University, and most recently at the University
of Southern California. After serving two summers
as an assistant coach for the USA Girl’s Youth
National Team (GYNT) in international competition,
Gulbranson took over the head coaching role this
past summer. Guiding the USA GYNT to a fourth place
finish at the 18U World Championships in China, Gulbranson
continues to expand an already vast coaching resume
and growing knowledge of the game.
Gulbranson was a four-year team captain as a player
at Cal State Bakersfield, and helped lead the Roadrunners
to three NCAA Division II Championship appearances
and two second-place finishes. The outside hitter was
invited to try out for the US National Team following
her senior season.
Erikka attained a B.S. degree in Physical Education
and a M.A. in Education at CSUB. She is single and
makes her home in Long Beach.
Melissa
Wolter
 The University of West Florida found the perfect
fit for the new head coach of the fourth-year Argonaut
volleyball program in Melissa Wolter. Wolter took over
the young program in 2003 and also serves as the UWF
Senior Woman Administrator. In just her first year
at West Florida, Wolter led the team to its best season
record yet of 24-7, including a 15-match winning streak
and the Argos' second straight bid to the Gulf South
Conference Tournament. Her 2003 squad also set team
season records in all categories: kills, attacks, hitting
percentage, digs, blocks, service aces and assists.
The Argonauts made their first appearance in the AVCA
Top 25 and ended the season nationally ranked for hitting
percentage (25th), kills per game (20th) and assists
per game (26th).
Wolter joined the UWF staff from University of Wisconsin-Parkside
in Kenosha, Wisc. a fellow NCAA Division II institution.
She was the head coach of the UWP Rangers for three
years, and prior to that time served as an assistant
after graduating from UWP in 1998. Wolter led the Rangers
to their seventh-straight Great Lakes Valley Conference
Tournament in the fall of 2002 with a winning record
of 16-11. In addition, Wolter was named the Assistant
Director of Marketing for the UWP Athletic Department
in 2001.
Outside of her responsibilities at UWP, Wolter has
nine years of experience with camps in the state of
Wisconsin and coached Junior Olympic volleyball with
teams such as Wisconsin Power, Milwaukee Sting and
Wisconsin Select. In 2002, she took on the role of
the Chair of the Badger Region High Performance programs,
the entry level program for the USA Volleyball pipeline.
This past summer, Wolter earned the high honor of being
selected as one of two assistant coaches for the USA
Youth National Team. The team traveled to Puerto Rico
in early July to compete in the NORCECA Championships.
The USA Youth National Team went 4-0 winning the gold
medal and a chance to compete in the 2005 Youth World
Championships.
In her collegiate career, Wolter was a four-year
starter and three-year captain for the Rangers from
1993-96. She was twice named to the All-Conference
Academic Team. Also as a student, she was a member
of the Student-Athlete Mentor Program and athletic
council. Hailing from Waunakee, Wisc. Wolter helped
lead her prep team to four consecutive state tournaments,
claiming the championship twice. She also competed
with the Wisconsin Volleyball Club. Wolter earned a
B.S. in business administration from Wisconsin-Parkside
with a minor in communications in 1998.
Costs
Cost for the HP Select camp
is $165
Cost for the HP Youth camp
is $165
A $50 deposit must accompany your
High Performance Application and Medical Release form.
You can download those applications at
http://www.usavolleyball.org/Media/Highperformance/06GirlsHPTryoutApplication.pdf
And the medical release form which
MUST accompany it at
http://www.usavolleyball.org/media/highperformance/06boysMedRelease.pdf
Even if you already have a medical
release form filled out from your club team, you will
still need to download this and fill it out.
You will receive an
e-mail letting you know if you were one of the
first 50 campers to register . If your registration
arrives late, your check and forms will be returned
to you.
Mail the completed registration form, and
the medical release form with your deposit to:
The Arizona
Region of USA Volleyball
2105 S.
48 th St. Ste #108
Tempe
, Az. 85282-1019
Attn: High Performance
Camp
For questions, contact erichbke@msn.com
AVP Still needs Volunteers
The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour is looking for volunteers for the Tempe
Open held May 5-7 th at Tempe Beach Park.
Volunteers receive an AVP Tour "Event Staff" t-shirt, lunch and beverages,
subscription to the AVP newsletter and plenty of interaction with AVP athletes.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer member of the AVP 2006 team,
the AVP would love to hear from you. Each volunteer is expected to work a minimum
of two 6 hour shifts (morning or afternoon). A brief description of each volunteer
position is below.
- Ball Boy/Girl
These individuals will work directly with the professional athletes and AVP
Officials to chase down the balls and hand them to the AVP players before
each serve. This is an important part of the tournament because it helps
to speed up each game and provide less "down time" between points.
- Hospitality Personnel
Individuals in this position will work directly with the AVP Event Operations
staff to coordinate the preparation and replenishing of snack foods for
the AVP VIPs.
- Score Keeper
Individuals in this position will work directly with the AVP Officials to
update the electronic score boards. This is an important part of the tournament
operations because the fans like the score to be highly visible and accurate
every time.
Volunteers are accepted on a first come first serve basis. Applications are NOT
being taken at the Arizona Region Office and need to be faxed, e-mailed or mailed
to the AVP office numbers listed on the application. All applicants need to fill
out the application and waiver that can be downloaded
here.
Getting in shape for the Summer!
 In
order to prepare yourself and/or your daughter and son for the upcoming volleyball
seasons this fall, here are some options to help you out through the summer.
FitLife is offering a summer volleyball conditioning package.
SUMMER
VOLLEYBALL
STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
PROGRAM
FitLife is also offering a speed camp.
2006
SPEED & CONDITIONING CAMP
Also, our friends at Velocity Sports in Scottsdale would like to
offer Zia athletes and their parents introductory free sessions to tryout
their facilities and programs. Go to http://www.velocitysp.com/scottsdale/ to
visit their website and go to http://www.velocitysp.com/scottsdale/Camps2006web.html to
see all the specialty camps Velocity offers over the summer. Ask for Joe,
he’s worked with Zia for years.
If
there is anything you would like to hear about, see or learn about in next
months ZIAp date, please e-mail Eric at erichbke@msn.com. We'll
do our best.
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