The Ridgecrest Starlings are holding a Club Family Potluck Picnic on Saturday March 31st.

Where:  Solar Park (on the base).  Over by the sand volleyball court. (south east corner of the park)
When:  Noon to 5 PM

What should you bring:

1. Yourself, and your family
2. Any games that you would like to play with everyone.
3. Any portable chairs, tables, EZ-ups that you want to use, or think we might need to use.)
4. Hats and sunscreen for yourself and your family
5. Food (see below)

18s - salads and side dishes
16s - main dishes
15s - desserts
14s - drinks and misc (plates, silverware, napkins, etc.)

Your coaches will remind you at practices this week.  We haven’t done this event for a couple years and I would like to get back to making this a regular club event.

We might even hold a Daughter/Dad or Daughter/Mom mini volleyball tournament on either sand or grass.  If there is enough interest.

If I don’t see you this week at practices we will see you on Saturday.

Coach Cordes

Thursday March 4, 2010 will be a picture day for the Ridgecrest Starlings Volleyball Club

We will be taking pictures of the entire club, all four teams and the individual players at 8 PM that night.

The 14s teams will leave their practice at 7:45 and travel over to the Kerr McGee Center where they will join the 15s and 16s teams.

14s Teams - We need a couple parent volunteers from each team to transport the teams from their practice at Castle-X at 7:45 to the Kerr McGee Center.  Let your coach know if you can help out.  Everyone will pick their players up at the Kerr McGee Center at 8:45.

15s/16s Teams - We will take pictures starting at 8:00 PM then both teams will practice afterwards until 10 PM.

Everyone - Come dressed as you would for a tournament - jerseys, shorts, socks, kneepads, court shoes, sweat pants, sweatshirts.  Bring both Jerseys.  All teams will start out wearing purple.  Be prepared to change jerseys.  Team Captains will let your players know which shorts or socks to wear if appropriate.

See you all at the Kerr McGee Center on Thursday - Bring your smiles.

It must be time to go to Nationals. 

How can I tell?

Each year the landscaping in my front yard changes when it is time to go to Nationals.

Now I would never try and implicate MY team in such devious behavior.  But the culprit of this heinous act actually wrote their names on one of the signs. 

So we are off to Nationals today.  I will try and post updates if I have time.

On Saturday April 4, the Ridgecrest Starlings held a Family Volleyball in the Park picnic. We met at Solar PArk at 10:00 AM and spent the next three and a half hours playing volleyball, playing Red Rover, playing Norwegian Golf (ladder golf), eating and just having fun.

We didn’t have the entire club there. Only about half the players were able to make it, but those who did had fun, inspite of some sunburns, a scraped and bruised ankle and an assortment of small scraps and bumps.

Our 16s team traveled to CA Adventure on Saturday for some team building.  Then on Sunday they played Mandatory 1 at the American Sports Center.  During our match the team got a chance to meet a two time olympic champion - Kerri Walsh.

We weren’t able to get a team picture with Kerri, at any one time half the team was officiating a match. But any of the girls who wanted to meet Kerri were given the opportutity do get away from the court so they could stand in line to do so.  Apparently she was quite an attraction.  A few of our players just squeeked in, having just enough time to say Hi, grab an autograph and then RUN back inside and directly onto the court for our last match of the day.

Most of the players weren’t sure which was the most exciting part of the day, winning first in our pool (more on that later), or getting to meet Kerri Walsh.

Our 16s team’s parents decided to embark on a team building event last Saturday. They went to CA adventure for some fun times before they played in Mandatory 1 on Sunday at the American Sports Center in Anaheim.

Today was our annual Christmas Party and Score Keeping Seminar. 16 of our 28 players managed to attend. We spent a while boring our players with a powerpoint presentation on how to fill out the USA volleyball score sheets. Then we moved out to the court and played some scrimmages so the girls could practice scorekeeping.

After a couple games there was a break for food, our U13s and U14s had a gift exchange then back onto the court for some more volleyball. This time we had lost enough girls who had to leave for other events that we just let them play because we didn’t have any extra’s for score keeping.

During a break someone opened up a bag of sliced oranges that apparently everyone liked - a lot!

Our schedule for the holiday season is:

Sunday Dec. 21 – Practice at Castle-X. 16s: noon-3PM, 13s: 3-5PM, 14s: 5-8PM

Tuesday Dec 23 – Open Volleyball at Castle-X 6PM-8PM – All Teams

Thursday Dec 25 – Have a very Merry Christmas

Sunday Dec 28 – Christmas Party at Castle-X noon-6PM plan on learning how to keep score in volleyball, referee, play some games, have some fun. Details will follow later from your team Moms.

Tuesday Dec 30 – Open Volleyball at Castle-X 6PM-8PM – All Teams

Thursday Jan 1 - Have a safe and joyous New Year

Saturday Jan 3 – 16s Tournament – Victorville

Sunday Jan 4 – 14s Tournament – Victorville

We are taking all three teams to a Starlings tournament in Victorville on Jan 3 and 4.

January 3rd:  Division 16’s  8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

January 4th:  Division 14’s  12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The 16s will have to leave town around 6 AM and if they stop for lunch before heading home, should be home around 4 PM.

The 14s will leave town around 10 AM and should return around 8 PM.

All team members and parents should meet in the Vons Parking lot, 10 minutes before their departure time. Hopefully we can to minimize the number of cars we have to take to the tournament.

There is a possibility that the schedule for this tournament may change.  The organizers may move the 16s to Sunday morning if they do not get more 12s or 18s teams signed up.  Stay tuned for more details.

We will hold a brief parent meeting before all team practices on Thurs. December 11.

U13s

The 13s team parents will meet at 6:00 PM at Castle-X. We will meet while the basketball team finishes up their practice. Meeting will end by 6:30. The 13s team will still practice from 6:00 to 8:00 that evening.

U14s and U16s

The 14s and 16s team parents will meet at 6:40 at the Kerr McGee Center. The 14s and 16s teams will still practice from 7:00 to 9:00 PM that evening.

Topics for the meetings:

1. Schedule and format of SCVA tournaments

· Tournament rules

· Tournament format

· What to expect at tournaments

· How we plan to travel to tournaments

· Optional Tournaments?

2. Parent volunteers:

· Team Mom (or Dad)

· Travel coordinator

· Photographer/Videographer

3. Fund Raising

4. Starlings Holiday Season Plans