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Copyright © 2007 Revolution Volleyball Club
 

Coaches Newsletter:

Nothing at this time.

Age Definitions:

USA JUNIOR OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL

AGE DIVISION DEFINITIONS FOR 2007-2008

 For eligibility purposes, a player who has just completed a grade in the Spring of 2005 will be considered in that grade just completed.  Players need not be currently enrolled in high school except as noted below.

Once a player participates in a club or varsity program for any university, college, community college, or junior college, he/she is ineligible to play in any regional or national JOVC qualifying and championship events.

18 and under division

Players who were born on or after September 1st, 1990

-or-

Players who were born on or after September 1st, 1989, and a high school student during some part of the current academic year

16 and under division

Players who were born on or after September 1st, 1992

14 and under division

Players who were born on or after September 1st, 1994

12 and under division
Players who were born on or after September 1st, 1996

Note: These age definitions are used for domestic club programs and are not the same as the age definitions for the International and/or Domestic High Performance programs for 2008.

Announcements:

· Revolution offers free e-mail accounts to anybody within the Revolution umbrella of families.  Please notify us if you are interested is attaining one.

· Please make club-fee payments and donations to: Revolution Volleyball Club

SCVA Mandatory Tournament Changes:

Please visit the SCVA website for additional info.

Speaking of Tournaments...

Please visit  the Volleyball Festival website for additional info at:

www.volleyball-festival.com

Please contact us with any questions, comments, and/or concerns.

Revolution in the News

Duo Uses Volleyball to Showcase Valley Talent

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Monday, October 29, 2007.

By ERIC BACA, Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Turhan Douglas are Mark Cruz are two men united and driven by a single mission.

And they're carrying it out using an unlikely tool: girls volleyball.

Douglas and Cruz are the head coaches of Revolution, a Valley club volleyball team whose primary purpose, according to the tandem, is to provide an opportunity and venue to showcase the amount of local volleyball talent for college coaches. And with tryouts and a new season beginning in a couple of weeks, the two are hoping, before season's end, to help find some local players a much-needed and well-earned chance to play at the collegiate level.

"Our promise is exposure for these kids," Cruz said.

And since Revolution's inception in 2004, Cruz and Douglas have continually rededicated themselves to that promise. While Revolution currently enjoys a high level of success maintaining that initial pledge, it was, in fact, the lack of attention to Valley girls volleyball that fueled the desire to start the club.

In 2001, Cruz and Douglas were asked to run a volleyball camp for Jane Cwayna at AVC, where Cruz and Douglas firmly resolved to start Revolution.

"Initially, I just saw all the talent from these girls at the camp," Douglas said. "And I knew these talented girls weren't getting the exposure like the girls down South. I would ask, 'where's that girl going,' or 'what's she doing next year,' and when they told me 'nowhere' or 'nothing', I thought it was a shame. From there, we decided to start a club to help get these girls the attention they deserve."

Former Quartz Hill outside hitter, Summer Plante-Newman was one of the first recipients of Cruz and Douglas' commitment and tutelage. Plante-Newman is currently in her junior year at Cal Lutheran, where she has earned Freshman of the Year honors, first-team all- SCIAC, and is ranked 10th in the nation in kill average (5.7) for Division III schools. According to Plante-Newman, her success - and her acceptance - at Cal Lutheran is owed directly to her year (2004) at Revolution.

"They really do keep their word when they first talk to you," Plante-Newman said. "If you wanted a team to look at you, they made sure they were there to look at you. They never promised scholarships, just the chance to play in front of coaches from schools you wanted."

Plante-Newman said in addition to playing in front of Cal Lutheran coaches that Douglas specifically called Cal Lutheran's head coach to come watch her despite already having his team set for the upcoming season.

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Turhan," Plante-Newman said. "Nobody wants a 5-foot-8-inch outside hitter, and no college coach is going to come to high school games to watch you. But because Turhan called that coach to come watch me, he liked what he saw, and I got to come here."

Plante-Newman attributed the continued success of Revolution, and the quality of the players produced, to a "family-oriented" team dynamic that is fostered by the sincerity and dedication of its creators, Cruz and Douglas.

Jolene Millar, Paraclete's 5-foot-11 star, agreed that the patience of the coaches, along with an absence of conflict, have helped her prepare for taking the next step.

"I like playing for Mark and T (Douglas)," Millar said. "I have heard all this drama that goes on at other clubs, and it doesn't happen here. It's fun when I see Revolution teammates on the other side of the court from me at our high school games without any problems. It's fun because you know their little skills because we all play for Revolution."

Already in her senior year of high school, Millar said that because of the coaches at Revolution she has been looked at and contacted by the coaches from University of Tennessee, New Mexico State and Vassar College.

But it is the quality of the staff, Plante-Newman and Millar agreed, that is raising the level of talent in the Valley. Between Cruz and Douglas is more than 30 years of playing and coaching experience.

Cruz, a self-described "shadow" of Douglas played all four years at Highland High School, including two at the varsity level, winning the Golden League title both years. At Pierce College, under Douglas, Cruz was part of the team that reached the conference finals in its second season under Douglas after making the Final Four the previous year. In addition to a successful prep career for the former baseball standout, Douglas, as a middle blocker, earned a state title in 1988 at Pierce College, and a national title with Cal State Long Beach, the only one in the school's history. But the breadth of the experience for Douglas and Cruz is given even more weight by their four-year stint at USC, with Douglas as head coach and Cruz his assistant. The two began coaching together in 1999 with the Santa Monica Beach Club.

 All of the accolades they have garnered have not swayed them from their initial target and design. Douglas, a father of four, said something his wife said reminded him why his players keep coming back year-after-year.

"All of your kids are combat-ready," Douglas remembered. "We are teaching these kids college speed, and that's a huge accomplishment. And that's what they are getting."

For the club that once depended on heavy word-of-mouth advertising to recruit local players, the Revolution has proven over the last three seasons to be a necessary community standard.

"We try to instill the values of integrity, honor and attitude. That's our mission. I don't see volleyball as a sport. I think athletics is a good way for kids to live their lives - if done right."

Cruz, the athletic director at Bethel Christian, feels that along with important life lessons, the competitive level of volleyball in the Valley has grown since Revolution started.

"I think we've refreshed it," Cruz said. "I think it was stale before we came. Every year we have more coming in and more coming out playing somewhere."

Cruz and Douglas have enjoyed participating and competing in a Valley that allows for other competitive club teams and other coaches that have the same drive and focus as they do.

"We respect what all the other coaches and clubs are doing around the Valley," Douglas said. "We're all doing the same thing - teaching guys and girls to be better volleyball players. We all love the game of volleyball."

The alumni list from Revolution reads like a who's who of local area volleyball powerhouses. Plante-Newman's impressive company includes Stephanie Sveiven at Barry University, Kristi Nua at Cal State Northridge and Julie Stilson at Master's College.

With this upcoming season quickly arriving, Cruz and Douglas are expecting a turnout that will yield 12 teams, the highest number yet for the Revolution, hoping to help a few more local girls find a new home on new courts.

Camps:

Harvard-Westlake Girls Volleyball Camp

Instructor: Adam Black, 2007 CIF-SS and State Championship Coach

Grade Levels: 5th – 8th

Dates/Times:

Session One: July 7 – 10, 9 am – 2 pm

Session Two: July 14 – 17, 9 am – 2 pm

Location: Taper Gym

3700 Coldwater Canyon

North Hollywood, CA  91604

Cost: $275

 

For additional info, please contact Adam at any of the following contacts:

www.hw.com/summerprograms/GoldMedalSportsCamps/Volleyball/tabid/1412/Default.aspx

Office: 818-487-6680

Fax: 818-487-6688

e-mail: ablack@hw.com