Dont Forget the Free Physicals

Don't forget the free sports physicals at K-M tomorrow. Any KSD student can get the free physical between 9am and noon.

Turn in Paperwork to Coach

All paperwork (including any required physical) should be turned into Coach Behrens or to Athletic Director Bruce Rick in the Athletics Office on Falcon Day (August 20th for Freshmen and Seniors, August 21st for Sophomores and Juniors).

You should not wait until the first day of tryouts to turn in the paperwork as this will delay your start of practice and will not reflect well on you. Remember, all Freshmen and most Juniors must have a sports physical prior to being allowed to participate. There are no waivers allowed. All Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors that have not had a sports physical in the last two years must get a new one. All Freshmen have to have a sports physical even if they had one in 8th grade.

Change in Tryout Times

There will be a Kentlake Teachers Union meeting in the gym on Wednesday night, the 26th, during tryouts week. As a result we can't have tryouts that night (they get really picky about balls flying in front of the podium) so we are switching the night session from Wednesday to Tuesday. The revised schedule for tryouts is:

Monday Aug 24th: 3:00 - 5:30pm & 7:00 - 9:00pm
Tuesday Aug 25th: 3:00 - 5:30pm & 7:00 - 9:00pm
Wednesday Aug 26th: 3:00 - 5:30pm
Thursday Aug 27th: 3:00 - 6:00pm
Friday Aug 28th: 9:00 - 11:30am & 1:00 - 3:00pm
Saturday Aug 29th: 9:00 - 11:00am

Rules Summary

I found a good volleyball rules summary on the Overlake School volleyball website. It is a couple of years old, but still a good summary. It does not talk about things like Liberos. So, if any parents need a quick overview, check it out (you will need MS Word or Word Viewer). Hopefully all the players already know these things. ;)

Free Sports Physicals

All Freshmen, most Juniors and anyone else that has not had a sports physical in the last two years has to have one prior to being allowed to practice. If you have not yet gotten your physical you can get one at most any doctor, or you can attend the KSD Sports Physical Clinic at Kent-Meridian on August 15th, from 9:00-12:00. It is a FREE sport physical.

Practice Times for Tryouts/1st Week

The practice times for the first week (including tryouts and "normal" practice) are listed below. Practice has to be scheduled around Coach Behren's "in-service days".

Monday Aug 24th: 3:00 - 5:30pm & 7:00 - 9:00pm
Tuesday Aug 25th: 3:00 - 5:30pm
Wednesday Aug 26th: 3:00 - 5:30pm & 7:00 - 9:00pm
Thursday Aug 27th: 3:00 - 6:00pm
Friday Aug 28th: 9:00 - 11:30am & 1:00 - 3:00pm
Saturday Aug 29th: 9:00 - 11:00am

Tryouts are through Wednesday or Thursday. The rest of the practices are for those that make one of the three teams.

Calling All Photographers

Anyone interested in taking pictures of Kentlake Volleyball events and sharing them with the rest of us, please contact us at kentlakevb "at" comcast.net. You can simply upload your pictures to an online system like Flickr and then send a link to us. We will quickly verify the pictures and then post the link on the blog or twitter. We really want all sorts of pictures, not just action shots but especially "candid" shots. In lots of ways those are the more important ones. Don't worry if you are not a professional photographer, neither are we.

Kentlake Volleyball on Twitter

Kentlake Volleyball is now on Twitter. You can see the most recent Twitter posts at the top of the lower section on the right side of this blog. The three sources of information will be used for different things.

Twitter will be used for small bits of information of a short term nature. A tweet can only be 140 characters long, so you won't get large amounts of information. They may be reminders or game scores or schedule changes. Things that are more immediate in both speed of distribution and duration.

This blog will be used for things of more lasting interest, but not permanent interest. For instance, game summaries, announcements of events, etc. The blog will also list the five most recent "tweets" from Twitter.

We will be looking for volunteers to post game scores (to Twitter) and summaries (to the blog) for each of the teams this fall, so keep that in mind if you are willing to volunteer for that. We especially need that for the Freshmen and JV teams as they don't get the coverage that Varsity does.

The website (www.kentlakevb.com) will be used for things of a more permanent nature. For instance, important announcements (both on the website and the blog), rosters, schedule, etc. These will largely be for things that affect the entire season, while the blog may affect a week and Twitter a day or two.

Will There Be Cuts At Tryouts?

In the past we have had the good fortune to have four teams at Kentlake: Varsity, JV, "C" and Freshmen. Unfortunately all "C" teams in the Kent School District were cut this year due to the budget shortfalls. As a result there will be 1/4 fewer spots available for players. Expanding rosters to accommodate more players just puts more stress on the coaches and players and makes playing time that much harder to come by. So, for the first time in many years there will be large cuts at tryouts this year. It is not something the coaching staff likes to do, but there is no alternative this year.

When Are Tryouts?

Tryouts start Monday, August 24th. Coach Behrens does not run tryouts by age group so there is no separate “freshman tryouts”, etc. When they will start on the 24th has not been determined as that depends on Coach Behrens teaching schedule (typically they have “in service” days that week) but they are usually “two a days” for Monday to Wednesday at least, maybe Thursday. Check back for more details or look for more information at Falcon Days.

Remember, all Freshmen and most Juniors (and a few others) will need new physicals as school sports physicals are only good for two years. All incoming Freshmen are required to have a new physical even if they had one in 8th grade.