THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506290221
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRIS CATALDI, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
It seemed like a regular backyard Friday afternoon barbecue.
There were hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and plenty of volleyball playing. However, this party was a celebration.
Kids and parents together having fun, assistant coach Richard Hall getting thrown into the pool, opposite hitter Andy Jaeckle's father flipping burgers and smiles on everybody's face. The reason why?
The Tidewater Volleyball Association Junior Olympics 16 and under team was gathering for a season-ending party following a successful third-place finish at the prestigious East Coast Volleyball Tournament.
Volleyball, a popular beach sport for some time in the Hampton Roads area, has gained increased interest the past few years as the TVA and local high schools promote the indoor game. With high schools ready to start their third season of indoor volleyball in the fall, many of the top players came together during the offseason, forming very competitive junior Olympic teams. Each player is expected to play for his respective high school next season.
The TVA's team leaders are swing hitter Kevin Jones, an All-East Coast and Regional selection, and setter Jeremy Clardy, also an All-Regional selection. The Tidewater 16's, an 11-member team which participated in the Old Dominion Region, featuring all of Virginia with the exception of Northern Virginia, began practicing in the middle of January.
Three days a week the top public and private high school players gathered to sweat it out at the TVA warehouse on Deane Drive in Virginia Beach.
They played in five regular season tournaments, three in Richmond and two in the Tidewater area. After a disappointing third-place finish in the opening tournament, the Tidewater 16's pulled together and won four straight in convincing fashion. In addition, they finished second to Richmond in the Old Dominion Region.
Regular-season success was nice, but the East Coast tourney was the big daddy. Twenty-one teams came to the Richmond tournament from states as far away as Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island and Florida, but the local boys from Tidewater stacked up with the best. The Tidewater 16's, seeded 14th to begin the tournament, proved their critics wrong in the three play-in wave pools, which determine the tourney's final seedings. The waves broken down in the three categories, gold silver and bronze, allows officials to determine seeding more accurately.
Wave play was close and action-packed, but the Tidewater 16's emerged with the third seed in the top gold division.
The Tidewater 16's began match play with a 2-1 victory over New York's Pace Bootleggers II. They next advanced to the winners bracket final with a very close 2-1 triumph over another powerhouse from New York, Long Island Black. The dream of a championship was now in sight, however, St. Louis, the tournament's eventual winner, knocked off the natives 2-1 - the only game St. Louis would lose.
Another loss, this time to Rhode Island, finished off the Tidewater 16's. But third place in one of the nation's top tournaments was hardly an embarrasement.
``We had a lot of close games and our kids really played very hard. They pulled together as a team,'' head coach Rob Hale said. ``The kids showed heart - I'm proud of what they accomplished. The only way for our kids to improve is to play the highest level of competition possible and you must travel to do so.''
Traveling isn't always affordable for the Tidewater 16's, who are already asked to fork out $225 per player, which only covers uniforms, practice gear and tourney entry fees. Ideally, a sponsor would cover all expenses, but none currently exists.
``As we look to make our program bigger and better, we'll need to get a sponsor,'' Hale said. ``We can't keep asking the kids' parents for money.''
Next season most members of the team will move up in divison, playing on the TVA's 18 and under squad. The indoor games' success figures only to grow in the area as the TVA and local high schools continue to show support for it. by CNB