I’d like to thank everyone for the questions and interest in the 2009 MAC Volleyball program. The upcoming season will bring a new and somewhat different look to MAC. I’m excited by the direction the program is taking and hope to use this note to outline the key points for both prospective players and parents.
First – As the Head Varsity Coach at Dowling Catholic High School, I will become significantly more involved with management of the MAC program than in the past. My desire and goal is to reshape the program to concentrate on building a more competitive player developmental system for the Dowling Varsity VB program. To that end, the 2009 MAC program will concentrate on teams at the 6th, 7th and 8th grade levels only. For players who are now at Dowling, I encourage you to try out for and join any of a number of local club teams who play during the winter months.
Second – Past participation in the MAC VB program, at any grade level, is not a requirement for, nor does it guarantee any player a position on next year’s MAC teams. Participation in MAC is also not a requirement for consideration for a role on the Dowling team. As is the practice in high schools teams, selection for MAC teams will be made on a merit basis at the completion of tryouts in October. There are many good club teams in the area; any player wishing to improve their skills during the off-season should work to join MAC or another club team.
Third – One of the expectations of MAC team members is that they commit to being part of that team – to attend practices and matches on weekends, and be free from major scheduling conflicts. Like any team sport, performance of the team suffers when individual members miss practices and matches. For this and other good reasons, we expect MAC players commit to club volleyball as their sole winter club sport.
Fourth – Tryouts: Individual tryouts for MAC teams in grades 6/7/8 will be held at Dowling during October. This year, I expect to have no more than 20 players per grade level (two teams of 10) in MAC. In the past we have been blessed with 80 or more applicants per grade. This year we will use the following approach to screen players. All tryouts will be at the Dowling High main gym:
6th Grade MAC:
October (13), 5:30-7:30 pm. This is the initial tryout date. Any player wishing to tryout for MAC should be present. From this initial tryout pool approximately 30 players will be invited to a second tryout. Players not advancing to the second round will know before they leave the gym the night of the first try out.
October (27), 5:30-7:30 pm. This will be the second tryout period. From this pool, tentative team rosters will be selected and players invited to commit or decline. Players not advancing to teams will be informed that evening or by phone or email the next day.
7th Grade MAC:
October (15), 5:30-7:30 pm This is the initial tryout date. Any player wishing to tryout for the 7th grade MAC should be present. From this initial tryout pool approximately 30 players will be invited to a second tryout. Players not advancing to the second round will know the night of the first try out.
October (29), 5:30-7:30 pm. This will be the second tryout period. From this pool, tentative team rosters will be selected and players invited to commit or decline. Players not advancing to teams will be informed that evening or the next day by phone or email.
8th Grade MAC:
October (16), 5:30-7:30 pm. This is the initial tryout date. Any player wishing to tryout for 8th grade MAC should be present. From this initial tryout pool approximately 30 players will be invited to a second tryout. Players not advancing to the second round will know the night of the first try out.
October (30), 5:30-7:30 pm. This will be the second tryout period. From this pool, tentative team rosters will be selected and players invited to commit or decline. Players not advancing to teams will be informed that evening or the next day by phone or email.
Fifth: Costs, Coaches, Practice Sites, and Schedules –
Costs have yet to be finalized as we are still hunting for practice gym space. I expect them to be roughly equivalent to last year – approximately $400 per participant. Checks in this amount will be expected at the second tryout date and will not be deposited until the player is selected for and commits to a given team.
Coaches as I have them at this date are:
8th Grade: Marybeth Wiskus, Dowling JV coach and Mandy Hatler Dowling Freshman A
7th Grade: Paula Kohls Dowling Varsity coach and Dave and Paula Berger
6th Grade: Still interviewing. There will be two qualified individuals.
Scheduling and Finance: Laura DeBartolo
Practice Sites and Schedules are still TBD; the Central Campus appears to be booked with other sports. We do not expect to begin practicing until after January 1, 2009 and hope to have more information on sites by the tryout dates.