[posted 1/8/2009]
WVBA Kicks Off 2009 Season


2008 WVBA Mizuno 17s celebrate a point at Las Vegas Classic

SEATTLE, WA--Jan. 8, 2009
WVBA is set to debut three teams for the 2009 USA Volleyball season this weekend at sites around, and we do me around, the Puget Sound.

WVBA Mizuno 18 will be heading across the Puget Sound to play at least on Saturday at the Kitsap Pavilion in Bremerton. This first day of the PSR Power League will set the eldest cadets (#2 seed overall) against (#23) Puget Sound 17 Gold, (#26) Northshore 17 Black and (#47) LOTA. Play at the Kitsap Pavilion begins at 9:00AM.

WVBA Mizuno 17 will be squeezing into the dome at Highline Community College early on Saturday morning to kick off their first pool of the 2009 PSR Power League. The Academy 17s will go into the tournament series with the overall #7 seed and will face off against (#18) Power Surge 17, (#31) YMCA Blaze, and (#42) Sabatoge 17. Play will begin at 8:00AM at the dome in Burien. Don't worry about bringing a chair, there won't be room for one.

The PSR Power League will continue on Sunday with the top 16 teams playing at Fife High School, seeds 17-32 playing at Kitsap Pavilion, and seeds 33-48 playing at Kentwood High School.

WVBA Mizuno 14 will also kick off their season this Saturday at the Saturday Warrior's U16 tournament at Kentridge High School. The young cadets will be tested in their opening pool by the likes of #1 Olympia 16-1, KJVBC 15-Baden, and Rain City 15. This is a single day tournament.

The remaining teams will begin playing over the next couple of weeks and are busy in the gym preparing for competition in between snow closures and floods.

All-star Coaches in Seattle
Eighteen WVBA coaches were in attendance this past weekend for a Coaches' Accreditation Program (CAP) clinic featuring an all-star class of instructors including Beijing Gold Medal winner Hugh McCutcheon, Back-to-back National Coach of the Year and National Champion Penn State coach Russ Rose, Los Angeles Gold Medal winner Bill Neville, 2007 Division II National runner-up Western Washington coach and WVBA co-founder Diane Flick, and 2000 Australian Women's Olympic Team and current Western Oregon coach Brad Saindon.

WVBA Coaches with CAP Cadre

The coaches in attendance were also treated by sharing the classroom and gym with Karch Kiraly who has now moved from the court and sand onto the bench to coach. Karch Kiraly was voted by the Federation de International Volleyball (FIVB) as the greatest volleyball player of the games' first 100 years. Not a bad guy to bounce questions off during the grueling two-day clinic at Bellevue Community College.

WVBA Spirit Wear Available
WVBA parents and fans can now log onto the brand new WVBA Spirit wear website and order up some outstanding gear sporting the WVBA logo. Please send this link to your family and friends and load up on this great selection of fan wear. Visit this site at gearspiritpacks.com and use 'WVBA' as your login and 'WVBA' as the password. Spread the word, this site will only be open for approximately one week!

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