Back to the Midwest - Part 1

I just returned from a family, friends, and volleyball filled trip to the Midwest. All-in-all, it was a great success on many levels. From finishing a career-best 2nd place to surprising my mom with an early visit kept the trip full of excitement. Because there is so much to tell, I am going to write about the first part of the trip in one posting and then later today I will write about the actual tournament in another posting.

My sister and I flew to Indiana last Friday to surprise my mom for the weekend. She thought she was talking to me from the 405 freeway until I told her to turn around. She saw us and burst into tears. We spent a great weekend hanging out with family and friends.

On Tuesday, Jeff Nygaard, John Hyden, and Brooke Hanson arrived for the clinic and exhibition at Spikes Beach Bar and Grill in Warsaw, Indiana. We had a good turnout of middle school aged girls and younger because the Indiana High School rules do not allow camps or clinics for players once the season has started. It was a hot day and the sand was blistering. The kids were great. They tried their hardest and had a lot of fun. When it was over, they were cooked! There were lots of red faces from the sun and from working hard.

We then played a co-ed exhibition match with Brooke and Jeff playing against me and John. Then the four of us played against Spike's best four. It was a great evening for all.

Wednesday morning, I took Brooke and Renee Nygaard (Jeff's wife) out on a Jetski or 'Water Harley', as I like to call it. All three of us were holding on for dear life as I raced us through the lake at speeds reaching 58 miles per hour! We took turns driving and laughed our way to a great Ab workout. We would stop to jump in the lake when we were laughing so hard we couldn't stand it anymore.

That afternoon, Brooke and I took off for Chicago to put on another clinic for some adult friends at Montrose Beach. It was a small, intimate clinic with about 25 people in attendance. We had fun meeting new people and sharing with them the love for the sport of beach volleyball.

Thursday morning, we went to the site for practice and could not find a court. We decided to walk down the beach and found some nice people who let us use their net for a bit. We found Angela Lewis and Pricilla Lima looking for a court as well, so we all joined up and practiced together. The weather was scorching. It was in the mid 90s and very humid. We got in a good sweat and then all went for a swim in Lake Michigan.

That evening, I ran a clinic for Hilton with Jenny Jordan and Annett Davis. There were about 40 kids that participated. We had fun teaching them the fundamentals and then watching them in action.

I was pretty tired after 3 clinics in 3 days, so I went back to the Hilton and crashed immediately after dinner. We were scheduled to play the 10:30 match on Friday morning. I will tell you all about the tournament, including the 4's competition, later today in the next post.

Thanks for reading!
Angie