AWVP

Sunday funday AAR. I was the first one to arrive,‘which is good because I brought volleyballs and new ropes. It doesn’t take long to set up. And you can adjust the back line by agreement by tying back rope to side rope. It works fairly well. One pool, no more waiting. You can play if you have 4.

Which we in fact did today, with a couple of new* people, and then recruited more to get to 6s.

*some of these new folks either live at Riata or used to, so they have been are of ball for some time, but were either intimidated or never invited to play. The former is understandable, the latter we need to work on.

We went back to 3 v 4 for the last game to 21. The 3 team won.

Thanks for those who participated. It’s new I know, but not so much for me. Reminds me of the old days. And it’s not dumb. Heck, Dallas is talking about building 2s and 4s pools. And I know how much some of you are big fans of whatever Dallas does.

Advantages are you are for sure going to get more touches. Disadvantages are spacing is different and you have to be more aware, and be willing and able to cover more ground. Disadvantage #2 is also a learning opportunity.

I’ve played 2s 3s and 4s many times. But as LJ recently remarked, I’m fn old. So I present to you that if I can do it, you can do it, too. Short court is kinda a different game. Placement oftentimes is better than power. And since Dallas is also doing it, it’s not watervolleyball grandpas lame idea. It’s cool!

Todays notables: new people being willing to join in. First guy who did hasn’t missed a day in the gym and wasn’t bad. The other 2 new players that were on my team for 6s. The primary difference with new people is they play 1-2 games and are done. They haven’t been bitten by the bug. We might be able to change that.

Other notables: Vivek and Reno went on some solid serving runs. Erin’s enthusiasm. Kenny’s semi patient coaching.

The other advantage to short court option is it defeats the age old question: who’s gonna be there?

That no longer matters much. I know this league can put 4 players in the field.

And (while not always appreciated by haters) consistently representing by court presence is probably the core strength of the league.

Because if people show up and game doesn’t happen, they tend not to come back. And if AWVP goes on break, you miss the chance to get new people involved, which is also a core strength of this league. Because you just never know…

The classic story on this is where AWVP almost drowned in its crib before the concept was even born. Nobody showed up at Argosy except for my one friend who wanted to swim in the big pool. We were hitting the ball around 1 on 1 when new resident Mikey showed up with his 4 friends. The rest is history, but if I had decided I was wasting my time and packed it in to fight no more forever because nobody showed up, I don’t meet Mikey, and there is no history.

So you see why I think a short court option is important? Pandas have all sorts of priorities in the non watervolleyball “real” world, but for those who do show up expecting game, we’re gonna give it to them.

And besides, Dallas is doing it! So if something goes horribly wrong for early/weekday ballers in terms of not having enough numbers or you’re feeling the irresistible urge to emulate Dallas once again (I’m ok with them getting credit for short court option) I’ve got more than enough rope to cope with either scenario, which I will hand over to whoever wants to take charge of it.