Off-Season Community Service Fun

Community Service is something that most students at Middlebury get involved with, and it's a great way to bond with friends while helping those in need in our community.  One popular even that student-athletes often do is the Community Supper.  Every Friday night, all year long, different groups volunteer to cook dinner for roughly 200-250 community members who are in need of a hot, healthy dinner free of charge.  Over 100 of those dinners get delivered to those in the community that aren't able to get there themselves.



It's an amazing feeling to feed that many people and engage with our community.  Many sports teams do this because it takes quite a few people to prepare a meal that large, as well as serve it to that many people.  The Congregational Church hosts the dinners every week, but it's organized by an outside group, and they coordinate the volunteers, but we did the shopping, and all of the meal preparation/serving/cleaning. 

We did our night on Valentine's Day this year, so it was an extra special evening! We wanted to make lasagna, so we actually prepped most of the dinner on Thursday afternoon. Corley and Lucy were on dessert duty, making three HUGE pans of brownies.


Ali cooked and seasoned the meat while Maggie, Jane and I assembled the lasagna.  (No Boil noodles made this task much simpler, and just as tasty!)

The day of we prepared huge bowls of salad by cutting up cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots to add to the greens.  All agreed it was a fun event and would love to do it again! 



The finished product looked great, and we got rave reviews about how good it all tasted, as well as how nice the team was to engage with the community members by not only helping them get served dinner, but also just chatting with them during dinner.  I think we made 11 double pans of lasagna, which is a ton of lasagna!

AND, of course, we had to clean up afterward!  Good job, TEAM!!  The saying, "It takes a Village" is ever so true, and especially in small communities like Middlebury.  This is a win-win for our team since it's a huge help to the community, and rewarding for us to contribute and work together on a project about more than personal betterment.

Spring Fun at Relay for Life and Jen's On Tap Performance

Relay for Life is a wonderful event, and has actually changed a lot since they started doing it over a decade ago here at MIDD.  This year it was up on campus for the first time ever, and I think it was a success.  It has been out behind the Athletic Complex, or in the Hockey Arena every year before this, so this was a first.

We walked the "Battell Loop" and enjoyed sunshine, friends, teammates, family, and community while raising awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society.  Cancer is one of those diseases that has touched us all in one way or another, I think. We actually had a great team turnout, but I missed taking a picture when the whole group was there, but I did get these three to pose in the Relay Frame for me!

That same evening, Jen performed with her "On Tap" Dance group.  What an amazing show that was.  Jen is very talented (no surprise!), and it was a joy to get to see her perform!  The picture below I took with my camera phone, so unfortunately it's grainy because I tried to zoom in, but Jen is front and center on stage!

Here are some other pictures from our Relay day back in April:

 Several athletes in this group with Emily, along with other friends who helped support the cause.  Both Matt and Jack helped organize the day, so well done, guys!  Below, they all got into the spirit by participating with the Zumba Dance!

 Isabel was becoming Captain America in this picture!  I'm just sorry I didn't see the final product.  :)

Here we had the hockey team doing the "Relay" as it was intended back in the beginning.  The original idea was that you would form a team, and someone from your team would be walking ALL the time Relay for Life was taking place, which used to be from 6pm-8am the next day.  The hockey team just kept handing their beads to the next group of guys, and each group made a different pattern with their beads to mark their laps.  Very creative.  Nice job, fellas!

Girls In Sports Day!

Earlier this Spring the team participated in the National Girls In Sports Day here at the College.  Here's the link for the Women's Sports Foundation's National Girls in Sports Day web page, if you want to check out all that they do and sponsor.  A local representative along with volunteers from the college organize this day to help encourage young girls to participate in sports as an avenue to a healthy lifestyle, among other benefits.  The young girls spend time with each group of college athletes throughout the morning, rotating from group to group. This gives them the opportunity to play and learn several different sports from the athletes who play those sports here at MIDD.

 As you'll see from the pictures, we used both "real" volleyballs and the much lighter supermarket balls so the girls wouldn't get the tell-tale red arms from their first day of volleyball.  (We figured it's much better to let them learn to love the game before they learn that's just part of the deal!)  It was a great day of fun, and most of these girls have never been exposed to volleyball.  Unlike every other state, Vermont is still in an experimental stage with starting HS volleyball teams, so many of these girls have never played it, with no younger feeder programs.  These young girls just love working with the college athletes, and it's a win-win for all involved.  The athletes love working with these young kids, and by reaching out to get involved in the community, their college experience here at MIDD is enriched in many ways.  It was a fun, and successful day for all involved!

Girls in Sports Day is a Fun Day!

Girls in Sports Day is a very fun day for everyone.  The "big" girls and the "little" girls all have fun coming together and just playing.  The young girls divide into several different groups, and then shuttle through the different stations set up by the college sports teams (lacrosse, track, volleyball, field hockey, etc.)  For our Volleyball station, we lowered the net, got super light balls (almost like beach balls), and the team taught groups of these adorable young girls in half hour blocks all morning on a Sunday in early March.  The most important thing that was a constant all day was the many smiles from big and small girls alike!

Team Involvement with Special Olympics Has Big Impact on All!

All season, and now into the off-season, several members of our team have been involved with Special Olympics in one way or another.  They've mentored athletes, coached them, and just hung out with them. 

In turn, a couple of the athletes were special fans of ours this season, which was awesome!  Here are a few pictures.  Above we have the "gang" all together.  To the left are our SUPER FANS at one of our games sporting MCVB official jerseys, and below that we have Kathryn with them again on Senior Night.

 Also,  we have pictures and (hopefully) video of Amy playing basketball with the Special Olympic athletes and other MIDD athletes.  It's been a win-win for all involved! 

Team Teaches Volleyball at Local Elementary School

The opportunities to teach volleyball to young kids are few and far between in a state with no High School or Middle School Volleyball Programs.  We've offered a free clinic a couple of times, and participated in Girls in Sports day, but there just isn't a lot of organized volleyball here in Vermont.  However, one local elementary school has offered a volleyball class for the past two years.

The Bridge School is a private, alternative elementary school that allows it's students to choose their "arts" classes.  Each class lasts for two weeks, and can very greatly depending on the interests of the kids, and the availability/expertise of the teachers and local community members.  As an example, the choices for the past two weeks were:  ice skating, stretching and relaxation, or volleyball.  For the past two years one of the favorite choices has been Volleyball!  Another alternative school (grades 7-12) in Burlington comes down to teach volleyball at the Bridge School for one week, and my team has done the other week.

The students in the class range from 1st through 6th grade, so the players are challenged to make it fun and appropriate for a wide range of ages and abilities.  They're all new to volleyball, and it's been great fut to see them learn new skills!  

The kids are having a great time learning about volleyball, practicing the skills, and getting the hang of the teamwork involved in the game of volleyball.  They start out by getting warmed up and moving their bodies, followed by some basic skill work, and then play various types of games that relate in one way or another to the sport of volleyball.  As you can see from the picture, it's quite a bunch.  9 boys and 1 girl make up the class, so the team has had their hands full with little boy energy!!

Olivia has been the point person for this project, but several others have been involved as well. Piper has been a regular, Lizzy even made an appearance after returning from MiddCORE, Maddie and Lauren went for a day, and so did Kathryn.  Thank you all!!  The kids LOVED it!!

MCVB does Relay for Life 2012

Nicki was our Team Leader for Relay for Life, and picked us a good camp site and we were all set to have it outside, but due to weather, it was moved inside to Kenyon Arena.  Although I had questioned that call earlier in the day when it was sunny and nice, I was VERY glad we were inside when it down poured that evening!  (It had rained quite a bit earlier in the week, and I knew it would be pretty muddy after several laps.  However, it would have been absolutely miserable in the rain!)

Although it was a very busy time, a few people did show up and enjoy the special event.   Nicki, MJ and Piper all took part by walking laps, remembering lost ones or friends and family affected by Cancer, listening to the speakers for the evening, and taking part in the activities.  In the pictures here, Piper was enjoying some Zumba dancing, which looked fun!! I set up a tent and spent the night there with my girls as we've done for several years now.

Lois (my 9 year old) stayed up until almost 3 am and managed almost 65 laps (less than her 80 last year), but was "adding beads" from 2:30-3:00 AM!!  For those that don't know, they have a bucket of beads and string so that you can keep track of how many laps you walk.  It's a fun way to give you something to focus on as you attempt to keep walking all night long--"cancer never sleeps".  My goal was 100 laps, but I think I petered out just before 90.

Girls in Sports Day!

We recently celebrated National Girls in Sports Day where local young girls were invited to the College to take part in different athletic activities taught by college students.  Meg Anderson was an event organizer, and got the team involved to teach a volleyball segment.  Several team members participated, but Meg got pictures of Julia, Amy, Piper and Lizzy giving instruction and running the girls through some basic drills.  By all accounts, it was a very fun and successful day of volleyball!!  Thanks for sharing your expertise, guys!  (A little known fact about Vermont is that it's the ONLY state in the country without Girls High School Volleyball.  So, many of these girls were probably handling the volleyball for the very first time.)

2011 Pre-season Starts with BBQ

2011 Pre-season started with a BBQ at my house. It was a nice, relaxed cookout with all the players and lots of parents. It gave the returners time to not only catch up, but also start to get to know the new players. It's a large group this year for pre-season, which is great, so there were a lot of new faces. Fortunately, Hurricane Irene had already come and gone, as had our power outage and flooded road, so everyone had a clear (or pretty clear) road out to the house. OK, there may have still been some water covering the road, but not entirely. Stud checked it out for everyone and guided them through the couple inches of water still there, and around the "road closed" barricade.

Courtney caught us up a bit on her summer where she befriended her new 7 year old neighbor who is having to undergo a bone marrow transplant now. The pink tee shirt in the photo is for "EMMA." She'll have to be in the hospital for quite a while, and Courtney has been by her side most of the summer. While it was hard for Court to leave her new friend facing such a serious and painful ordeal, she asked the team to sign a shirt to send to Emma to let her know that we are all thinking about her! We'll keep tabs on Emma and give updates. I have a feeling that Emma may become a new fan of our Blog so she can keep tabs on Courtney and the rest of the team!

Steve Oster, our Faculty Affiliate, was able to attend with his family, which was really great. It's always nice for the new players to meet Steve, and for he and the upperclassmen to have a chance to hang out informally. His wife and three girls were here as well, in addition to my Assistant, Brian and his wife and two daughters, and my husband and three kids, so we had quite a houseful.

We are two days into practices now, and feeling like there's just not enough time for everything, but then the cry came out for some assistance, and the team stepped up to the plate. We took the afternoon off today to help with Irene Relief Aid over in Hancock and Rochester--two mountain towns who sustained a lot of storm damage, not to mention road closures that practically cut them off from the rest of the world. I was about to tell the captains about the emails I was getting about desperately needing volunteer workers when they asked if there was anything that they could to do to help with the relief efforts.

Almost every Fall Sports Team has been out helping clear brush, clean up houses and property and debris all over the place. Some towns are still cut off from the outside world by washed out bridges leading into and out of town. Fortunately, Middlebury was mostly spared from the major storm damage, but our neighbors were not as lucky. I'll update soon with hopefully some photos, but we almost had a group stranded on the other side of the mountain tonight....but they're BACK! Everyone enjoyed helping out, and their help was very much appreciated. :)

Green Feats--what is that?!

Anyone recognize these sneaks?

Here is what was on the MIDD site about Green Feats:

"It's as easy as tying your shoes. Make a promise to the planet. Then show your support by lacing up with green. Here's ten athletes that did it. They are green athlete liaisons, and they and others--representing every Middlebury sports team--will be working during Earth Day weekend, starting April 22, to promote a sustainable culture in athletics. Along with Nordic Sking Head Coach Andrew Gardner, they'll be collecting people's pledges to the environment and handing out green laces to remind them of their promises. The idea is inspired by GreenLaces.org founder and professional soccer player Natalie Spilger who says, 'It's time we stop only representing our sponsors and start representing our values.'

These athletes are doing it. Are you?"

Here is the link so you can see all the athletes' shoes: http://blogs.middlebury.edu/middmag/2011/04/21/green-feats/?pid=26

Click the link, and you'll get to find out who's shoes these are, and what her promise was! We're proud of you, #11! :)

Team Hosts Clinic for Area Youth

 With NO High School Volleyball in the State of Vermont, it's a little tough getting kids excited and interested in a sport that a lot of them have never really seen. Not only that, but there's no place for them to go with their "new" skills, except to come back to our clinic next year!

That didn't stop these kids from signing up for our Free Clinic, and having a ball, literally, in Pepin Gymnasium with our Team. After they warmed up with games like elbow tag, and sharks and minnows, they were introduced to the basic skills of passing, setting and even hitting (sort of...). The team had a great time, and so did the kids.

 We had a trial run last year with a group of Home-schooled children. It went well, so we tried to generate more interest this year by putting flyers at the local elementary schools. It was open to boys and girls in grades 1-6, and we had about 4 kids from last year come out again this year, so we're hoping it'll grow little by little each year. There were lots of laughs, and smiles, and a lot of excitement from our newest fans, I think.

 Just as we do, we started out with a lot of passing. You can never do too much passing!!

Then came the time to HIT! Even at this stage, everyone wants to hit. Not as easy as it looks...even with a low net and a ball that's just sitting there.

Then we had them try to set. Lauren was our resident expert, and got them shaping their hands appropriately into the bowl. I don't think we got to the point where they actually realized what a real "set" is other than another way to pass, but it's a good start!

The group got together at the end to try to put a "game" together. Rotating was a foreign thought, but it was kind of fun to get them out there with the team to try to put a rally together.