Local Girl's Club Volleyball Teams Turn to CATZ for Competitive Advantage

Talk of the Holidays and the end of the high school girl’s volleyball season can only mean one thing; the girl’s club volleyball season is almost upon us. This season is already shaping up to be an exciting one with the dissolving of Steve Obradovoch’s renowned Roxy Club and the emergence of two entirely new clubs; Locals Only headed by former Men’s National team setter, Dave Olbright and Ripcurls headed by Rhonda Jackson of the highly regarded Riptides organization.

From January to the end of May, the American Sports Centers (ASC) in Anaheim will be host to a club volleyball event almost every weekend. Tournaments are run by the Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) and regularly draw over 2,000 people to ASC with teams from as far away as Canada and the East Coast.

The key to having a successful club is in attracting the right mix of good players. With this season’s change-up in clubs, players were scrambling to decide which club would shape up to have the best teams. Clubs and players began the elaborate dance of tryouts and call backs in October and final rosters were completed around the first week in November.

To help attract new players or keep existing players, some clubs have turned to offering sports performance training as part of their club offering. To date three clubs, Goldenwest Volleyball Club, Performance Volleyball Academy, and Locals Only Volleyball Club have contracted with CATZ (Competitive Athlete training Zone) to provide volleyball performance training to some or all of their athletes. During the season, teams will attend one, 1-hour long performance session per week. The CATZ volleyball performance program will help players improve their explosive power for better blocking and hitting, improve reactive time and agility for better defensive plays, and add strength to help reduce the likelihood of injuries.

“CATZ was the real key in creating a Volleyball Club that has clear and specific individual and team emphasis for advanced volleyball training. Having been through all levels of the game since 1971, no other sport specific physical training I have seen comes close to the efficiency and non-abusive system CATZ provides.”, Says Dave Olbright, Director of Locals Only Volleyball Club.

In addition to high school and club athletes, elite volleyball players such as Kelly Wing, Whitney Pavlik, April Ross and Kelli Nerison also workout at CATZ to stay in shape in the off-season and prepare for the upcoming beach volleyball season. According to Pavlik, “It [CATZ] challenges you physically and mentally to get you into the best shape possible. I love it!”

Jason Dillard, the Director Goldenwest Volleyball Club, the largest club at ASC with 22 teams, had this to say: "We are excited about our player’s participation in the CATZ program this club season. Having participated in the workout myself, I have no doubt that the results yielded will benefit our athletes' conditioning, agility and strength while hopefully preventing or limiting the injuries that occur during what is certainly a long club season!"

If you would like to learn more about the SCVA please visit their website at www.scva.org. CATZ, which is located inside ASC, has been training the current Men’s National Volleyball Team since May of this year as part of their move from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. You can visit them at www.catzsports.com for more information.