Volleyball Voices

Kerri Walsh carries the Olympic torch in San Francisco

Beach Volleyball Gold medalist Kerri's Olympic torch in California

Olympian and AVP pro beach volleyball star and 2004 Gold Medalist, Kerri Walsh participated in the Olympic torch's only North American stop on its trip around the world.

"It was an honor to be selected by Lenovo to carry the torch and reflect back on winning in Athens in 2004," Walsh said. "I was proud to be a part of the Torch's stop in the Bay Area, where I grew up."

The San Francisco stop like many of the other stops leading up to it had it's share of demonstrators turn out to voice their opinion on China's controversial political policies.

The Olympic torch's journey has been closely followed by the media and has generated both ">serious and ">funny journalistic reports.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

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AVP Dallas Open Misty and Kerri advance in Dallas

Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh get past "Ross and Boss" to advance in this year's AVP Dallas Open.

Read more form the Daily Pilot's article.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Branagh and Youngs keep getting close but no cigar in Dallas

The team of Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs keep bettering their results against the Olympians Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh in each tournament but they still aren't winning regularly in the third set.

According to the Dallas News top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second straight AVP Crocs Tour event Sunday, beating second-seeded Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs 17-21, 21-14, 15-13 in the Cuervo Gold Crown Dallas Open.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

What can you learn from these girls in the red bikinis? Part 2

Of course she hit the ball hard reaching high and using her full armswing.

She also waited so she could see the set, then used her feet and legs to make a strong approach to the ball.

But what other part of her body did Michelle More, the brunette on Team Gorgeous use to help her hit the volleyball straight down in this video?

Hint: It's another important part of the body you can't neglect in your volleyball conditioning especially during preseason and inseason training!

Put your answers in the comment section down below. Bet you can't guess.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Can Brazil beat the USA in three pre-Olympic Exhibition matches here in the US?

U.S. Women’s National Team Hosts Brazil in 2008 Olympic Exhibition Matches

USA Volleyball, in conjunction with NBC and the U.S. Olympic Committee, will host three matches as part of a 2008 Olympic Exhibition series between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Brazil during June prior to the FIVB World Grand Prix and the Olympic Games in Beijing.

All three matches will be played in Colorado Springs between June 11 and June 14. Team USA and Brazil will play at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Sports Center I on June 11 and June 13 at 7:30 p.m. each night with approximately 1,200 tickets available for each session.

The 2008 Olympic Exhibition tour will conclude on June 14 at the Air Force Academy’s Clune Arena, which has a 5,939-seating capacity. The match held at Clune Arena will be played at 7 p.m.

NBC will produce the June 14 contest at the Air Force Academy and televise the contest on MSNBC on a tape-delayed basis on June 29 at noon Eastern Time.

Tickets prices and avenues to purchase seats for each of the exhibition matches will be announced at a later date.

Both the United States and Brazilian women’s teams qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games with medal-stand performances at the 2007 FIVB World Cup. Brazil finished with the silver medal at the World Cup, while the U.S. finished with the bronze despite defeating their exhibition match opponent in head-to-head competition during the World Cup. The Americans came back from two sets down to defeat Brazil 17-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 as Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) scored 26 points.

“The Olympic Exhibition series with Brazil will be a great opportunity for our team to make final preparations for the World Grand Prix, and ultimately, the 2008 Olympic Games,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach ‘Jenny’ Lang Ping said. “For the first time in two years, our team will have the chance to play here in the United States in front of a home crowd with a television broadcast for the last exhibition match allowing more fans to watch us, thanks to NBC.”

(Here's a video of Brazil playing Japan in the 2007 World Cup played this past November.)

The U.S. and Brazil took part in a similar exhibition series to begin the 2005 season. The Front Range Tour was a three-match series in Denver, Fort Collins, Colo., and Colorado Springs. The trio of matches marked Lang Ping’s debut leading Team USA. The U.S. won the first and third matches in the series.

The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team is currently ranked fourth in the FIVB World Ranking. Brazil leads the international ranking, followed by Italy and Cuba.

The U.S. Women’s National Team played its last home domestic match nearly two years ago. Team USA, playing with a split squad in the second year of the current Olympic quadrennial, faced Poland on May 26, 2006. Poland won 25-14, 25-22, 28-26.

At the conclusion of the 2008 Olympic Exhibition series, the U.S. and Brazil will compete in the 12-team FIVB World Grand Prix in various European and Asian countries from June 20-July 13. The two teams will not face each other in any of the three preliminary round weekends, but could meet in the six-team, round-robin World Grand Prix Final round in Yokohama, Japan.

The 2008 Olympic Exhibition series with Brazil, along with the World Grand Prix and the Pan American Cup (scheduled for May 30-June 8), will assist the U.S. Women’s National Team coaching staff in making its choices for the 12-player Olympic Games roster.

The Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies is Aug. 8 with the Closing Ceremonies Aug. 24. Starting Aug. 9, the indoor volleyball competition dates alternate between women’s and men’s with the finals on Aug. 23 and Aug. 24.

For the most up-to-date information on the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team, visit the team’s home page at http://www.usavolleyball.org/National/wnthome.asp. The page contains the latest USA Volleyball news on the women’s national team, FIVB and NORCECA news, 2008 Olympic Games updates, outside media coverage on the team and photo galleries.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

USA Team member Tracy Stalls asks "Why?"

From March 17 to April 6 the US women's national team toured China participating in a series of "friendly" (okay not really its an Olympic year) of matches.

Team USA member, Tracy Stalls kept a journal during the trip and shares her - sometimes very funny - thoughts on what it's like to experience cultural differences while travelling as a professional athlete in another country.

Be sure to check out her story which includes having climbed the Great Wall, twice.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

2008 NBC Olympic coverage, the most ambitious ever

NBC UNIVERSAL’S BEIJING GAMES COVERAGE:

NBC Universal will present more than 3,600 hours of coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the most ambitious single media project in history and more than the combined total of every Summer Olympics ever televised in the United States.

The Beijing Games begin August 8, with unprecedented around-the-clock coverage and, for the first-time ever in the U.S., live streaming Olympic broadband video coverage, 2,200 hours in all.

Over the 17 days of the Beijing Games (Aug. 8-24), NBC Universal will present more than 3,600 hours of coverage highlighted by NBC in primetime which will feature live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball, despite the 12-hour time difference from the U.S.’s eastern time zone to Beijing.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Kim Willoughby is a new USA National Volleyball Team member

Kim Willoughby Added to U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team

Kim Willoughby (Napoleonville, La.), a three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American and 2003 AVCA National Player of the Year, has been added to the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team, according to Team USA Head Coach ‘Jenny’ Lang Ping.

Willoughby, a 6-0 outside hitter, recently completed her 2007-2008 professional season with Famila Chieri, a team in the top-tier Italian Serie A League. She tallied 306 points for Chieri while playing in 73 sets within 21 matches. Willoughby ranked 12th in points per set at 4.19, while her 3.82 kill average was eighth-best in the league.

As a senior at University of Hawai’i in 2003, Willoughby ranked second nationally in kills per game with 6.59 while adding averages of 2.99 digs and 0.62 aces per game. She hit .372 in her final collegiate season to help the Rainbow Wahine to the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament semifinals for the second consecutive year. For her career, Willoughby averaged 5.91 kills per game, which ranked third-best in NCAA history at the time. She also contributed 1,440 digs, 194 aces and 291 blocks over 459 career games.

Willoughby is the third cousin of U.S. Women’s National Team middle blocker Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.).

The U.S. National Team now has four players competing for a spot in the 2008 Olympic Games who earned AVCA National Player of the Year during their collegiate careers. Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) earned the honor twice, while Ogonna Nnanami (Normal, Ill.) and Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) captured the award once. Tom and Nnamani were four-time AVCA All-Americans with Stanford University, while Akinradewo will complete her senior year at Stanford in 2008.

In addition, Nellie Spicer (Barrington, Ill.) and Destinee Hooker (San Antonio) are no longer training with the team in its preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

FIVB Announces 2008 World Grand Prix Volleyball Schedule

The FIVB announced the schedule for its 12-team World Grand Prix Tournament held June 20 to July 13 in various European and Asian countries.

The 2008 edition involves 12 national teams playing a total of 69 matches over four consecutive weekends in 10 cities. The preliminary rounds are set to take place in Kobe, Japan, Ningbo, China and Alassio, Italy, on the first weekend, Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, Wroclaw, Poland, and Hong Kong the second weekend and Bangkok, Thailand, Taipei, Chinese Taipei, and Macau the third weekend.

The U.S. Women’s National Team will open the first weekend of World Grand Prix preliminary action in Group A at the Green Arena in Kobe, Japan. The U.S. faces Turkey on June 20 at 3 p.m. Japan Time, followed by Kazakhstan on June 21 at 3 p.m. Japan Time and host Japan on June 22 at 6 p.m. Japan Time.

Team USA travels to Wroclaw, Poland, the following weekend to play three matches at the HSW Orbita Hall as part of Group E. The U.S. challenges Thailand on June 27 at 8 p.m. Poland Time to start the weekend. The Americans play NORCECA rival Dominican Republic on June 28 at 5:30 p.m. Poland Time before wrapping up the weekend against host Poland at 3 p.m. Poland Time.

The U.S. concludes the preliminary round matches in Group H at Hsinchuang Gym in Taipei, Chinese Taipei. Team USA takes on Poland for the second time in the tournament on July 4 at 3 p.m., followed by a rematch with Turkey on July 5 at 3 p.m. The Americans conclude the preliminary round against Italy, gold medalist at the FIVB World Cup, on July 6 at 5 p.m.

The FIVB World Grand Prix finals, a round-robin format of the top five teams from the preliminary round plus host Japan, will be played July 9-13 at Yokohoma, Japan. The overall ranking in the preliminary rounds is decided by the total number of World Grand Prix Points (GPP) gained by the teams in the preliminary matches. A team will earn two GPPs for a win, one for a loss and none if they forfeit the match.

The FIVB World Grand Prix has the top four teams in the world participating. Brazil, which won the 2007 FIVB World Cup silver medal, leads the FIVB World Ranking, followed by second-ranked Italy and third-ranked Cuba. The U.S. ranks fourth in the world, while 2008 Olympic Games host China ranks sixth. Japan, the 2008 World Grand Prix final round host, is ranked eighth and Poland is slotted in the ninth position. Dominican Republic is ranked 14th in the world, Germany positioned in 15th and Kazakhstan placed in the 16th spot. Rounding out the World Grand Prix field are 18th-ranked Thailand and 22nd-ranked Turkey.

Team USA will face an average world ranking of 13.22 during the three-week preliminary rounds. The Americans will face only one team – Italy – ranked among the top seven teams in the current world ranking during the preliminary rounds.

Brazil is a six-time winner of the event, while Cuba and USA have captured the title twice. China won the event in 2003. Team USA won its two titles in 1995 and 2001. Netherlands, the reigning World Grand Prix champion, did not qualify to defend its title after snapping Brazil’s three-year reign as Grand Prix winners.

The World Grand Prix is the last major international tune up in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. The U.S., which qualified for the Olympics at the 2007 FIVB World Cup, will use the 2008 Pan American Cup (May 30-June 8 in Mexico) and the World Grand Prix to assist in Olympic Games roster selections that are due the first week of July. The Team USA coaching staff will select its 12-player roster at the beginning of July, and the announcement will be made upon confirmation from the USOC.

The U.S. qualified for the 2008 World Grand Prix by finishing as the third-best NORCECA team entered in the 2007 Pan American Cup.

For more on the FIVB World Grand Prix, click here. For additional information on the U.S. Women's National Team, visit the team's home page by clicking here.

FIVB World Ranking of 2008 World Grand Prix Participants

Brazil – 1st

Italy – 2nd

Cuba – 3rd

USA – 4th

China – 6th

Japan – 8th

Poland – 9th

Dominican Republic – 14th

Germany – 15th

Kazakhstan – 16th

Thailand – 18th

Turkey – 22nd

Pool A: Kobe Japan, Green Arena

June 20: Turkey vs. USA, 3 p.m.

June 20: Japan vs. Kazakhstan, 6:30 p.m.

June 21: Kazakhstan vs. USA, 3 p.m.

June 21: Japan vs. Turkey, 6 p.m.

June 22: Kazakhstan vs. Turkey, 3 p.m.

June 22: Japan vs. USA, 6 p.m.

Pool B: Ningbo, China, Beilun Sports Centre

June 20: Brazil vs. Thailand, 3 p.m.

June 20: China vs. Germany, 7:30 p.m.

June 21: China vs. Thailand, 3 p.m.

June 21: Germany vs. Brazil, 7:30 p.m.

June 22: Germany vs. Thailand, 1:30 p.m.

June 22: China vs. Brazil, 5 p.m.

Pool C: Alassio, Italy, Palavavizza Hall

June 20: Cuba vs. Poland, 5:30 p.m.

June 20: Italy vs. Dominican Republic, 8 p.m.

June 21: Dominican Republic vs. Cuba, 4 p.m.

June 21: Italy vs. Poland, 6:30 p.m.

June 22: Poland vs. Dominican Republic, 4 p.m.

June 22: Italy vs. Cuba, 6:30 p.m.

Pool D: Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, Vinh Phuc Hall

June 27: Brazil vs. Kazakhstan, 2 p.m.

June 27: Turkey vs. Germany, 4:30 p.m.

June 28: Kazakhstan vs. Germany, 2 p.m.

June 28: Brazil vs. Turkey, 4:30 p.m.

June 29: Turkey vs. Kazakhstan, 2 p.m.

June 29: Germany vs. Brazil, 4:30 p.m.

Pool E: Wroclaw, Poland, HSW Orbita Hall

June 27: Poland vs. Dominican Republic, 5:30 p.m.

June 27: Thailand vs. USA, 8 p.m.

June 28: Poland vs. Thailand, 3 p.m.

June 28: USA vs. Dominican Republic, 5:30 p.m.

June 29: Poland vs. USA, 3 p.m.

June 29: Dominican Republic vs. Thailand, 5:30 p.m.

Pool F: Hong Kong, Hong Kong Coliseum

June 27: Italy vs. Japan, 5 p.m.

June 27: China vs. Cuba, 8 p.m.

June 28: Cuba vs. Italy, 1:15 p.m.

June 28: China vs. Japan, 3:45 p.m.

June 29: Japan vs. Cuba, 1:15 p.m.

June 29: China vs. Italy, 3:45 p.m.

Pool G: Bangkok, Thailand, Huamark Stadium

July 4: Thailand vs. Kazakhstan, 2 p.m.

July 4: Cuba vs. Germany, 5 p.m.

July 5: Germany vs. Thailand, 2 p.m.

July 5: Kazakhstan vs. Cuba, 5 p.m.

July 6: Thailand vs. Cuba, 2 p.m.

July 6: Germany vs. Kazakhstan, 5 p.m.

Pool H: Taipei, Chinese Taipei, Hsinchuang Gym

July 4: USA vs. Poland, 3 p.m.

July 4: Italy vs. Turkey, 6:20 p.m.

July 5: USA vs. Turkey, 3 p.m.

July 5: Italy vs. Poland, 5 p.m.

July 6: Poland vs. Turkey, 3 p.m.

July 6: Italy vs. USA, 5 p.m.

Pool I: Macau, Macau Forum

July 4: Brazil vs. Dominican Republic, 6 p.m.

July 4: China vs. Japan, 9 p.m.

July 5: Brazil vs. Japan, 2 p.m.

July 5: China vs. Dominican Republic, 5 p.m.

July 6: Dominican Republic vs. Japan, 1 p.m.

July 6: China vs. Brazil, 4 p.m.

Final Round: Yokohama, Japan July 8-13

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Elaine Youngs, a beach player who does not lack confidence

Gaining Confidence when you play indoor or beach volleyball is a huge part of the elite volleyball player training process.

I wrote about a few things indoor volleyball players can do to help their teammates gain confidence which is a way-in an of itself to help YOU gain confidence by helping you take the focus off of your game. The more you see the reults of helping your teammates out the more confident you become as a player because your mind is no longer focused on whether you are doing the "right thing" for yourself, its focused on doing what it takes to accomplish the team's goal.

Trust me people that makes it so much easier to get on the court and play.

Beach volleyball Olympian, Elaine Youngs makes some good points about the importance of confidence on the beach volleyball court. Check out what she has to say and then figure out how you can take somehting from what she says and apply to your game, your practice, your goals that you have set for yourself for the upcoming volleyball season.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Be the first to see the World Grand Prix pools and competition

From the week of June 20 to the week of July 13 the very last international competition to be played before the 2008 Beijing Olympic competition will be the World Grand Prix.

For a look at the participants,dates, playing times and locations click here to visit the FIVB World Grand Prix 2008 page.

Be sure to come back and take a look at the video of Japan vs. Peru one of the World Grand Prix contestants as they play in the World Cup competition in November of last year.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Water vs. Coke let the match begin...

I love water. I can drink more than a gallon a day and I do. When I was playing professionally I would drink more than that. As athletes, its crucial that we keep our bodies hydrated since they are made up of such a high percentage of water.

I got this email in the mail comparing some water stats vs. coke stats. I thought it'd be good to blog about it. Let me know what you think, just write down in the comment section what you think. Are you a water enthusiast or a coke connoisseur? What's your take as a coach or an athlete.

Check it: WATER

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (likely applies to half the population)

2. In 37% of americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

3. Even mild dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water, is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in water can trigger fuzzy short term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79% and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

COKE

1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for an hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in coke removes stains from vitreous china.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: rub the bumper with a rumpled up piece of Reynolds wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finsihed, remove the foli, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumtuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

According to the email - "the active ingredients in coke is phosphoric acid which can dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis."

To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use hazardous material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of the trucks for about 20 years!

Isn't this interesting material? I'm not nor have I ever been a Coke drinker so I'm asking my readers if they know if any of these Coke "stats" are true?

Some of these statements I will have to try to prove to myself like the ham in #7 to see if its true. But just the fact that almost every coke statement involves a car or engine part would make me at least think twice about whatever I was about to drink.

I'm curious to know if anyone knows whether or not this stuff is true. Hit me up. Let me know. Let's see what arguments surface.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

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