AVP Pro-Beach Volleyball - (Day Two)

Saturday was a really long day due to the heat. It was at least 102 degrees, I never did get the official weather forecast, I'm just going by what it said on my car thermostat. Our volunteer coordinator, Christie, did an awesome job making sure that everyone stayed hydrated. Unfortunately, there wasn't any shade in the area where we were working the afternoon games. So we had to work in shifts, two volunteers sat out every game. The only shade that was available was under a flatbed truck on the other side of the parking lot. It was rather comical to watch the volunteers sitting on chairs under these trucks, but it worked. The picture to the left is Brittany with Jennifer Boss and April Ross. They were our last game of the afternoon, once we were done with that game we took a little break before the evening games started. It was nice to get out of the heat!

The picture to the right is Brittany shagging during the evening game between Holdren-Nygaard and Hyden-Keenan. We thought it was funny that we shagged for Hyden and Keenan again, two nights in a row. Her job was to get the ball whenever it went to the far side of the court where she was and roll it to the girl nearest to the corner where I was taking the picture.

When the ball was in play Brittany just had to stand there and pay attention to what was going on. You never want to turn your back in a volleyball game because you could get hit by the ball. We left the crown at home since volleyballs and crowns don't mix.

Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor warming up prior to their evening match. Brittany is the small girl on the far side of the net in the yellow shirt. Every time they would hit the ball over the net it was her job to go get it.

Brittany's dream come true was being on the volleyball court with Kerri Walsh. As you can probably guess Brittany plays volleyball.

Another picture of Brittany with Kerri Walsh.

During the night games we were being bombarded by grasshoppers. It was fun to watch people in the stands; every now and then they would jump because a grasshopper flew into them. I was one of those people. In fact one time when I was taking the camera out of my backpack a grasshopper jumped into it.

At the end of the night Brittany was able to get her picture with Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalists. They won their match that night and moved on to the semi-finals on Sunday. We decided not to go back and volunteer on Sunday because of the heat we had endured on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully we both stayed hydrated and neither one of us became ill, but I didn't want to risk two days of extreme heat.

On Sunday, Walsh and May moved on to the finals where they ended up winning!

AVP Pro-Beach Volleyball (Day One)

Brittany had an absolutely awesome weekend volunteering her time at the AVP Pro-Beach Volleyball tournament when it made a stop in Arizona. Over the course of two days she volunteered a total of 13 hours. On the first day (Friday) we were joined by Tiffany, our amazing Coed Queen.
There are really only two jobs available for volunteers, keeping score and ball shagging. By the time we got there all the score keeping jobs had been assigned, so we were ball shagging. Ball shagging is when you are out on the court during the match getting the volleyball for the players.
The girls and I shagged for game 2. Which was between, the teams of Lambert-Metzger and Keenan-Hyden. I thought it was a pretty neat experience, I have watched beach volleyball on TV, but it is much more exciting to see it in person. I never realized what a faced paced game it is until I was out there chasing the volleyball on the court.

Brittany and Tiffany with Mike "Lambo" Lambert.


Stein Metzger


Brad Keenan


Holly McPeak, 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist


Logan Tom, teammate of Holly McPeak


Nicole Branagh (left) and Elaine Youngs, 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist

Diva Dash

Bright and early on the morning of May 5th, Brittany and Tiffany headed out for another volunteer opportunity. Actually it wasn't bright when they headed out, since it was 4:30 in the morning. When most people their ages were sleeping they were getting ready to help others. This time they were volunteering at the Diva Dash which is a fundraiser for the Girls on the Run.

Girls on the Run is a wonderful program that teaches girls ages 8-11 to respect themselves for who they are and to develop a healthy active lifestyle. Girls who participate in the program at their schools also participate in the Diva Dash.
The morning started off with helping set-up for the Diva Dash. Then the girls moved to handing out t-shirts and goodie bags at registration. After registration, it was time to hand out water. The girls are becoming experts at this, since they distributed water at Pat's Run too. This time they were out on the race course, which was a wonderful experience. As the girls handed out water they also gave words of encouragement to all of the participants. They made a special point of telling all the younger girls participating that they were doing an "awesome" job, keep up the good work and so many other positive statements. I was so impressed watching these two, they really made a lot of these girls feel better. For the majority of the girls participating this was the first time they had every run or walked a 5k marathon. This is definitely an event we will be helping out with again. It ties in so well with the American Coed philosophy of developing self-confidence.

Fifth-graders help classmate in need

This is one of those stories that you really hate to talk about but if you are in a position to help it would be greatly appreciated. A student at Brittany's school was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. The story was featured on a local tv station. I have provided the story below along with a link for the video that aired on the evening news. You can also access the story for yourself at azfamily.com

Fifth-graders help classmate in need

05:30 PM Mountain Standard Time on Friday, May 4, 2007

By Kirsten Joyce / 3TV reporter

A young fifth-grader has just been diagnosed with a very rare disease for his age and his fellow classmates and the entire school are pitching in to help the family pay for medical bills.

Many tears were shed Friday at Palm Valley Elementary School.

An 11-year-old child, Rene Perez, was just diagnosed with cancer.

He only moved to the Valley a month ago from Texas, but his presence at the school has made quite an impact on fellow students and staff members.

Rene is an honor student, but he wasn't in class today.

"I'm very proud of my grandson," said his grandmother Irene, who said just a week ago he was taken to the ER because he was suffering from terrible headaches.

"They ended up in emergency and found he had a massive tumor -- brain tumor," she said. "Now he's doing radiation and chemo for 42 days -- once a month for five months."

But his classmates at Palm Valley Elementary School have found a way to work through their sadness by raising money for Rene's treatment.

"It's called Hats on for Rene," said Sahil Kapur, a student. "Everyone is wearing hats this Friday and next to support him. Bring a dollar or more to wear a hat."

The idea is the brainchild of Rene's teacher.

Rene is planning to visit his fellow classmates next Friday to thank them.

"Rene does want to come back to see them," his grandmother said. "It really means a lot to him -- what they're doing for him."

Meanwhile, his teacher is also in the process of setting up an account at Washington Mutual.

For donation information: Contact Mrs. Noce (Rene's teacher) phone, 602-295-4745, or Palm Valley Elementary, 623-535-6400, or e-mail manoce@gmail.com.

Link to see video clip that appeared on 3TV http://www.azfamily.com/video/localnews-index.html?nvid=141293&shu=1

Informational Video about American Coed

I found this video about American Coed Pageant on You Tube. It was actually put together by the group that runs the California and Illinois Pageant so don't use the contact info at the end of the video. If you would like to contact the Arizona pageant, use the link that I have posted on the side of this blog.
For those of you who have been wondering what pageant weekend is like this video clip will give a glimpse into an absolutely awesome weekend. It is truly a family weekend, where not only the girls have an opportunity to meet new friends and gain confidence; but parents will make new friends as well. I truly look forward to pageant weekend every year; I meet so many amazing parents. What I truly love about this pageant is the non-glitz factor (no make-up) for the younger children. The girls can just be themselves, and the are expected to be themselves!



Brittany has been competing for four years and the change in her is absolutely amazing. When we first started this journey she was so shy that she wouldn't even order a happy meal from McDonalds. Since that first pageant she has completely come out of her shell. Sometimes I think she has more self-confidence then I did at that age, in fact I know she does. She now loves visiting with new people; signs of her former shyness are gone. She even orders for herself when we go out. Ironically, her favorite competitions at pageant are interview (meeting one on one with the judges) and speech (optional competition). The skills she has gained from American Coed, allowed her to gain the confidence to try out for the chorus at her school, as well as run for Student Council Vice President. Had she not participated in the pageant, I feel that she would have been too shy to participate in these things at her school. Especially since both of them involve being in front of an audience on a regular basis.