Navy arrived this week!  In addition to the traditional royal blue, we’ve now got navy in our line-up.  Our high school colors are blue and gold, and we’ve always worn gold since the blue just didn’t quite match the uniforms.

The new navy is dark – almost black – but it’s definitely navy. We’ve also added it to our rainbow special, so now you get 15 great colors in one pack! I think the navy is going to look great twisted with gold…or braided with red and white!

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Smolinski as Connecticut’s best high school volleyball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award, to be announced in late December, Smolinski joins an elite alumni association of past state volleyball award winners, including USA Volleyball Olympians Kim Glass (2001-02, Horseshoe HS , Penn.), Kim Willoughby (1998-99 & 1999-00, Assumption HS, La.) and Ogonna Nnamani (1999-00, University HS, Ill.).

The 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter recorded 239 kills and 205 digs this past season, leading the Sachems (26-0) to a third consecutive Class M state championship. A 2009 Senior All-Star Volleyball Game selection, Smolinski also tallied 83 service aces during her senior campaign. A returning Class M First Team All-State selection as named by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association, she amassed 13 kills, 12 digs and three service aces in a state final-sweep of Barlow, capturing Class M state championship game Most Valuable Player honors for the second straight season. Smolinski compiled 293 kills, 248 digs and 68 service aces as a junior.

Smolinski has maintained a 4.63 GPA in the classroom and ranks No. 5 in her class. The selection leader as a flutist in her school’s wind ensemble and a participant in the Mathematical Olympiads competition, she has volunteered on behalf of countless community-service initiatives, including the Special Olympics, Unified Sports, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Rally and the American Red Cross. Also a panelist at the Connecticut Youth Entrepreneur Seminar and a speaker at the Conference for Teaching Entrepreneurship, she established Pre-wrap.com in order to sell pre-wrap and athletic tape worldwide.

“She is spectacular,” said Laura Arena, head coach of Farmington High, which faced RHAM during the 2009 regular season. “She’s 5-foot-9 and plays as big as 6-foot-2 if not bigger and better. That says a lot. She’s a key reason RHAM became the program it is. Without her, I’m not sure they’re as successful. She’s a well-rounded player. She sees the whole court. I’m impressed with her strategy, finesse and power. She’s a strong server and a crafty defensive player. She’s a leader. And she does it all with so much class.”

Smolinski remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Smolinski joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Volleyball Players of the Year Erika Videtto (2008-09, Greenwich), Janice Ehorn (2007-08, Amity Regional), and Brittany Dickinson (2006-07, Frank Scott Bunnell) among the state’s list of former award winners.

To celebrate the award’s 25th anniversary, Gatorade wants you to vote for the All-Time Greatest Players of the Year at gatorade.com/POY25. To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.

• A headband is anything that goes around the whole head – not just around the hair (for example a ponytail holder/elastic/scrunchie)
•Pre-wrap is considered a headband, along with elastic strips/bands, or terry cloth sweat bands
• The pre-wrap color must be white, black, beige, or the main color of the jersey
• All team members are required to wear the same colors also – for example one team member is not allowed to wear black if the other is wearing the primary team color, or white or beige
• Headbands must be worn around the forehead or crown of the head
• Headbands must be made of a non-abrasive material – like pre-wrap
• If the athlete is wearing one color of pre-wrap, or other type of headband, their wrist or arm bands must also be the same color
• Items that are not matching or do not follow these rules must be removed before competition

In 2008, $390,000 was raised by 330 participating college teams and 285 high school and middle school teams. The goal for 2009 is $1,000,000! Interested in participating?

Visit Side-out.org to get more information on how you can help!

In our high school, we did our first event last October. Honestly, we didn’t have much lead time since we thought about it late, but we pulled it together in about two weeks and raised over $1500! You can help! Our coach ordered pink uniforms since we plan to do an annual event, but our JVs tie dyed their shirts. We got pink socks, wore pink pre-wrap and had lots of pink goodies at our concession stand. We held a 50-50 raffle, which was a huge success. We decorated a box with pink wrapping paper for donations.

Side-Out makes it as easy as possible to do this. They have an event management brochure, fundraising ideas, and even a Team Web Page. Remember, no event is too small.

A few questions for you: On an unofficial visit, may a PSA participate in an organized practice (like during spring season, not the regular collegiate season)? Does this rule differ by D1, D2, D3, NAIA, etc? As a followup, what if it’s not a formal practice, but rather a group of players from the team in a pick up game w/o the coaching staff? Would your answer change if it was an Official Visit (probably not since it’s just a matter of who’s paying for the visit). Thanks in advance for your help! Regards, Dave.

These are some great questions about what a Prospective Student-Athlete may or may not do while visiting a college campus.

For Division I Volleyball a PSA on an Official or Unofficial Visit may not participate in an organized training session with a coach in attendance or observing (sometimes coaches like to just look in the window, but that is not allowed). There is no distinction between the Traditional or Non Traditional (spring) season. A PSA may engage in unorganized or ‘pick-up’ play with college players provided that a coach is not observing or attending. These ‘pick-up’ play sessions tend to be much more common in men’s and women’s basketball, because these college athletes are more or less mandated to be training/playing every day of the school year and almost all summer.

It is my understanding that Junior College and NAIA also allow such PSA training situations, but I am not sure of any needed paperwork. I am not too clear on the Division III rules, but I would lean toward these opportunities being allowed as part of a campus visit – but, please do not hold me to this rule; rather visit the NCAA website and look up on the rule under the Division III page.

By and large, the NCAA rules generally apply the same for an Official Visit and an Unofficial Visit. The biggest immediate difference is who pays for dinner (and hotel, and flight, and lunch, etc.). Another important difference is that the coaching staff may not travel off-campus to show you the community (they can travel off campus to show you a training or competition site) or to eat, even if the PSA pays for their own meal. Except for a couple of small things, all the other functions are the same and I believe this is one of the reasons that the Unofficial Visit is now the dominant on campus experience for a PSA and her family. The Official Visit is just a follow-up trip during the PSA’s Senior year to hang out on campus with her new team (the exception being those programs that happen to be recruiting Seniors because of a late opening).

This was a great set of questions and hope the answer makes the practice opportunities during an Official or Unofficial visit a bit more clear!