Sports Express Volleyball Club
1995-2002
Director:
The Sports Express JO program was headed by Jeni Case, a 3-time All-American
player from Thomas More College and head coach at Ursuline Academy. Jeni is now moving into an instructional position with our
Express Training
program and will assist with our U13 National teams.
History: Sports Express Volleyball Club was created in 1995. The club was started thanks to the generosity of Billy Doran, owner of Sports Express. It was the continued support of the Doran family throughout the 1st six years of the clubs existence that made it possible for us to achieve as much success as we did. With more than 50% of our JO teams making it to the USAV National Championships, you can see how successful we became. The club ended in 2002 (sponsorship of multiple teams in all age groups) when Jeni and JP had Logan join their family. Sports Express has continued to sponsor a few teams each year and we will be adding more teams in 2008.
Sports Express Past Coaches: Coaching is the most important variable you will find when looking at any select team season. Sports Express was extremely lucky in its search for great coaches and took seriously the issue of having a coach in place before a team is selected. We feel proud that every coach in Sports Express' history has either played college volleyball or been a high school head coach. Some of our coaches included: Mike Seibert, former State Chamionship coach from Ursuline Academy; Ellen Bedinghaus, former middle hitter at Miami University and head coach at Indian Hill HS; John Spinney, Former Head Coach at Thomas More, 1st Assistant at Florida State University and now Cincy Classics Director; Jenny Fette, head coach at Thomas More College and former player at Toledo University ; Laura Alford, former women's head coach at the University of Cincinnati; Becki Fisher, former player at Northern Kentucky University; Amy Meyer, former head coach at Ursuline Academy; Becky Long, former head coach at Hamilton Badin HS; Renee Scheidt, former player at the University of Cincinnati; and Becky Zang, former player at Xavier University.
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Things to expect if you play JO volleyball for a club
Facility and Practices: Most of you have been to our complex for CYO games, camps, or lessons. For those that haven't, we invite you to come out and see our facility. Sports Express has 5 indoor courts with "Sport Court" flooring. We have 4 or 5 clubs that practice at our facility each year. Players should expect to practice twice a week and sometimes three. Practices generally run for two hours weekdays and variable times on weekends depending on the tournament schedule. With a concession stand, lobby, retail store, bathrooms, TV's, and wireless internet, Sports Express is a nice departure from a high school gym.
Teams: During our time we had girls from all over the city play for Sports Express. No more than 3 girls from any high school can play on any club team so our teams matched up some of the best players from Lakota, MND, Seton, Ursuline, Ursula, McAuley, Colerain, Roger Bacon, and a host of others. We've had players from as far north as London, Ohio and as far south as Notre Dame Academy in Kentucky. Your daughter will see a host of schools represented when she shows up for tryouts. Please note that our tryouts are competitive and only the top tier players will make a Sports Express JO team.
Tournaments: Teams average between 6 and 10 tournaments each year depending on the age group and type of tournaments they are entering. Each team will decide on tournaments of their own, taking into consideration each players special needs or conflicts (Prom, SAT, etc.). Most tournaments we enter are within a 1 city radius of Cincinnati with at least a few tournaments at home at Sports Express. Some teams do decide to travel more to play in better tournaments like National Qualifiers or other invitationals. All teams are eligible to play in the Regional Championships at the Columbus Convention Center, and in a season ending Asics Junior Championships in Chicago.
Costs: You can expect to pay anywhere from $800 and $2300 to play a JO season (December - June) and that does not include travel costs.
Tryouts: Clubs are allowed by rule to offer tryouts for HS girls starting on the Sunday following the state finals for girls high school volleyball (2nd week of November). Almost all tryouts are finished by the time December hits with the exception of some of the younger teams (U11, U12). Tryouts are open to anyone and are competitive. It is illegal for clubs to recruit players, including contacting parents, until the high school season is over. It is legal for the players or parents to recruit a club to play for. This way you can speak to coaches or the club director about the potential for being selected for a particular team. Sports Express will distribute information regarding tryout dates to local high school coaches and post additional information on this site. You can contact John Paul Case at Sports Express for more information by calling 398-2400.
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To reach the Ohio Valley Region website for more information on Junior Olympic Volleyball CLICK HERE.