It’s volleyball 🏐 night 🌙 on The Hill and here’s what you need to know : We ain’t afraid of no Bobcats….

For the middle school team, it’s Family Night on the baseline introduction ceremony, and for the two older teams, it’s Besties Night 🌙.

To define Besties, that is for the players to invite people that are part of their lives to join them on the court. See, for the first few matches, I have been dictating who stands with them ( Moms, Dads, grandparents, and siblings), but tonight they get to choose !

It can be someone from one of the first four categories or just their Best Friend(s). The energy in our introduction process all three times sets the tone in regard to the positive energy in the building !

I will not utter a single word to disrespect our guests tonight because that is not what this is about, not even a little. The reason why is those little girls / young ladies all belong to someone as well. Their parents work for a living, just like ours do and they drove down, bought a ticket 🎟 to watch their pride and joy play volleyball 🏐.

Please notice the excitement that I add every time one of our players scores a point but also notice that nothing is said when we get a point because of an error made by a Bobcat.

Again, my absolute favorite part of working with Cundy Edwards is she holds a prayer circle 🔵 and invites the other team to join in because it is the Christian ✝️ thing to do. It’s my job to both Amp up or kiddos and protect theirs.

I will add one more thought process on the subject. The young lady who just hit the ball into the net is well aware that she made a mistake and let her team down. Do we really need to taunt her by shouting or chanting, ” There’s a net there”?????

Using a different approach, here I will select Mr Painter ( Heidi’s Dad ) as my example. I’m not sure that over the past four years, we have exchanged 100 words, but we have made eye contact, and I believe that he is appreciative of my efforts to add joy to his little girls game day experience. It’s a mutual respect thing that goes unspoken, and I value that a great deal.

The next step to that is this: What would any parent in the gym tonight come home from work and find their little girl crying 😢. Coach Edwards tells me that Mr Painter is a farmer out near me, which means he understands what it is to put in a hard day of work.

When you find out that the emotional well-being of the pride and joy of your life is crying because she got an answer wrong in class and the teacher led a chant of, ” You’re the Dumb Kid, You’re the Dumb Kid. And then the others joined in…..

Yes, it is exactly that. Bullying is bullying and it’s NEVER cute or okay. It’s just not.

Here in a few hours, I will get dressed 👗 and head over to The Hill to host three volleyball matches and I will do EVERYTHING within my power 💪 to make the night as enjoyable as possible for everyone who walks through the gym door 🚪. At the end of the night, I hope I have said, ” How ’bout them Lady Cavaliers ” three times. But if not, I will still feel good for trying hard to put an umbrella of protection over as many current and future Lady Cavaliers + Bobcats as possible !

I’m already excited about the number of fans that might be there at 4:30 !!!

It’s 7:00 somewhere, so let’s percolate our Morning 🌄 Brew together with a little help from the really Cool 😎 people !

Travis Osborne and his Bible Verse of the Day :

Psalm 22:24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

Howard Mayo and his Motovational Nugget for the Day :

We have another volleyball 🏐 triple header tonight on The Hill !

Middle School should start at 4:30 !

Have a Blessed Day 🙌😇🙏

Let’s call 📞 this one : The glass half full and Patti’s little Girl 👧 has grown up into quite the Impressive Pillar of our Community !

Family Night 🌙 for Middle School Volleyball 🏐above, the roster below

While I have NEVER turned down anyone who has asked for my assistance, I will admit that certain people that I perk up when I hear from them. Mrs Kayla Nester of Laurel Fork is on that list !

Start to finish Kayla, and I might have 5 minutes each invested in our conversation with regard to what we teamed up on last night on The Hill.

Being that I dreamed about teaching others how to use their words for good, this story will be a teaching opportunity.

To write ✍️ a story like this one, know who you are writing it for and what you hope to accomplish with it.

Here’s a short list of reasons not to write a story – to gather social media followers or to promote your own brand.

This story is being written for the benefit of Mrs Patti Goins, and the hope is to show gratitude 🙏 in her direction.

The story will only be sent to two people by me, Patti Goins and Kayla Nester. The story is theirs, and what they choose to do with it is entirely up to them. To share or not to share, is entirely up to them.

The next note 📝 in my case, anyway, one should note that I do not put my name on my stories because I am not looking for people to applaud me but instead focus on the subject.

The age-old line of “Are you a glass half empty or a half full ” fits perfectly here.

Thursday night was the sixth of 10 dates that I blocked 🚫 off for the betterment of Cindy Edwards and her volleyball program. I normally show up 60 minutes before it is time to start so I can be totally prepared. The normal window 🪟 is 4:30 – 9:00.

Kayla Nester wears enough different Hats 👒 that I’m not sure if there is a closet in her home big enough to store them all. One of said Hats is the responsibility of being the Middle School 🏫 Athletic Director.

It turns out that three of the ten nights 🌙 were going to be expanded versions because our Middle School team would play in front of our Junior Varsity team. This adds another 60 minutes of work and 15 minutes of preparation.

Glass half empty person says, really, do we have to stay that much longer ?

Glass half full person has a very silly grin 😁 on his face because now he can reach out and distribute kindness and grace to yet another group of young people and their families !!!!

The list above shows 17 players and two coaches for a total of 19. Then you ask if there are any others who should be listed because it is free to do so.

You see 👀 the list above, and you see the tools I use for the more difficult names. Now, look at the photo that Cindy Edwards hopped up and took for me. See how many family members came down to join in our baseline introduction with just five minutes’ notice !!!

The night of the match, Kayla and I talked for roughly 60 seconds, and then she moved on to her next task. I moved over to the Floyd County bench to meet their coaches.

One has to note just how well our CCMS draws fans, at least the ones that I’m at or helping with. Not only do they show up for a 4:30 match or game, but they remain engaged, which makes my job sooooo much more enjoyable.

I have to believe that everyone on our side found the experience enjoyable, even though we fell 2-1 to Floyd County.

My connection to Kayla Nester is now in year six, and I’m proud to say if there’s anything that I can do to move a needle for her, count me in.

Now, circle 🔵 back to connect the dots to Patti Goins. Before Kayla Nester existed, she was Kayla Goins, the older daughter of Patti and Scotty.

Now, a number of people could have helped Kayla Nester become the force to be reckoned with that she is, but what happened next has the way she was raised written all over it.

At 5:26 a.m., this message popped up :

” Thanks for doing the Middle school game last night. They loved it!”

The two of us make a good team because we share the same focus and drive when it comes to things that matter in regards to other people’s children.

I joke about getting let into the building during the fall and how much it means to me. My line is this, I’m a preacher without a pulpit and a teacher without a classroom. Helping Cindy Edwards gets me as close as I can, and adding Kayla Nester is the icing on the cake 🎂!

I see you, Patti Goins, and all I can say is THANK YOU.

I just looked up and realized that it is now Saturday morning 🌄 and no longer Friday night.

That means that Kris Richardson is going to be in my thoughts today ! Hope it is everything that it can be….

Once, Twice, Three times a Lady Cavalier !!! One ticket 🎟 on The Hill gets you 3 volleyball 🏐 matches !!!

Middle School 🏫 celebration of Family Night 🌙 ahead of the opening set !!!!

Floyd County takes the first set 25 -10

Here for the night 🌙

CCMS forces a 3rd set by winning #2, 25-17 !!!!

Floyd County wins the final 15-6

[5:47]

Next Up – JV

Back home 🏡 and it’s time to play catch-up.

Varsity :

Carroll County High wins 🏆 3-0 ( 25-22, 25-10, 25-19 )

Junior Varsity :

Carroll County 25-21

Floyd County 25 – 20

Carroll County 15 – 5

Four hours of volleyball 🏐 against our neighbors and friends from Floyd County!

Make sure to check ✔️ out the game story by Ryan McCafferty in the Carroll News and check out the pictures 📸 captured by Velvet Leonard !

Fun Night 🌙 on The Hill !!!

Four more home matches remain, and two of them will include our Middle School 🏫 team as well !

Earlier today, our very own Kayla Nester made it RAIN money 💰 !!!

Any day that we hear from Mrs Kayla Nester is a good day ! But today was a different message about the Middle School 🏫 Volleyball team.

Floyd County, Radford, and Patrick County are all somewhat neighboring Three Rivers District schools 🏫. Each one has yet to visit The Hill, and when they do, they will be bringing their middle school teams with them !

There’s a line in the Jimmy Buffett song 🎵, written by Mac called ” It’s My Job ” that goes like this – ” In my contract there’s a clause “…

See, by adding three more games to announce, it kicks in an additional $2.7 million dollars 💸💵💲!!!

Yeah, no, not really, but it does create three more opportunities to build a frame around a group of future Cavalier Volleyball players and coaches !

So, instead of arriving at 5:30 for the start of the Junior Varsity match, we will get started at 4:30 with the MS match with the Lady Buffaloes 🐃 to be !!!

Don’t forget that Thursday night is Siblings Night !!!