Texas Club of the Week Highlight: TAV Houston
We are excited to write this article about a club in North Houston who is making a name for themselves in the third largest city in the nation. H-town is full of great athletes, great coaches, and great clubs. This week…
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Continue ReadingWe are excited to write this article about a club in North Houston who is making a name for themselves in the third largest city in the nation. H-town is full of great athletes, great coaches, and great clubs. This week we are focusing on Texas Advantage Volleyball Houston (TAV Houston). We are getting some great information on players from their Twitter account. If you are a college coach, we recommend you follow their account @TAVHouston as they truly utilize social media well with college exposure for their players.
Prep Dig TX had a chance to sit down with Club Director Joe Lind and get some background on how they have taken the Houston scene by storm in the last five years. Here is a little from our conversation.
Prep Dig TX: How long has TAV Houston been a club?
Director Lind: May 1st is our 5th anniversary of starting TAV Houston. The Edge, our facility’s managing partner, Jimmy Godail, and our owner, Gary Becker were looking for a new partner in 2015 once the previous volleyball club who was renting the facility was folding up. John Sample, founder of Texas Advantage Volleyball (TAV) in DFW Metroplex, was looking to expand in the Houston market, and asked me to be club director. I had a good relationship with Jimmy and the The Edge from my previous time at Woodlands WAVE Volleyball Club, and the rest is history.
Prep Dig TX: Can you give me some background info on your program as a whole?
Director Lind: We have taken some of the TAV philosophies and their track record of successful practices, while incorporating our own ‘TAV Houston’ way of training. It’s a great relationship – especially being associated with the eight time national club of the year. We have eight indoor courts and three beach courts outside – we currently have 30 total teams, 29 girls and 1 boys team, a growing beach program of 50+ kids and a developmental program of 125+. We have former and current college coaches as well as current high school and junior high school coaches who coach for us, former all Americans and collegiate athletes and even international coaches who all are looking to get the best out of our athletes.
Prep Dig TX: What are some past accomplishments of teams in the club?
Director Lind: We are going into our sixth year next year, and we have had six teams qualify for USAV nationals in 2016, four in 2017, five in 2018, six in 2019, and two this year before the season got shut down. We’ve had open qualifiers, won multiple qualifiers, and even had a 5th place finish at USAV nationals, and a 3rd place finish at AAU Nationals.
Prep Dig TX: How many players have been able to go to the next level?
Director Lind: All of our seniors that have wanted to play at the next level, we’ve been able to find a college or university for them to play, including this year’s seniors, which is over 70+ kids in our five years. That’s something we really pride ourselves in – getting kids to play at the #NextLevel – which is one of our mantra’s, slogans, hashtags if you will.
Prep Dig TX: What do you love about your program the most?
Director Lind: I love that our club cares about our athletes and coaches and there’s a sense of community amongst each other. We like to train, but have a good time doing so in the process.
Prep Dig TX: What is your coaching philosophy and how do you apply it to your teams?
Director Lind: My coaching philosophy is to prepare our kids for the next level on and off the court, whatever that level is for each age of player. I also want our players to learn how to play the game by increasing their volleyball IQ – so I want them to play the game a lot and think about what each play, and there’s a consequence for each action they make. For our club training, we try to have our players initiate as many drills as possible, and make most of our training as ‘game-like’ as we can – “The Game teaches the Game” as John Kessel would say.
Prep Dig TX: We love to highlight athletes but are always willing to give kudos to the people that help make the athletes reach their potential. Are there any up and coming coaches you would like to highlight from your club?
Director Lind: Some of our outstanding coaches are:
Branden Smeltzer – Assistant Director and Beach Coordinator – he’s one of our technical advisors and has qualified our 17 Black team to USAV Nationals the past two seasons.
Coach Mallori Howington & Talicia Johnson have helped lead our 16 Blue team this year and their infectious personalities get the most out of their players.
Since our main purpose for Prep Dig Texas is to highlight athletes so they can get good college exposure, we picked a few of the unsigned 2021 players and one who is already verbally committed in the TAV Houston program and we want to introduce you to them. They are in for a breakout season during their senior season next year. Without further ado check out these amazing athletes:
Aimee Ajayi [2021] 5-9 Outside (HS: Northland Christian/Club: TAV Houston)
Currently unranked in the state, Aimee has burst out on our radar. When the new rankings come out in a few months, Miss Ajayi should be somewhere on our list. Stay tuned, as I do not want to spoil it until then. We have been analyzing her athletic skills and are very impressed at what we see. While slightly undersized at her position, she certainly doesn’t play like it. She comes off of the ground very quickly with her attack approach and has outstanding balance. Her core is very strong which allows her to hit with a ton of power. She has a lighting quick arm swing and great control with her hand contact. Her control is so good that they regularly have her hit out of the back row during serve receive plays. Miss Ajayi should definitely receive some college interest during her senior year next season.
Photo Credit: SportsRecruits – TAV Houston
Temi Areola [2021] 5-10 Right Side (HS: Kingwood/Club: TAV Houston)
Temi is also unranked as of our initial rankings that came out last month but will definitely be listed when the update comes out. She is a high flying right side blocker/attacker for her Kingwood high school team and TAV Houston club team. She regularly hits over opposing blockers as she has so much bounce in her approach. It is very fun to watch Miss Areola hit a quick behind her setter as the block is usually too slow to put up some hands to slow her down. I am very sure that some college out there would love to have her athleticism on their roster. Be on the lookout for her to breakout even more during her senior season at Kingwood.
Photo Credit: SportsRecruits – TAV HoustonJulia Neveu [2021] 5-5 Libero (HS: Oak Ridge/Club: TAV Houston)
This is one libero that should be on a lot of coach’s lists soon. When watching her play any true coach would marvel at her ability to control her upper body through contact. She holds her form so well during contact and after to make sure her arms do not add any extra movement on the pass to the setter. It is so refreshing to watch her body control as she torques her upper body to deliver pinpoint accurate digs from balls that are well outside her body. Her motor is always running when her opponent has the ball. When I watch her pursue a ball, she makes me want to chase an out of system ball too due to her energy. She is no stranger to flying around for balls as she has a true relentless pursuit of the ball defensively. I will be discussing her with as many of my college coaching contacts as I can during her senior year. Be on the lookout soon as she will likely land on our State Rankings list in the next few months.
Photo Credit: SportsRecruits – TAV Houston
Megan Wilson Megan Wilson 6'3" | MB Kingwood | 2021 State TX [2021] 6-3 Outside/Middle (HS: Kingwood/Club: TAV Houston/Verbal: Oklahoma)
This lengthy outside hitter has all of the tools necessary to be a force in the college game in a few years. She is verbally committed to Oklahoma. She will give them some more firepower as they continue to nip at the heels of powerhouses Texas and Baylor in the Big 12 Conference. She hits the ball with both power and grace. Most coaches will tell you that it is easier to score out of transition defense rather than serve receive because the defense has more time to set up during serve receive. But this young lady scores at a very high rate when her club team receives the ball. She has a soft touch on off-speed shots but can crank when there is a split in the block. She plays for a talented 17s team. I know he will have her ready for Oklahoma with one more year under his tutelage.
We will be writing a follow up article on TAV Houston’s very talented 2022 class soon. Here are just a few who could definitely be written about soon.
Avery Fowler, 2022 5’7” Setter, Oak Ridge HS, 16 Black – has set her teams in a 5-1 the past four years, leading them to qualifying for nationals each year.
Sarah Sampson, 2022 5’11” Setter, Grand Oaks HS, 16 Blue – already committed to Eckerd College in Florida – she’s going to make EC better with her consistency and hard work.
Ava Terry 2022 5’4” Libero, Grand Oaks HS, 16 Black
Mallorie Garner 2022 6’0” OH, Bridgeland HS, 16 Black
Jackie Velzis 2022 6’0” RS/MB, Cy Woods HS, 16 Black
Annalise Burbank, 6’0” MB, Kelly HS (Beaumont), 16 Black
There are more sophomores and freshman that we are looking at from TAV Houston so stay tuned to our rankings when they come out in the coming months.
It was great to catch up with Joe Lind and get some information on his staff, atheltes, and his program. They are one of the newer clubs in the Houston area but they are definitely making a name for themselves. We are looking forward to covering them in the future and seeing them adding more amazing results on the court. Keep your eye out for TAV Houston!!!
If you feel like you have a school or club that you think we should highlight, feel free to email me at nov8vb@yahoo.com