Prep Dig Wisconsin Celebrates 5 Years – A Quick Reflection
There will not be any big balloons, no honorary pens or mugs, but there are plenty of memories to reminisce about for the five year anniversary of Prep Dig Wisconsin.
Over the past five years, our scouts are in the hundreds when it comes to articles, players written about, and in the thousands when it comes to miles traveled and pictures taken.
Rachel Kass, Breit Nelson, and myself (Chris Fitzgerald) will be writing a series of articles reflecting on our time at Prep Dig. We've been apart of this the past five years. The three of us have developed quite a team, one we enjoy coming from different parts of Wisconsin - forming the ultimate volleyball nerd trio. We share in the successes of these athletes, we love seeing when they commit, we follow them into their college careers, and what once was a little side job writing about volleyball has now turned into a major passion we take great pride in writing about these athletes.
Breit and Rachel - Thank you for being such great ambassadors for the sport. You are moms to your own children, coaches to plenty of players, and writers to all. Thank you for being great role models and a voice to empower these young women.
Here's a quick refection on the past five years.
How Did You First Get Involved In Prep Dig Wisconsin?
Prep Dig Wisconsin is part of Prep Network (Prep Hoops, Prep Girls Hoops, Prep Soccer, and Prep Redzone). I was a 6th grade teacher in Kimberly and a practice volleyball coach at St. Norbert College in De Pere. Prep Network sent an email out to probably everyone with a college email address associated with college volleyball. They explained what they wanted and I thought it sounded like fun (why not right?) Being a sports nerd, a huge advocate for high school sports, and a base of knowledge of Wisconsin high school volleyball with coaching at St Norbert and Appleton North along with making recruiting videos for Wisconsin Volleyball Academy in Appleton I thought I could be successful with this new venture. I had no idea what this could grow into and the impact we could have on these athletes.
What Were The First Events Covered?
The first article I wrote was the WVA Scrimmage held at The Barn in Menasha where it was WVA, FC Elite , Capital, and some other smaller clubs. I took a few photos on my iPhone 7 and some notes with a write up of a few players and things to know about the event. That was the first time seeing Hattie Bray play for WVA 15 Black. She was a long, jumpy middle and small town kid from Wautoma High School just happy to be there. Now, she just collected honors on the Big East All Freshman team from Marquette.
At the beginning of the club season I dove head first, I went to the Great Lakes Power League at Sports Performance. I was going to watch the top Wisconsin teams. This was when I first really saw the likes of the FC Elite 17 Navy team with Liz Gregorski (Xavier-Wisconsin), Addie Barnes (Neenah - Loyola), Maggie Cartwright (Kimberly - Arkansas) and Hannah Vanden Berg (Little Chute-Marquette) - this team was stacked. Unfortunately, I had a front row seat seeing Liz Gregorski blow out her knee. Everyone in the gym felt the pain, we all knew it could be the worst case scenario especially since she was recently coming back from an injury. I am so happy she has been able to rehab and find great success. Seeing her celebrate a national title for the Badgers last winter was pretty special.
The Capital 17 Adidas team also had a big time middle blocker named Kiana Schmitt. Long, athletic, and she could sure jump. A really fun talent. Those skills would translate to the next level as she was recently named All Big East as a middle for Creighton.
Who Are Some Of the Early Players You Remember?
The M&M duo. Malik and McNabb for Capital Volleyball Academy out of Madison. These two were just electric on the outside. Milla Malik out of Waunakee, she would play with the dark framed goggles and hit such a heavy ball. She would light up the court and play with so much fire. Karlie McNabb was a special talent, she still is. Her smile would light up the court as much as her game where she led Sun Prairie to two state tournament appearances. She has a contagious energy, she could score from anywhere, and her she was one of the top defenders in the state as well.
This Capital team that graduated in 2020 had a great group of athletes and a fun group of parents. I have to mention Karlie's late mom, Kim McNabb. Kim passed away this past fall from a battle with cancer. She is a Prep Dig OG, and she loved that title. She was always a welcome smile at events and would say, “Don't forget about us little people, we're your Prep Dig OG's”. This has been quite a season for Karlie as her mom has had the best seat in the house to see her daughter be named the A10 Player of the Year, MVP or the A10 Tournament and will be in the NCAA tournament in a couple of weeks.
Elise Goetzinger popping on to the scene her sophomore year was fun. The Mount Horeb native just started with Milwaukee Sting and 16 Gold and was committed to Kentucky by the end of the club season. Fast forward a few years and she wins a national title for Kentucky.
Seeing Alexis Boling play for Midwest Penguins 15 Black was exciting. She had such power and athleticism, she tore up the Great Lakes Power League.
Another former Midwest Penguins player and Milwaukee Sting alum who I saw rise through the rankings was Jordan Berglin. As a freshman, she was a lanky outside hitter who could jump, and a live arm. She was pretty raw, but the foundation was there. Her junior year she was breaking fingers with her swing bringing a whole new level of physicality. Now, she is an All Conference and most likely an All American for Flagler College, a D2 school on the beach in St. Augustine, Florida.
Aida Shadewald had a similar trajectory where I had no idea who she was as a freshman. Her sophomore year she played for Madison Sting United 16 Red. Seeing her approach and swing was exciting. She's continued her success at Illinois State with a huge freshman year.
What are some of the noticeable changes in the past five years?
The event space is something that is always changing. No more Great Lakes Power League and now we have the Badger Region Power League which continues to evolve.
At the start of Prep Dig Wisconsin, there wasn't a big influence at the USAV level for teams in the state, where now more clubs seem to be going that route. This has made the Badger Region Qualifier an extremely competitive event.
The changes in clubs. No more Wisconsin Volleyball Academy , Royal, Wisconsin Select, and even Capital. Now FC Elite has expanded, the different satellites of Wisconsin Juniors , One Wisconsin, Wisconsin Elite, and Madtown Juniors are some of the newer clubs.
More players using social media for recruiting. Athletes are using their resources. Hudl is so huge in creating highlights and athletes are able to use Twitter and other platforms to show their highlights, share articles, and even network with other athletes, and reach out to coaches. With recruiting rules changing drastically in the past five years, this is a great way for athletes to get on the radar before they can officially talk recruiting with college coaches.
Biggest Challenges?
I get paranoid that I am writing too much about certain players, clubs, or high schools. My goal is to remain neutral and balanced.
I always feel like I'm missing someone. Who is out there that we aren't writing about?
Filtering the outside noise. I've had plenty of emails and messages on all forms of communication that have been extremely negative, I do have a guard up in certain situations when interacting with parents. Are those messages tough to read? Yes, but the positives outweigh any negatives.
Our Prep Dig Fall League and events during Covid - whew that was a journey. Every time my phone would ring that fall, I would assume that a team was dropping due to quarantine. Which meant schedule changes and a whole line of communication. I'm so glad we were able to provide a way for these kids to play volleyball and see people. A huge shoutout to those involved, especially the Community First Champion Center in Appleton where they were so cooperative to work with.
What Changes Do You See Potentially Happening In the Next Five Years?
Wisconsin will go to five classes for high school volleyball sooner than later. As those changes happen I hope the WIAA revises how they put teams into sectionals.
I think there will be at least one other “Nationals”. Most teams are going to AAU Nationals or USAV Nationals, but I feel like the event space is rapidly changing where there could be another option on the horizon. Not sure by who, but I think it will happen.
What Is Your Favorite Part About Writing for Prep Dig?
I have found a network where that I feel like I am around the right people, doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I absolutely love it.
I love going to events, I get so excited to do what I do, and be part of the connection with the people involved. I really enjoy interacting with coaches and parents. At the end of the day we are all doing this for the athletes. We want what's best for them. We all have a role and mine just happens to be making sure their names are getting out there.
It's cliche, but I am so grateful. Prep Dig was in two states when I started and we are now in 21 with a national site as well. We have developed a strong network of scouts where many of us have developed friendships, learning about athletes from across the country. I have gotten to interact with coaches who I thought were only found on ESPN.
Lastly, I love walking away from a tournament where I always go undefeated as a Prep Dig Scout, it never gets old winning :)
