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What Makes Us MAVA
WHY MAVA? For starters, as our parents are saying, MAVA is not just some old volleyball club. We are a community. We look at the athlete as a whole person, not just as a volleyball player.
We offer a safe haven for athletes to be themselves. We encourage them to push beyond the limits they think they have and reach for the goals we help them set, often times outside of their comfort zones. We create an environment that they want to return to each and every day. We have a familial staff that not only encourages our athletes, but supports them, strengthens them, grows their confidence, and wants them to be successful.
Champions Built from the Inside Out
Our coaches who’ve won more national championships teach our athletes how to be good people by being good teammates and opponents. We teach them how to win humbly and lose graciously, and what it takes to come back from both to keep improving day after day. We teach not only our players, but also our families, how to set goals and what it takes to achieve them, because our coaches know just dedicating yourself for the few hours in a day that you’re in the gym is not enough to become a champion. Our decorated coaches know that positive growth and development wins, not negativity and constant yelling.
We train the fundamentals of volleyball so that they can be disciplined, focused, and dedicated both in volleyball and in life. While still having fun, we reinforce that they need to take care of their bodies, equipment, relationships, and mental health in and outside of volleyball. We build their confidence by making them stand on their own two feet and ask that they have the hard conversations with coaches from an early age.
More Than a Team, It’s a Family
We share in every step of our players’ journey as their coaches. We will be there for our players every day when they come in the gym for practice, for extra reps, when they had a hard time at school and need a listening ear, or when they got an A and want someone to celebrate with. We share over 6 months of our lives with these girls each year because we value volleyball and what it offered us, in hopes that it can be even more for them. We share our love of volleyball with every player that we cross paths with because that’s what volleyball taught us.
Volleyball offered many of us a home away from home, role models and adult mentors, more friends than we can count, and more memories than we can remember. Some of these were great memories: winning the championship, having a team bonding day that ended up in a water balloon fight, or a coach surprising us with a pizza party. Some of these memories were not that great: like losing one of our warmup balls at a tournament and being held accountable for it at practice next week, or losing to our rival team. Regardless, each of these memories plays a part in what MAVA is all about. We build the person, not just the player and help them through each and every experience they will have during their seasons with us.
We, at MAVA, are as committed to our players as they are committed to us. By investing in us, you are investing in a bright future for your child. They will find value in the little achievements, see value in every opportunity offered, and grow more than they thought possible so they are as prepared as possible for the road ahead of them.
History Behind MAVA
MidAmerica Volleyball Association is a community based volleyball club in Louisville, Ky., committed to developing and promoting the sport of volleyball from entry level player to the elite athlete. As a progressive club, our goal is to provide unparalleled instruction that insures the building of character, development of skills and sportsmanship, while providing a fun and nurturing environment for our volleyball players to reach their maximum playing potential. Our players will be challenged to excel, not only individually but also for the betterment of their teams and the community in which they live.
Current owners Glenn Pike and Tom Recktenwald, along with Lane Goulet, started MAVA with one team for the 1999-2000 season. Through hard work, teaching fundamentals and skill development, the club has grown to 27 teams in the 2021 season.
With a very passionate and knowledgeable staff, and the newly resurfaced MidAmerica Sports Center as it's home, MAVA has all of the resources needed to help junior volleyball players reach their highest potential. Whether you are a player looking to compete at the collegiate level or simply looking to improve yourself for your high school team, MAVA has something for you.
The MAVA Staff is committed to providing our volleyball players the opportunity to receive strong fundamental based coaching coupled with the teaching of advanced technique skills training as they develop and grow as complete volleyball players.