To All MAVS Parents, Players, Coaches and Friends of MAVS.
We wanted to give you a Season Ending Update as we move into the summer months and as teams are preparing for Junior Nationals later in June.
As always, we are thankful that you are all part of the MAVS volleyball family, and we greatly appreciate the support you have shown our club this season. I know I speak for all of us when stating this year was yet another successful season for the club at every age level and with each and every team that wore a MAVS uniform. We are extremely proud to announce that 14 of our teams have qualified for the Junior National Championships, which will be held in Minneapolis later this summer. Congrats to all our teams and a big thanks to all our families, players and coaches for another great year.
We also have some club administration news for all of you. First and foremost, we wanted to let you know we are transitioning the leadership and ownership of MAVS. David Beach has left the club but will be continuing to coach the 16-1 team through Nationals. David has been an instrumental part of MAVS for the past ten years, and we will miss him as he pursues other interests. I know I speak for many of the coaches, parents and players who have come in contact with David that he was always a support system to them as members of MAVS. For all his efforts, I want to thank him in this public way for his contributions to our success. If you get a chance, please extend your own heartfelt thanks to him for all his efforts in continuing to make MAVS the club of choice in the Kansas City volleyball community.
Starting June 1st, I took over the role of Executive Director for the club, and in that role, I will continue to coach at the younger ages and continue to oversee the year-round programs within the club. My role will obviously change and I genuinely look forward to working with all of you in my new capacity.

I am also excited to announce other important additions to the administration of the club joining our admin team are Lauren (Mathewson) Ramatowski and Beau Barnthson. As the Director of Team Performance and Recruitment, Lauren will take on the duties of coach/player development, college bound player recruitment efforts, player skills development, and the coordination and success of our player enhancement programming through our partnership with Boost. Lauren will also bring a new approach to our "social media" programming for the club and its players, which will not only enhance the awareness of our players to college coaches but also recognize players, teams, and coaches for their efforts throughout the season. We are also very excited that Lauren will take on the head coaching duties for the 17-1 team in the 2017-18 season. Please join me in welcoming Lauren back to MAVS where she has previously been a successful club player and high performance team head coach.
Beau Barnthson, who is currently overseeing our ICT Mavs efforts in Wichita, will join the ranks of our administrative team by taking on several full-time club duties. In addition to his current Wichita club administration duties as our MAVS Administration Coordinator, Beau will manage allevent registrations for qualifiers and nationals, hotel reservation management, and our website. Beau currently coaches the ICT MAVS 17-1 team who qualified for nationals this season as well. In addition, he will take on the coaching duties for that team in the 2017-18 season. If you see Beau at the club, please pass on a big congratulation to him on his new duties and coordinator role.

Most of you already know Megan Parks who will continue to oversee certain aspects of the younger teams, but will now take on the role of Program Coordinator. In that role, Megan will work with the staff in many different programs we host as part of MAVs from South League, to summer camps and clinics, to the Fall Academy. Megan will also continue to coach the 13-1 team this season through Nationals and move with that team to 14-1 as head coach for the 2017-18 season. Help me congratulate Megan in taking on these new duties.
Michelle Abshire will continue in her current capacity as our Lead camp clinician. Michelle does so many great things for the club, especially at the younger player level. Our year-round camps and clinics are a huge success because of Michelle's engagement, and we look forward to Michelle overseeing those programs for the remainder of the 2016-17 season into the 2017-18 season. This is a great opportunity for us to say thanks to Michelle for all she does for MAVS.

Rounding out our administrative team is an oldie but a goody ☺ I say that respectfully of Dave Gentile, founder of MAVS Volleyball and club consultant. Dave has been an integral part of this transition with his business expertise and endless support of the club. Dave coaches as a second assistant to the 13-1 team which also qualified for Nationals. Dave has agreed to stay on as an advisor for the foreseeable future, which helps us execute our game plan for the next several years. Dave hired me in 1998, and I’m truly blessed to have him back in the club for my upcoming 20 years with MAVS! Thank you Dave, for all you do for MAVS!
I am really excited about the remainder of the 2016-17 (especially as we get ready to send 14 of our MAVS teams to Minneapolis) as well as we prepare for our future. The coaching line up is looking great for the upcoming season (which was distributed earlier last month and can be found on our website) and our tryout process later this summer will be a great way to secure great players, great parents and great team frameworks into the new year. I’m confident 2017-18 is going to be a fantastic year!!!
As always, thank you for your participation and support of MAVS and certainly let us know if you have any questions.


GO MAVS!!


Kathy
Kathy Bates
Executive Director
MAVS Volleyball