BestoftheNet!
Dated: 11/03/97Each and every month I labor through the hundreds of volleyball links in my Links section to select one from each category for the Best of the Net! award. I select the best site based on content, design, value to the online volleyball community, and most of all, what they are doing to expand the sport of volleyball. This week I am not only going to choose the winners of the November Best of the Net! award but announce why a particular site was chosen.
First of all, my list of links is broken
up into several categories based on subject:
- USAV Regions and Sites
- Colleges and Universities
- Associations
- High School Teams
- College Clubs
- College Club Tournaments
- Adult Clubs
- Leagues/Places to Play
- Junior Clubs
- Camps
- Commercial/Companies
- Volleyball Information / Online Magazines
- Skills Pages
- Personal Home Pages
This
category is a list of official USAV regional offices. Most of these
sites offer the same type of information, so it was difficult to decide
which site was the best. However, I found that Gateway
Region of USAV had the best site this month. Gateway managed
to best out the rest based on design and content. The design was
simple yet attractive without a huge download. The navigation bar
allowed for an easy display of all that the site had to offer as well as
when each page was updated (A good deal updated as late as 10/31!).
The Gateway site offers all the information a Gateway USAV member could
possibly want without too much extraneous information.
Primarily this section is devoted to university and college volleyball
sites. However, a site dealing with college and university volleyball
are also lumped into this section. This month's winner is one of
those sites. Home of the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic
Union, Canadian College Athletic Association, and all things Canadian when
it comes to volleyball, the Canuck Corner (http://www.canuckcorner.com)
is the definitive place for great northern volleyball information.
The site is superbly designed and blends content with entertainment and
a little bit of Canadian patriotism to provide a wonderful browsing experience.
Canuck Corner proudly displays information on national teams, regional
associations and Canadian club volleyball.
This section is made up of the sites that support the various collegiate volleyball clubs around the world. Although not one of the prettiest sites on the Internet, the Best of the Net for College Clubs this month is the Hiram Club Volleyball Club (Link no longer available). The reason I picked their site was not because it was the best designed but rather the story they have to tell. Theirs is a story that starts five years ago. A group of guys wanted to play volleyball, knew the rules and would get together for tournaments. In an effort to get some monetary support they organized a constitution and petitioned for club status at Hiram in 1995. These days they are a full fledged volleyball club playing along the east coast and even have their own court to hold practice. They are proof that all you need is a desire to play.
Not a league, not a club, but somewhere in between and different all together is a volleyball association and this section is full of them. These guys have been awarded the Best of the Net! award a couple times this year. Again they are the best in November! Underground Volleyball of America combines the best of belonging to a volleyball association with a little bit of wacky juice to provide a fun filled, competitive volleyball venue for the state of New York. They play ndoor/outdoor, hardwood/sand/grass, 2s/3s/4s/6s, men/women/co-ed, and leagues/events/tours. A member of USAV, UVA provides some of the best tournaments in the area. Their Web Site is no different. Choked full of results and standings, tour information, contests, UVA products and information, I have spent hours perusing the site. Their dedication to the community is evident in their donations to community organizations to the tune of $1500.00 in 1996. These guys almost make me want to move up to New York.
This section contains all the non-collegiate volleyball clubs around the globe. The Jericho Classic Volleyball Club (dead link) is this months winner in the Adult Clubs section. Their site design is clean and easy to use. A four year club, they filled the need of more outdoor 6's in Vancouver and Kits. In four years time, the club has exploded form 18 teams to 230 teams and picked up big name sponsor, Wilson. Online they provide tournament, league, and sign-up information. You can even register online. Register online and they enter you in a contest to "win great prizes."
Almost a miscellaneous section, this section contains a list of sites
that offer information about volleyball leagues of places to play. 
Connecticut
Volleyball Exchange has it all. Other than the sudden explosion
of sound (STAR WARS?) from my computer's speakers due to an inline midi
file, the design of the site is clean and easy to navigate. All the
information they provide is in a nice frame that successfully links to
the main frame. As a website, they exist to inform volleyball enthusiasts
in the Connecticut region of upcoming special events, tournaments, leagues
and volleyball parties. Working on an information exchange format,
they do a really good job of providing the information. Ian
Mills is the author and he lists out tournaments, an online contest
(sorry it ended), guest book for ego posting, links, indoor venues, places
to play, photos, medicine, clinics, clubs and a great list of t-shirt sayings.
As you can see, he's compiled quite a collection of valuable information
for people in Connecticut. If only every region had one.
By far one of the best volleyball sites on the Internet, Austin Junior Club Volleyball (dead link) does more than just talk about volleyball. Austin Juniors is a non-profit organization that provides a nationally competitive program. There organization has produced over 100 college players. Online, they provide an pleasant look with easy navigation to information about teams, upcoming tournaments, tryout info, etc. They also host the 1997 United States Junior National Volleyball Championships (dead link), where you can get pre-tournament info, teams, maps, schedules and hotel information, just to name a few.
Midwest Volleyball Warehouse wins this month again because of two main reasons: diversity of volleyball related products and price. They have everything, "from awards to volleyballs." More so, when you price their products you will find very attractive prices. Not always the best price, but when you add in their low shipping and handling cost, I experienced, that you will see that Midwest has the best deal on the block. That's why I bought my Tachikara SV-5W Gold for over $10.00 cheaper than local businesses and a couple cheaper than any online catalog.
Volleyball Information / Online Magazines
Vball.com
is a junior players "must see" online magazine. It has a very clean
design with easy navigation. Their title bar says junior players
information resource but they have just as much information for us adult
players too. A particularly valuable section is the Coaches Corner
(link died). There you will find job listings, match request and
court concepts. Also, they have a tailored email list that will keep
coaches informed and up-to-date on events depending on which level the
coach is coaching. Vball.com is a great online resource.
There are many people with great online volleyball sites. These
guys and gals put together their sites for no other reason tan the love
of the game. Many are worthy of mention, like Michael Solovy's "Michael's
World of Volleyball"; However, long time Icon of online volleyball, 
Schneid's
Volleyball Page, recently going through a little facelift is the best.
It looks prettier and still retains all that great information on volleyball,
exercise and fitness, sports medicine and nutrition. Sticking to
just the volleyball sections of his site, Schneid has put together a vast
wealth of volleyball tips, suggestions, rules, FAQ's, drills and strategy.
It is a real nice site and one of the best vball resources around.
I had Schneid the Best of the Net for the fifth time. Keep up the
work.
So now you know.
Bump, Set,
SPIKE!
http://volleyball.About.com/library/weekly/aa110397.htm