AVA becomes premier volleyball club

DICKINSON — Santa Fe’s Katie Marabella made the switch a year ago. Clear Creek’s Madeline Gaffney joined this spring.

Both volleyball players, first-team all-county selections in 2009, did not want to fall behind. They wanted to keep up and improve.

So Marabella and Gaffney left their longtime clubs to join the Absolute Volleyball Academy in Dickinson between Interstate 45 and state Highway 3 on FM 646. Though thankful to their former clubs, both agreed they would not change their decision.

“This was the best choice for me; it had what I needed,” Gaffney, who already had committed to Texas State, said. “I had to raise my game to a college level, and there’s really no other club better in this area.”

In just four years, AVA has become the premier volleyball club in Galveston County and one of the best in Houston. It’s also well-recognized throughout the state and across the country.

Eleven of AVA’s 36 traveling teams qualified for the USA Junior National Volleyball Championships in 2010. Last year, the 18 Performance Team won gold.

All of AVA’s outgoing seniors signed college scholarships.

“It was really hard for me to leave my club team because I had been there so long, made friends and grown,” Marabella said. “But AVA’s the best, and it’s where I’m going to grow more and become the best player.”

Longtime and successful Friendswood coach Jerry Linch along with former University of Texas player and ex-Alvin coach Katy Garza cofounded AVA in 2006. They both operated clubs in the area and realized the possible potential in combining forces.

Galveston County and South Houston also lacked a premier club volleyball team. Most girls traveled to North Houston and Katy.

“Until we got together, this side of town did not have an organization like this,” Linch said.

Which is important. College coaches target club volleyball more than high school these days. The high school fall schedule interferes with the college season, so it’s difficult for coaches to get out and see players to recruit.

A club volleyball team playing in the spring and summer makes it easier. Plus, most club tournaments often include close to 100 teams, which maximizes the number of players college coaches can see in one trip.

To help their kids, AVA has its own recruiting coordinator. Christy Crislip spends most of her day sending letters, videos and stats to colleges.

It works. For the last two years, 100 percent of AVA players have signed college scholarships.

“Christy just hounds you, which is a good thing,” Marabella, who committed to Division I Iona College this summer, said. “She’s not going to let you down. You’re going to play college volleyball somewhere.”

Linch and Garza also credit their staff. It’s an impressive list that includes former college players and coaches from the University of Houston, McNeese State and Rice University.

“These coaches know what it takes to play at the next level,” Gaffney said. “They knew what I needed to improve and work on.”

They’ve designed a CAT workout, which stands for conditioning and agility training. It’s a volleyball-specific routine. Two second-floor rooms at the AVA facility are dedicated to jumping, and the floors have a special carpet to prevent injuries.

AVA starts teaching kids as young as 3 and goes all the way to 18. For their travel teams, which start at age 11, tuition is not cheap. It’s about $3,000 per year, not including travel expenses, which can raise the cost to around $8,000, Jody Marabella, Katie’s mother, said.

The travel schedule also can be cumbersome. The season runs from December to July and includes tournaments during the school year all across the country. Sometimes students get back in the wee hours of the morning and go to school the next day.

The Marabella family, along with other players and parents, feel the cost, both physically and monetarily, is worth it. That’s the price to pay for the premier volleyball club in the area.

“Katie’s going to get to go play college volleyball, and it’s not going to cost me,” Jody said. “She’s going to get a free education and learn from the best in the area. You can’t ask for much more than that.”