78th Annual KSHSAA Coaching School - Vicki Adams & Jackie Hall

Frankfort High School’s Head Volleyball Coach, Vicki Adams will be one of the featured speakers at the 78th Annual KSHSAA Coaching School August 4-6, 2010. Coach Adams and her team finished the 2009 season as the Kansas Class 1A State Champions with a 40-8 record. She was also named the 2009 Kansas Volleyball Association 1A Coach of the Year. Coach Adams has been using the AirCAT since 2007 and has this to say about it:

“We absolutely love using the AirCAT during our volleyball workouts and practices. The players have improved in many of their skills because of the consistency that it provides for them.”
- Vicki Adams, Frankfort High School’s Head Volleyball Coach

Another AirCAT owner, Coach Jackie Hall from Uniontown High School will also be a featured speaker at the KSHSAA Coaching School in August. Coach Hall’s team finished the 2009 season with a 34-7 record and a 5th place finish in the Kansas Class 2A State Tournament. Coach Hall’s career record stands at an impressive 533-289. She has been using the AirCAT in her practices and has these kind words to say:

“What can I say! I love the AirCAT!! I feel I can truly teach /instruct my players while live balls are coming at them. My girls like that they can work individually or in small groups. I like that my shoulder sure feels good at the end of practice. Thanks AirCAT.”
- Coach Jackie Hall from Uniontown High School

Airborne Athletics’ 2009 Volleyball Coach of the Year

Airborne Athletics is proud to announce Coach Troy Campbell from Marquette Catholic High School as the Airborne Athletics' 2009 Volleyball Coach of the Year.  Coach Campbell was selected out of thousands of candidates that use the AirCAT volleyball machine across the nation.

 

Coach Troy Campbell and Marquette Catholic High School having been dominating Class A volleyball in Indiana for over half a decade.  Since taking over the volleyball program in 2003, Troy Campbell has made winning the State Championship the standard.  After being the State runner-up in 2003, Marquette Catholic High School has won six straight State Championships from 2004-2009.  They are only the second team in Indiana Volleyball history to accomplish this feat. 

 

Coach Campbell was named Indiana’s 2009 A Volleyball Coach of the Year.  In his seven years of coaching at Marquette Catholic High School, he has accumulated a record of 232-40 and helped developed 29 All State Players.

 

Coach Campbell incorporates the AirCAT into his practices every season and has this to say about the AirCAT;

 

“Coaches may think that a piece of equipment as advanced as the AirCAT would only be for the large programs with a lot of kids, but they would be mistaken.

I believe it is a critical tool for small volleyball programs because it allows your coaching staff the flexibility to walk around and give the team or players direction. My coaching style revolves around a lot of one-on-one instruction and the AirCAT allows me to take kids aside without stopping the drill. At Marquette Catholic High School, where our program ranges from only 16 to 24 students for Varsity and JV, I have to make every repetition count in order to make efficient use of the time we have to prepare the team. We use the AirCAT for the many ball handling drills, as well as, attacking and scrimmage activities. The use of the AirCAT is only limited to your own imagination.  Our coaches like the ease of use and accuracy it offers. Thanks AirCAT for assisting us in winning Indiana's 1A State Championship for 6 years running.”

Technology 'hits' the Volleyball Court

Minneapolis, Minnesota It was only a matter of time. For decades, the ball machine has been a staple at baseball and tennis practices in both the amateur and professional ranks. Finally, the sport of volleyball is able to boast its own technological marvel, the AirCAT, leaving players and especially coaches asking, "What took so long?"

 

Airborne Athletics, Inc., a Minnesota-based manufacturer of the AirCAT and other volleyball training equipment, recently announced signing a five-year endorsement and licensing agreement with the USA Volleyball Association (USAV). Under the agreement, the AirCAT, essentially an air-powered pitching machine for volleyball, will be the "official volleyball training machine" of the USAV, the organization responsible for the Olympic volleyball teams.

 

Kerry Klostermann, Executive Director of USA Volleyball, announced, "The AirCAT equipment will play an important role in the development of new volleyball talent for Olympic competition."

 

Volleyball icon, Karch Kiraly, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and a player twice chosen best in the world, is ecstatic over the new technology, stating, "AirCAT gives the next generation of volleyball players a new opportunity. It’s going to revolutionize volleyball training."

 

While other volleyball training machines do exist, this latest incarnation, the AirCAT, with it’s patented air powered ball delivery system represents a huge leap forward in a sport ranked only behind soccer in global participation. The machine is a boon for volleyball coaches who traditionally have had to rely on other individuals or their own arms to serve, hit or toss balls during practice.

Doug Campbell, Airborne’s President, said "Our goal when developing the AirCAT was to improve players’ skills faster by allowing the coach the freedom to coach rather than being a ball tosser. With our patented ‘Consistent Air Technology’, the AirCAT will deliver, with consistency, up to 1100 balls per hour automatically for all types of drills." Campbell also noted that the AirCAT’s technology solved the two inherent problems experienced with spinning wheel type pitching machines; lack of consistency and ball wear.

 

One of the first to see the benefit of automation was Dr. Mike Hebert, head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Minnesota. Hebert, a former NCAA coach of the year and president of the American Coaches Association says, "volleyball coaching is really a matter of mathematics; the more repetitions a player gets in a specific skill, the better they are going to become. Being able to enter the ball with consistency, with the same trajectory, same velocity, same location, repetition after repetition, this is what this machine can do."

 

The introduction of new training implements such as the AirCAT could be instrumental in the U.S. National Team’s quest to rescale the top ranks of international competition after capturing gold in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.

 

"Every coach wants to maximize the repetitions his team gets in practice. The AirCAT allows our team to do just that; to train and develop skills in the best possible environment," said Doug Beal, Head Coach of the Men’s USA National Team.

 

The sport of volleyball celebrated its 105th anniversary in 2000, and was toasted by record Olympic crowds on the beaches of Sydney for the two-person beach volleyball competition which was added to the Games in 1996.

 

Begun in the U.S., volleyball’s domestic popularity is beginning to echo accolades it has received oversees. Today more than 46 million Americans play volleyball.

 

For more information on AirCAT, contact Airborne Athletics at 1-888-507-4668 or Visit their Web Site.

USA Volleyball Association

MINNESOTA – Airborne Athletics, Inc., manufacturer, marketer and wholesaler of volleyball training equipment, today announced the signing of a five-year endorsement and licensing agreement with USA Volleyball Association (USAV), the National Governing Body for the sport of volleyball. Under the terms of the agreement, Airborne’s equipment has been, "Exclusively Approved and Endorsed by USAV" and Airborne’s products have been designated the "Official Volleyball Training Machine" and "Official Volleyball Capturing Net System for USAV". The company will have exclusive use of this designation in all advertising, promotional and marketing activities. Further, Airborne’s equipment will be used at USA Volleyball-sponsored events and shows in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games.

 

USA Volleyball is the national governing body for the sport of volleyball in the United States and is recognized by the Federation of International de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). USA Volleyball oversees the United States Men’s and Women’s National Volleyball teams (indoor and beach), the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Volleyball Teams (indoor and beach) and the thirty-nine Regional Volleyball Associations (RVAs) in the US. The RVAs coordinate Adult volleyball programs, Juniors (JOs) programs and Youth programs within the various regions of the country.

 

Doug Campbell, President of Airborne Athletics, Inc. noted, "Pitching machines revolutionized baseball training programs. We manufacture and sell a ‘pitching machine’ for volleyball. Offering the only volleyball training systems approved and endorsed by USA Volleyball lends credibility to our products and will assist us in educating all age groups and skill levels that this type of equipment is available to bring volleyball team and individual training to the next level."

 

Kerry Klostermann, Executive Director of the USA Volleyball Association, noted, "We are pleased to be associated with Airborne Athletics and the technology their products offer. Like the USA Volleyball Association, Airborne’s products are designed for both indoor and outdoor competition, and are focused on developing all levels of volleyball skills from youth programs through Olympic competition."

 

Airborne Athletics, Inc. was established in 1996. The company currently manufactures three volleyball-training systems that are sold for home training, fitness centers and volleyball clubs, Junior Olympics volleyball programs, high school and college volleyball programs. Products include the AirCAT TEAM™ an institutional or team training system and the AirCAT SOLO™, a personal volleyball training system for home, grass, sand court or fitness club training. The AirCAT systems (which use a patented Consistent Air Technology) are battery operated and simulate various volleyball sets, passes and serves. The company’s third product, Networks™, patent pending, is a portable, stand-alone net system that catches and collects volleyballs.

For more information or a marketing packet contact Airborne Athletics, Inc. at (888) 88 SPIKE or Visit their Web Site.