Ocoee Knightmares end first club volleyball season at AAU Nationals

For the first time, the players of the Ocoee Knightmares 13U and 14U club volleyball teams stepped into the Orlando Convention Center for the largest court of their career: the AAU National Championships.

It is the world’s largest volleyball tournament held over 24 days. And unlike their other tournaments that have four to eight courts, AAU championships boasted more than 150 courts lined with spectator seating, dozens of vendors and high-level competition from around the country. 

The teams competed in two waves, 13U in Classic from Tuesday, June 16, to Friday, June 19; and the 14U team in Club from Saturday, June 20, to Tuesday, June 23. 

“They definitely lost to a lot of teams that they should have (beaten),” Club Director Alex Gonzalez said. “But it happens, but overall they competed for most of the games and I was proud of them. The games that they were able to compete in — even though they didn’t win (all of them) — the biggest thing is really just to show that you belong there. To show that you competed is the biggest thing.” 

The 13U team finished nationals 3-9, while the 14U was 4-7. 

Gonzalez said rather than nerves, the girls experienced pure excitement playing on the biggest stage, especially the three 11-year-olds playing on the 12U team. They came ready to compete after seven months of club season before nationals. He said the girls especially loved participating in the theme days. The first day was Camo Day, day two was Pink Drip Day, day three was Pajama Day, and day four was Live Aloha Day to send a sweet goodbye to the competition. 

It was the perfect way to close out the Ocoee Knightmares’ first season. 

The Ocoee Parks and Recreation Department created the team as an expansion of its rec volleyball, allowing the girls to experience the freedom and higher competition a club volleyball team brings in a local, family-based setting. It all began when Gonzalez saw the talent Ocoee’s rec teams had and wanted to give them the opportunity to fine tune their skills for a lower cost than traditional club teams. 

Gonzalez used to work as an intern for AAU before working for Ocoee’s Parks and Recreation and saw first-hand how all of the registration worked. Now, he returned as a coach and coached the 13U team alone for the first day before being an assistant for the next three days. 

“It’s cool to see both sides of it and now from a player and coach’s side, it’s really cool to see,” he said. “And I could see why everyone comes from across the (United States) to come to this tournament because for the girls I feel like this is something you’re always going to remember. (When) you are 30 years old, you could say, ‘OK, I played at the biggest tournament in the world that year.’” 

Over the seven months of the Knightmares’ first season, the girls went through a drastic evolution. It was the girls’ first time playing club. They only were used to rec ball, which doesn’t run a 5-1 or a 6-2 rotation on the court, rather it’s focused on simply getting the ball over the net. 

In the first few months, the girls worked to break that habit. 

They learned how to run rotations and all of the basics, but now they knew exactly where they should be and were able to even tell their teammates where they should be on the court. 

“The development was pretty crazy to see,” Gonzalez said. “It was a long seven-month journey, but where they came from was almost a year ago to not even knowing what a 5-1 is to now, where I feel like if there was a new girl (who) came in, I can have any of my girls teach it to the new girl.” 

The growth and success the two Knightmares teams had in their first year is why the club will be expanding to three teams — 12U, 13U and 14U — for the upcoming season. 

Three of the players on the current 13U team only are 11 years old, meaning they could play on a 12U team next season, which is what led to the decision to make one. 

There are a lot of younger talented girls in Ocoee’s rec program, and Gonzalez said if players begin with the Knightmares when they’re 12U then work up to 14U over the two years, they’ll have the best opportunity for their long-term development. It’ll also give the players extra motivation to work harder since they know there is a place for them in the future. 

“A lot of the girls on the rec program, they see the Knightmares, they see the Instagram, they see the girls getting so much better and it draws a lot of interest from not only the players but the parents,” Gonzalez said. “The parents were like ‘Well you know it’s in Ocooe, it’s still part of pretty much the rec program’ so if you are going to go to a club, why not do one that treats the girls not like a number but actually a player and get to know the whole family.”