Finally, after a lot of work, I was able to upload the Highlight Film. Excuse the quality as it has to be compressed a lot to upload. Enjoy!
Edit: For some reason, the video will not embed. Follow this link to see the video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1303406108479130143
- Coach Kim
We had our End of the Year banquet last Sunday at the Hilton in Fairfield. Though there was a bit of difficulty with the Hilton staff setting everything up as they said they were going to, it was still a great evening and nice to see the group all back together again.
The girls got all fancied up, most of them wearing dresses. Throughout the evening, we recognized our support staff, the coaching staff, and the girls. Some awards that were given out:
Player of the Year: Natalie Cooley
Falcon Award: Natalie Cooley
Bay Valley Conference MVP: Angela Franklin
All Bay Valley Conference: Alishea Kelly & Christine Tucker
Academic All Bay Valley Conference: Alishea Kelly, Natalie Cooley, and Corina Cornelius
We also watched the highlight video, which I’m working on uploading now to put it on the blog. Hopefully it will be up by the end of the day.
- Coach Kim
The girl’s are still busting their butts in the weight room. It’s fun to see them get excited about working hard and getting stronger.
So for the last few weeks we’ve started to somewhat kick it up a notch with conditioning. From 2:30-4:30, we’ve been working on agility, quickness, strength, and basketball skill work. It’s been interesting dealing without a gym, and the girl’s have been very patient. They’ve been coming every day and working their butts off, ball-handling on the outside tennis courts.
The exciting thing I’ve noticed from this group is their early team comradery and desire to improve during this time. I think winning conference but coming up short in the playoffs have served as a bit of motivation for our returners. Leilanie has already stepped up even more in a leadership role. Jana, Theresa, Kecia, and Jasmine have been busting their butts.
(Kecia working on her guns.)
(Tucker & Theresa think they have bigger muscles than me now…they wish!)
As coaches, we’ve been busy getting ready for the End of Season banquet on the 27th. With all that we’re doing, it’s going to probably be the nicest banquet in the history of our program.
- Coach Kim
Day 2 of the first week of Spring Conditioning (remember we’re taking it easy this first week 
) consisted of going over goal-setting again and the girl’s putting the concept into practice with their own goals, and a good old game of “Capture the Flag.” 
Natalie and Corina, in the picture on the left, are shown in jail, but their team pulled out the victory, despite the fact that Scrappy (in the picture on the right) pulled out all the stops trying to save her team’s flag.
- Coach Kim
Yesterday we started our Spring Conditioning program. Because it still hasn’t been long since the season ended, and that Spring Break is next week, the first week is going to be low-key.
Coach Annie and I talked to the team about goal setting, where we explained how to take dreams or long-term goals and break them down into shorter term goals and eventually into daily to-do lists. Thursday the girls are going to come with their dreams/long-term goals and we’re going to help them break them down. It’s an important skill to learn, and I’m glad we decided to go over it with the team.
After the lecture, we played about 30 minutes of Ultimate Tennis Ball (which if you’re familiar with Ultimate Frisbee, it’s the same, just using a tennis ball instead of a frisbee). Coach Annie took one team and I took the other. Let me just state for the record that my team won the first half 12-11, but Coach Annie’s team won (they cheated ) the second half.
- Coach Kim
This will be one of my last journal entries ever as a Solano Falcon. It makes me sad to think about leaving Solano. I’ve been here for 3 years and created many bonds w/ teammates, coaches, & fellow athletes. This experience has been a really great one. I’ve learned so many things that will make me a better person throughout my life. Since I’ve been @ Solano, I’ve gained many different teammates that are now more than just teammates to me, they are my sisters forever. I’ve shared w/ them many laughs, good times, hard times, and so much more. I know that this bond we’ve created will never fade. Sure, time will pass and me and my sisters may not talk or see each other as often, but I will always have them all in my heart. I will never forget them.
I will always remember spending the night @ Candice’s house and how much love her and her family showed me. I will always remember Rina & Nasty being “Shake & Bake” – doing big things for the team especially when we needed a kick. Lil Bit & Keece always roasting everyone (they still haven’t got me yet J. I’ll always remember Tues & Thurs lunch w/ Lei & Angela. Brandi and me always competing for the higher grade in class; first English and now Math. Theresa, Nasty & me – the “3 white girls” on the team. I will always remember the pre-game talk sitting next to Klacky and her farting! My girl Jana – “I’ll kill you!” and her always forgetting the plays and looking at her hands…Jazz going through many things but still pulling through the whole season. Jakiya working super hard in practice and still finding a way to come to school the next day all cute when everyone else had sweats on.
Coach Annie always talking w/ her hands. Coach Melissa playing w/ us, beasting in the post and making us work harder. Coach Kim…hmm so much to say but I got one word – “Chapman” – thanks. Coach George in pre-game one time saying “running around w/ your head cut off” – big pause – “like a chicken.” And my favorite Coach Matt moment is in practice when he does the back somersault flop!
I will always remember all these things and I loved every moment of them. I love all my teammates and coaches and now I will miss them greatly as we all move on. This year has been the best year of my college career. Not because of our success but because of the people who were a part of it -
- Tucker #3
Sweat & tears, joys & fears, defeated & undefeated; these words come to my mind when I think about the past year! After all the years of down-grading Solano, I can proudly sit here and say this is the best choice I’ve made so far. Being blessed with the best coaching staff and 13 (including Catie) AMAZING beautiful women on my team is way more than what I could ask for.
Other than my sophomore year in high school, I haven’t felt so close to a team! This team was my family away from family and I would ride or die for any one of ya’ll.
Teenie, I love your positive attitude 100% of the time. I’ll miss our lunch dates every Tues & Thurs. Corina, I’ll miss dancing with you, doing the latest moves. I’ll miss your hard work and the looks you give after accidentally hitting someone in the face and following it by “that’s not a foul” - LOL. Nasty (Natalie), my silent competition. You may not know this but the hard work you put in, I would always try to match, because I notice you never give up no matter what. Thanks for the ride to Fresno, the cake was hecka cute! Angela Rose Franklin, there’s no one on the team that I fought with more! I’ll miss your sarcastic remarks to everything. You’re my asst’s finisher and I’ll miss our “deny high.” My Tue/Thurs lunch will never be the same without your dry foods with no sauce. I still love you and oh yeah, “can I get your number?” Alishea Carin Kelly, where do I start? Playing with you was such a blessing. You’ve taught me so much. You were my coach/mentor that no one saw or knew of. Our pep talks on the vans before damn near every game and at practices made me play harder to not let you down. Not only were you a grat teammate, but an even better “bro.” Always made sure my head was on straight and gave me talks about life! The struggles and hard times you’ve overcome made me see in every situation, there’s a positive outlet. Man, thinking of not playing with you next year brings tears to my eyes. I love you bro!
I love you all and thanks for an outstanding season - from the 6am mile to the fallouts on the track. Just know I’ll always have ya’ll back.
BVC Champs! 07-08! To my returning and new teammates, let’s get it done next year!
Love always,
Leilanie Lewis #23
Well, if you haven’t heard, we lost on Saturday to Siskiyous. Bottom line, they executed better than we did. We knew exactly what they were going to do, and they sticked to their game plan. We just couldn’t stop them. They have some incredible shooters (hit all 7 of their first 3’s) and we had some defensive mental breakdowns that cost us.
I am proud of our team for battling throughout the game. Siskiyous came out to a 18-3 lead, and we were able to bring it to 30-33 at one point. Corina Cornelius, Christine Tucker, and Angela Franklin stick out in my mind for how hard they played. Oh, and Jakiya Smith’s diving save for a loose ball was pretty sick.
The girl’s will have about a month off. We have our End of Season meeting on Thursday, and then start up our Spring Conditioning program, where we’ll continue to work on quickness, agility, and basketball fundamentals.
For the coaches, we don’t get a break just yet. We’re still working hard getting our sophomores placed into quality programs, continuing our recruiting efforts, and preparing for the State Tournament (Coach Matt is the president of the state association, so we have a lot of work to do).
I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks analyzing what I want to do with the girl’s during Spring Conditioning. I think we really have some improvements to make on our athletic movements and techniques.
- Coach Kim
Slept well last night, had some coffee, and now I’m about to go for a run to burn off some nervous energy. We leave for Siskiyous at 11:45. It’s a long drive, but we’re stopping for a team picnic on the way up. There’s a cool park where the girls can get out, eat a good lunch, and get the cobwebs out of our legs.
I feel like I know Siskiyous in and out after watching so much film on them this week. They’ve improved a lot since we played them early on in the season. They’re smart, patient, and efficient in what they do. We’re going to have to play the best defensive game of the year to beat them. But, I believe we can do it.
- Coach Kim
