In its 10th year, Presidents Cup bigger than ever

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer 1:47 AM Saturday, February 13, 2010

DAYTON — Bump. Set. Shovel.

The Dayton Juniors volleyball program is getting used to this.

As the club prepares to host its 10th annual Presidents Cup today and Sunday, Feb. 13-14, at sites around the Dayton area — and for the first time in Columbus — the club is again dealing with snow.

“The weather is a big predicament,” said Dayton Juniors board member and coach Howard Garcia, adding the tournament has dealt with snow five of the past nine tournaments. “The question is can the teams show up and if they show up can they leave?”

Getting teams that want to play, though, has never been a problem. This year’s field — which ranges from 12-year-olds to 18-year-olds — includes 400 teams (up from 286 in 2009) and uses 72 courts. The inaugural Presidents Cup had 88 teams and used 14 courts.

“We never in our wildest dreams thought it would grow this big and this fast,” Garcia said. “We have close to 12 states involved and that doesn’t include teams from Canada.”

About 60 teams were turned away. Garcia said not enough buildings in the Dayton area were found to house all 400 teams, so the club level division was moved to Columbus. The open level teams will compete at various places around Dayton and is expected to bring about 10,000 people to the city.

Among them are coaches and scouts from some of college volleyball’s top programs. Reps from three-time defending national champion Penn State and national semifinalist Minnesota attended last year, as did Michigan, Stanford, Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame and Kentucky.

“That tells you how good the event is and the quality of the players who are there,” Garcia said. “That to me is important because that gives players an opportunity (to be recruited).”

The City of Dayton, the Ohio Valley Region (this area’s association of USA Volleyball), about 150 officials and a minimum 260 parents and volunteers also help make the Presidents Cup a possibility, Garcia said.

“The only reason we are pulling this off is because the assistance of the parents and the fan base,” he said, calling it volleyball’s version of basketball’s Flyin’ to the Hoop.

Volleyball Central

What: Presidents Cup junior volleyball tournament

When: Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 13-14

Where: Dayton Convention Center, University of Dayton’s Frericks Center, South Metro, The Miami Valley School, Trent Arena, Columbus Convention Center

Web site: www.daytonjuniors.org

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