Congratulations to
Associate Club Director Scott Touzinsky,
winner of the Gold Medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing!
TESL (Team Elite St.
Louis) strives to field the
most competitive teams on a local, regional and national level. Our goal is
to be competitive nationally. We are dedicated to not only teaching the
great sport of volleyball to our young student athletes, but also to
building character, self esteem, teaching respect and learning life lessons
along the way. We strive to be recognized as one of the best-run clubs in
the country.
In just our
third season
our 171 team finished 5th in gold
regionals in 2009 and earned a bid to USAV naitonals in Miami.
And in our fourth season our 12s team finished fourth in gold regionals
in 2010 and earned a bid to USAV nationals in Reno.
In 2010 we fielded two teams in the 16 age group and placed both teams in
gold (3rd and 9th) at regionals.
We have established TESL as one of the elite clubs in the gateway region in
a short period of time. TESL is one of the fastest growing and competitive
clubs in the region. Our teams consistently place near the top in Gateway
Regionals and we've been growing at a near 100% clip per year in our
first four years.
TESL does not field teams just to have a team. Our goal is to be competitive
not just on a regional, but also on a national level.
Coaches for the 2010-2011 Season will be announced this fall.
10s: Ashley Kron, Laura Buck
11s: Brian
Williams, Colleen Hunter
12s: Kim Beelman
13s: Bob Rott, Mary Rott, Terry Kennedy
14s: Todd Gober (SIUE), Rechelle Huck
15s: Mark Stuckel, Ed Naeger, Marshall Moon
16s: Dale Woodson, DJ Woodson, Brian Cougenhour
17s: Todd Gober (SIUE)
17s: Aaron Young
Coaches for the
2009-2010 Season:
Girls 17s: Head Coach: Mark Stuckel Asst: Dale
Woodson, Marshall Moon
Girls 16s: Head Coach: Todd Gober (SIU-E)/Dale Woodson, Melissa Mueller
Girls 15s: Head Coach: Dale Woodson, Katie Bequette
Girls 14s: Head Coach: Ed
Naeger
Girls 13s: Head Coach: Rechelle Huck Asst: Steve Huck
Girls 12s: Head Coach:
Bob Rott Asst: Mary Rott Asst: Terry Kennedy
Girls 11s: Head Coach: Teri
Gallaher. Asst: Kim Beelman
Coed 10s: Head Coach: Ashley Kron.
Asst: Laura Buck
Practice coaches: Laura
Janosky, DJ Woodson
Director of strength
and conditioning: Scott Roberts, Sports Medicine and Training Center
We launched our club with the rollout of our girls’ 15U team for the 2006-2007 season. We enjoyed a successful inaugural campaign as the team finished 7th in gold at the Gateway Regional Championships, one game away from playing for a bid to nationals. In 2007 TESL fielded teams at 12's, 14's and 16's with our 161 team taking 6th in Gold Regionals, one set away from qualifying for nationals.
Founded by Dale Woodson and Scott Touzinsky, our leadership offers a unique combination of coaching and playing experience at a very high level. The goal for our teams is to compete at the national level.
Club director Dale Woodson: Dale’s teams traditionally are one of the best in the region and compete at the national level. Several of his players have been selected to USAV Youth and Junior National teams and have received Division I volleyball scholarships. He has coached 5 teams to JOVC nationals most recently TESL 171 team in 2009 in Miami and is IMPACT and CAP I level certified. Dale has 16 years of experience coaching volleyball including twelve years at the club level. He has coached boys 12's, 13's, 14's,15's, 16's, 17's and 18's at the club level in addition to girls club teams from 12's to 18's. Dale has also coached boys and girls teams at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (SMMA) parish since 1993. He has been the parochial volleyball coach at SMMA since 1999 and is entering his 5th year as the CYC Parochial league coordinator for the South County District. Dale has also served as at large director on the board of the Gateway Region. and asst. coach for the Fontbonne University's womens team.
Associate club director Scott Touzinsky won the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympic games and is currently playing professional volleyball in Instanbul, Turkey. Scott is a graduate of Vianney High School, where he was a four -year starter for the varsity. His high school career came to a close with an outstanding senior year, leading the Griffins to a fourth consecutive State Championship. In the spring of 2000, Scott was featured in Sports Illustrated as the Old Spice Athlete of the Month.
Scott went on to attend Long Beach State on a four year scholarship earning the MPSF conference Freshman of the Year award. In 2004, his senior season, he was an AVCA First Team All-American and NCAA First Team All Tournament player. In 2004, Scott became just the third player in NCAA Division I-II history to score 40 kills in a single rally-scoring match. Scott still holds the record at Long Beach State for Services Aces(158), Service Aces in a Single Match (9), Service Ace Percentage (.365) and ranks third overall with 1,642 kills.
After Long Beach State, Scott went on to play professional volleyball in Puerto Rico, Greece, Belgium, Spain and Slovenia. In 2007 he qualified for the United States National Team. Since then he has won the Gold Medal in the 2007 Continental Championship, the Gold Medal in the 2008 Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship and the Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He has one year of coaching experience leading The LBC Club 161 to a bronze medal in the 2002 Junior Olympics. He has run numerous volleyball camps the past 7 years in California, Nevada and Missouri: The past 2 years in Missouri he has run The Scott Touzinsky’s Elite Volleyball Camp.
Level of Competition
Our goal is to compete at the highest level locally, regionally and nationally and to qualify for the Junior Olympic National Championships.
Tryout Information
Please check the gateway tryout information page for specifics. Tryout registration fee is $10 for 10U - 14u and $15 for 15U - 18U. A parent’s signature is required for the region’s junior tryout form. Please contact us if you have a conflict and cannot make our tryout as we will make every effort to accommodate you if possible.
Fees
Teams may voluntarily participate in fundraising activities that can substantially lower the player's total expenses for the season. Each team’s budgets are kept separate and do not support any other team in the club. The club will suggest fund raiser ideas to help offset costs. The parents of each team will be responsible for any and all fund raisers for their respective team. In the last couple years, several teams have netted $4,000 - $8,000 dollars and more per team by participating in a fundraiser.
10's - $150 includes all costs for the season. Payment is due at commitment meeting. 10's season will start with practice in January and finish at the end of March. We will practice once a week, scrimmage other clubs' 10s teams and participate in one tourney - Gateway Region co-ed 10's. We will field two 10's teams. 10's teams are instructional/developmental.
Club Fees
An initial club fee assessment of $500 per player is due at the Club Registration Meeting (held Mon. or Tues. after tryouts). Expenses include: player, coach and chaperone USAV registrations, background screens, impact training, coaches monthly stipends, strength and conditioning training, administrative costs (postage, paper supplies, copies, web site, misc. etc.), and equipment (balls, ball carts, first aid kits, etc.). A second assessment is due at the end of January. For some teams after fundraising activities, this fee is either greatly reduced or eliminated. Fees vary with travel cost per individual teams.
Facility Fees
Covers the estimated cost of gym rental for team practices. 10's and 11's covers 1
practice per week. 12's - 18's covers 2 practices per week.
Uniform Fees
If you are a returning player from last season you will be able to use your
uniform from last season provided it is in acceptable condition and will
only be required to purchase the new pieces added this season. If you are
new to the club you will be required to purchase the full uniform package.
Tournament Fees
Each team's schedule is unique, therefore tournament fees will be divided
equally among participants on each team. During each team's individual team
meeting the coach will inform the players and parents of the tourney
schedule. All teams 12u and older are required to compete in gold/silver
seeding tourney, regionals, at least one qualifier or JVDA event and an end
of season national tournament. Tournament fees may range from $100 - $450
per player.
Items not covered:
If attending a tournament requiring overnight travel, lodging costs for
players is not included in club dues. Transportation to tournaments is not
included in club dues.
Coaches Travel Expenses: For out of town tournaments, players will be
expected to pay for their respective coaches' travel. All monies will be
collected prior to departure date for each tournament. Coaches travel fees
include but are not limited to airfare, ground transportation, fuel, parking
fees, car rental, and lodging costs.
Failure to pay monies due by due dates will result in player suspension from practices and tournament play. No uniform will be distributed to any player whose payments are delinquent. Please contact club director if unusual circumstances arise. Any returned check will result in a $25 fee plus all other bank fees. Once registrations are completed, no refund requests will be honored. If a player is released from a team or quits for any reason, no refunds will be honored. This is because we pay most expenses out in advance.
Commitment meeting date and time will be announced at the tryouts. Players and at least one parent must attend. At the meeting we will complete the USAV form, Parent Contracts, and uniform sizes will be taken. A social security number, immunization records and health insurance information are required for all USAV registrants.
