U OK? Volleyball Club Palatine, IL / Chicago, IL
U OK? Men's B team a maybe for 2004-2005
I'm pondering a men's B team for 2004-05 that won't have regular weekly practices or gym rental, but might hit RecPlexx in Mt Prospect periodically to get our S together, or scavenge gym time off other clubs-- let me know if you are interested. Or alternatively, if you have an existing team and you need a solid-passing outside hitter on your USAV men's B squad, let me know too!
About the U OK? Volleyball Club
The U OK? Volleyball Club is essentially no more than a memory, for now. Basically, I got busy with music stuff and deprioritized volleyball for a couple of years, and other quite capable folks took up the torch and formed other, stronger clubs like the Scott/Jen Behrendt's Axis VBC and Rob/Erika Vlasaks' CAVBC, and Scott Ross's Salvo team. Back in the early 00's, we used to have a really great bunch of adult teams that competed in USA Volleyball Great Lakes Region (Chicago, northern IL) sanctioned tournaments from December-May each year:
Adult Men's teams of the past included:
- U OK? West - Men's A - Captain: Scott Behrendt. Finished 2nd in 2001 GLR Regionals, took 2nd place in Copper division at nationals in 2000-01. Practiced weekly with U OK? Jimmy's Charhouse in 01-02. Merged somewhat with Free Ball In, and moved up to A for 2002-03. A BB incarnation of U OK? West was formed for 02-03, which perhaps became Home by Four? I lost track.
- U OK? Does It Hurt? - Men's B - Captain: Todd Haverkos (former team rep for U OK? Palatine). Competitive B team that will also play BB tournaments in 2002-03. Headed to nationals. Does not practice weekly.
- Salvo (formerly U OK? Jimmy's Charhouse, formerly U OK? Palatine) - Men's BB - Captain: Scott Ross. Finished 3rd in 2000-2001 Regionals, qualified for gold division at nationals. Practiced weekly with U OK? West on Wednesdays in Bensenville last year. This team has been dissolved and reformed under the banner of Salvo. Scott keeps threatening retirement from the game, but always gets lured back in somehow!
- Barenaked Ladies - Women's BB - Captain: Deb Marusich, Team Rep: Jen Behrendt. Finished 9th in Women's BB regionally, qualified for Gold division in USAV nationals. Practiced Wednesdays in Bensenville last year. BNL has formed their own club and secured the very handy 501c3 not-for-profit corporation status which should set them up very very nicely to do some fundraising.
These are teams either led by U OK? alumni or implicated via U OK? spouses. Folks with whom we were seen imbiding in libations in Dallas 2001-2002...
- Chicago Athletic Volleyball Club - TEAIM (Paul Mourraille), Havoc (Rob Vlasak), North Shore Brats (Erika Vlasak). This club has since grown like a hearty weed, and in 2003-04 had something like 6 teams or more!
- DRSP II - men's BB led by Pedro Arturo Jose Rodriguez. In 2003-04, was clubbed with Axis VBC with Bare Naked Ladies, Home by 4 (Harnist),
- Rabid Pandas (RPR) - women's BB, fans of Rah Carter who has left us for Arizona....
U OK? Volleyball Club was founded by Scott Ross and Todd Haverkos during the 1997-98 season as a single-team volleyball club based in the west and northwest suburbs of Chicago Illinois. This men's team played in the Great Lakes Region of USA Volleyball.
In fall of 1999, the club was expanded to two teams with the addition of Rob Vlasak's men's B team U OK? Eastside. U OK? Palatine attended its first nationals in men's BB in Columbus in May of 2000.
In fall of 2000, a third team (Men's BB) was formed by Scott Behrendt, and Barenaked Ladies (Women's BB) was formed by Jen Ziehm and Deb Marusich. Later that season, a 4th team (Men's BB) led by Sean Gritzman spun off of U OK? Eastside. Most attended Milwaukee nationals that year.
In 2001-02 (the year of Dallas nationals), Rob split off and formed CAVBC with wife Erika and others, and I believe we had Scott Behrendt, Scott Ross, and Bare Naked Ladies sharing weekly practice space in Bensenville and the fundraising benefits of an inherited 501c3 from the Arlington Heights Volleyball Club. Todd's B team played in non-practice mode outside of the corporation.
In 2002-03 (the year of Minneapolis Nationals), U OK? officially consisted of Todd's B team and Scott Ross's BB Jimmy's Charhouse team, but only the region office knew about it on paper. No shared funds or practices of any sort.
In 2003-04, I didn't not register a team and spent the year learning Badminton, and playing a whole lot of gigs with his band. 8-) But I've got about 80 really nice U OK? Volleyball jerseys in my spare bedroom....
So pretty much, the adult vb scene in Great Lakes is poluted with past U OK? folks, so it's always fun attending tournaments and catching up with folks!
Individual Year Club Pages with team records, rosters, tournament schedules:
- U OK? 2000-2001
- Check out our pictures from nationals in May 2000 in Columbus!
- U OK? 1999-2000 (last year) tournament schedule, results, photos
UOK Club Goals
U OK?'s goals for 2001-2002 were (the last year we had any goals!):
- Facilitiate a Pat Powers advanced men's adult volleyball clinic in Sept. 2001.
- Continue our 2-team group in the Northwest Suburbs that practices weekly, starting in the late November/early December timeframe.
- Recruit fun, relaxed, team-oriented, yet solid teammates
- Finish strongly (out of pool) in weekend tournaments twice a month.
- Attend this year's USA Volleyball Open National tournament in Dallas TX May 26 - June 1, 2002. Men's BB/B play May 29-June 1, 2002.
- Host sanctioned tournaments to help defray our expenses
Other Information
Copyright 1998,1999, 2000, 2004 tdh@vbref.org. Duplication of this content is expressly prohibited without written consent of the author.
This page last updated: