Testimonials

Hey there Francis!
just wanted to let you know how awesome you are. I mean you probably already know that i love you and you are an amazing coach, but i wanted you to have it in writing (it’s more official this way). It was a great experience having you as a coach (and my first coach at that). i learned everything i know today about footwork from you which is quite an accomplishment. It was a great experience playing for you and i hope that everyone really interested in becoming the best player they can be learns it from you. You can do wonders with someone who has bad habits or who doesn’t know how to take an approach or who doesn’t swing there arms or who doesn’t set with their right foot forward and ect. I have never once had bad footwork since i was on your team those many years ago.
For anyone who is reading this trying to figure out if training with Francis would be a smart decision… take it from me and the rest of the people who have felt strongly enough to write up a testimonial…. it is worth every second. No matter what you are interested in, no matter what you need to work on, Francis will help “fix” you so to say. Francis will never in a million years be satisfied with second best. He always strives to make everyone the best player out there. I even remember at tournaments when he would go up to someone from a different team and be like ” you are using the wrong footwork make sure you do it like this” and then he would go through the process of teaching them how to do it right. He, like I said before, is willing to teach everyone, as long as they are willing to be taught.
Love ya Francis,

Carolyn Kleinberger

River Hill -Setter

11-24-09

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Francis

It has been such a delight for me as a mom to see Colette love playing a sport, growing in skill through discipline and using her natural God given abilities. She learned so much at your setters clinic this summer and wants to do the hitters clinic this next one. As she has played for her school and is  presently playing rec. volleyball it is delightful to see how much she has grown from one year ago.

Thank you personally for the way you have encouraged her and challenged her. When I heard two other coaches were probably going to be coaching 13’s this year for club volleyball I have to admit I was disappointed, although I am confident that all the MVSA coaches are excellent. I so appreciate your coaching manner; always challenging the girls to push themselves and discipline themselves, but I have never seen you harsh or out of place. I do hope Colette will be under your instruction for the clinics offered to those 13 and older during this upcoming season. She really loves the game of volleyball. Thank you for your encouragement in that!

Sincerely,

Tamara K

Covenant Life Parent

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Hey Francis!  I haven’t talked to you in so long, just wanted to drop a line.  I know you ran into my parents sometime in April or something and they told you about how bummed I was that it didn’t look like I was gonna be playing in college but guess what, I’m not playing for GW!  It was weird, shortly after my parents talked to you, GW offered me the walk on spot for their team and I’m playing here now.  It’s so awesome, we’re 5-2 right now with our only losses being to Penn State and Georgetown.  I got to play for the first time last night after delaware state, it was really cool!  I only went in for a little, and I don’t usually get to play, but I’m not too worried about it, I mean I am only a freshman.  Practices are really rough but it’s so much and I’m so blessed to have made it this far in my volleyball career.  Anyway, I just wanted to email you to let you know how things are going and to thank you so much for helping me get to where I am now.  You made me love volleyball and you taught me the fundamentals that got me playing D1 volleyball.  Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how things are going and thank you so much for everything.  Take care!

–Anna I

Walter Johnson HS

Defensive Specialist, George Washington University

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Francis,

First let me thank you so much for taking an interest in Molly and helping her progress as a player over the last three years. Your interest was a real plus in her learning how to do things the right way, and applying good techniques in her play. She was offered a position on the volleyball team at Goucher College , Division III, but has decided to go to Towson instead. This decision was prompted by academics, versus athletics but is the right choice for her. I would have loved to see her play and grow as a player in college, but time will tell whether she will pursue a walk-on status or just play club at Towson . In any case, I owe you a debt of gratitude for being a fine person and for helping along the way. I am very grateful.

I have Maggie now coming up and I want to get her started on the right path to playing at a younger age than Molly. She has an interest in volleyball and is surprisingly good,  but physically isn’t ready yet. She’s only 8, but a small 8 compared to her sister at the same age. I suspect she will be as tall and perhaps even more competitive than Molly. I would like to start Maggie in a fundamentals class in the Fall after she is 9. I’d like to start her with you at that time. Can you tell me what you’ll have offered then? Kim got a flyer for a combined parent and child session but we both think it’s too early for her. We’re enrolling her in a sports camp this summer through the Rec. Department which gives her exposure to many different sports. That combined with swimming lessons, and vacation will take her through the summer.

She may even be a candidate for MVSA at some point, but that’s down the road. In any case, let me know what you recommend.

Thanks again for all your help and interest. It’s been a pleasure working with you.

Best Wishes,

Tom H

Damascus HS Parent

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Hi! This is me, Chelsea  writing to tell you that… ME AND JEN MADE JV VOLLEYBALL AT RHHS!!!!!!!!! yay! and Jen is one of the two captains on our team! Yay again! Our first game is on Tuesday (the 13) and it’s away and then we have one on the 15th that is a home game. We haven’t gotten our schedule yet so that’s all we know. Me and Jen are pretty sure we’re on the A team, but we’re doing this weird thing this year where there’s a LOT of subbing going on so most people play every game…I’d rather there was an A team and a B team, but whatever, doesn’t matter as long as I am SETTER!!!! yay! Well, i have a BUNCH of homework ahead of me (btw Jen will most likely be outside hitter…) so I should go…thanks soooooo much for teaching us technique! It’s all cuz of you that we’re on the team! We had this idea to take our pictures in the shirt we got from your camp and be pointing to it and saying “this is what got us on…JV VOLLEYBALL” and then have a picture of us giving thumbs up and saying “THANKS!” but jen kept forgetting to bring her shirt and then the one day she brought it, she lent it to someone on cross country who forgot a shirt to practice in.so we did it in our uniforms, which is pretty much just as good! Thanks again! I’ll email you again when we get our schedule! Bye!

Chelsea V

Glenelg Senior

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FRANCIS!!!

Hi! I’m so sorry that I am e-mailing you back so late, but I have been soo busy lately. Anyway, about volleyball, I made JV! I’m so excited for this season! Just a couple days ago, my coach named my friend, Sara, and I captains. HOORAY! I’ve been working a lot on my approach (eh), but I’m still having trouble executing it in a game situation. Speaking of games, out first is on Wednesday, September 7, 2005, at 6:00 PM at Gaithersburg, against Poolesville. You should come! I don’t have my entire schedule yet, but when I do I’ll e-mail you. Oh, and good news! I have improved tremendously on my over-hand serve! I used to rotate into front-row as an outside hitter, and then rotate out for back row, but after watching me my coach decided to let me stay in to serve! YAY! Thank you so much for your help this summer, I know I benefited a LOT.

Hope to see you at the game,
Mary S

Freshman,  Gaithersburg HS

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Connie and I wanted to thank you again for your time and help with Morgan. Your help certainly showed with those 2 out on the court. We tell everyone about you and how you helped these girls.  Let us know when you get back from Michigan and let’s have a celebration dinner!

Tony H

Walter Johnson HS Parent

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Hi Francis,

Again, many thanks for coming to Alexandria and giving our volleyball players the benefit of your sage expertise!

If you have a copy of the “camp photo” with our players I’d like to email it out to the listserve I made with the camp participants.  I’d also like to send it to the local papers and our city rec department just to keep everyone informed on the clubs growth.  I also want to encourage the players to contact you directly for future training suggestions etc.

Have a great weekend!!

Cheers,

Ripley

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Francis,

Just a note of thanks for coming out to help our team this past week.
The video analysis definitely gave us a lot of stuff to work on, and
hopefully the girls will practice at home, in addition to the work we’ll
be doing at practice.

I believe there are a few coaches who are interested in this for their
girls.  The larger man who was observing last night, David McCandles,
coaches a 13 year old team.  He said he’d like to get you out to work
with his girls.  My assistant coach’s father, Hernan Vera, coaches a 16
year old team.  I believe he is interested in it as well.  I will pass
your information to them, as well as the rest of the coaches in our
organization.

We all really enjoyed having you work with the team.  Best of luck to
you for the remainer of the season.  I am sure we will see you at a
couple of the upcoming tournaments.

Thanks again.
Shelly F
NVVA Coach 15

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Hey Coach Cornejo,
I made the THS volleyball team and finally got my
overhand serve!!!!!  Thank you so much for putting all
that time and effort into helping me with my
volleyball skills….it really paid off.  I started
out the season as a setter but then i realized i liked
playing backrow way better….we cant do the rockville
volleyball but if you do any camps in frederick let us
know!

Have a great day
sarah s

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Hi coach francis

This is my first year doing volleyball camp,and i thought it was a great week! its tiring someitmes, but I noticed that i have outgrown my old habits, and developed new habits (especially on my hitting). Thanks for a great week!

Adrien C
Mary of Nazareth School

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hey coach!
what’s up, coach? its adina and heres my email. there are just so many things that i need to work on! sometimes it just gets frustrating but i try
to keep it all in positive perspective. obviously my approach needs some work. everything from the footwork, to the arms, to the pivit, to the left arm- it needs to be practiced and worked on. i do understand where myerrors are and i do keep them in my mind to fix them. but i think that i need to take one thing at a time because its too overwhelming to get everything perfect at once. sometimes i worry about just getting the ball over the net that my form goes to the wayside. but i’ve noticed that that is happening less and less and better form is starting to show through.aside from form and technique, i need to work on my self- esteem. im not so confident of my volleyball abilites, and i definitely think that that’s a
huge disadvantage to me. i get really easily intimidated just by watching people that are better than i am, because i think, “gosh, i’ll never be that
good.” so i know to work on keeping my confidence and self-esteem up.if i can step onto the court a confident player, i really think that it will show and that good feeling alone will fix some of my careless errors. So i really have learned a lot from you. last summer i came to you with absolutely no experience. you taught me soooo much and i was able to have a great first season with my school’s team. now im back this summer and i am able to get really great tips and lessons from you and the other coaches. I really enjoy playing volleyball and i want to keep playing and get better.

Thanks for all you’ve taught me!
sincerely,
,
Adina F
JDS Freshman

Hi Coach,

I wanted to thank you again for the training. I think there were a lot of good ideas that we can start with. We will probably have to adjust for some of our athletes, but the best way to break out of the box is to have a good box to start with.

I was sincere when I invited you to come to one of our practices. I think it would be interesting for our athletes and for you as well. We practice at Hagerstown Community College. I’m attaching a copy of the schedule for your convenience. The college is very easy to find…… No change in direction, only a change in name. Hagerstown can be so weird that way!!! The college is at the 3rd light from Rt. 40, on the left (second light past the name change). Turn into the drive and take a left halfway down…….follow that road along the scenic route and you will come to the ARCC center after you pass a bunch of parking areas……it is on the left after the curve in the road. Find a parking place and come on in. Just let the receptionist (if there is one) know that you are with the Special Olympics and she will let you pass.

Thank you for all the great ideas and we hope to see you sometime this summer.

Jo Anne H
Senior Service Coordinator
Service Coordination

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Hi Coach Francis,

Just wanted to let you how much my daughter Sydni enjoyed the camp this past week in Rockville. Of all the volleyball camps she attended this summer, she said that yours was by far her favorite. Next summer we will definitely put your camps at the top of our list.

Take care,

The Ward

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Hi Coach –

Just wanted to let you know that Selia made the Varsity team at Northwest!  She is VERY excited.  We are sure that she wouldn’t have made it if she hadn’t worked so hard with you, and you with her!

Thanks for your help and we will see you again at future clinics!

Dale Cassidy  9/20/09