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The Chisago Lakes Wildcats are excited to add Avery Bird to their coaching staff for 2024. “Avery came highly recommended for our program. We have no doubt that she’ll be a great addition to our staff and integral part of reaching our goals for the season!”

A note from Avery: “This is my first year coaching volleyball with Chisago Lakes High School and I am very excited to take on this role. I have been the Technology Support person and working at the high school since 2021. I absolutely love it! We have THE best students and staff and I look forward to every work day because of them. I grew up playing volleyball, fastpitch softball, basketball and hockey. I am very competitive and love playing and coaching team sports. I have over ten years of experience coaching soccer, baseball and fastpitch softball, it will be fun to add volleyball to that list. As a mom of five children who have made their way or are still making their way through the Chisago Lakes Schools, I am a huge Wildcat fan and look forward to leading, connecting, supporting and challenging our B squad players to have fun, build relationships and strive to be their best selves on and off the court. I live in Chisago City with my husband John and our four
youngest children; Sam(18), Ali(16), Lia(13) and Trevelle(8). Our oldest;
Max(20), moved out last fall and is living nearby in Stacy. As a family we
enjoy hunting, fishing, game nights and family movie nights. We have two
German Short-haired Pointers; Skeeter and Berkley, and a cat named
Senko.”

Coach Hannah says, “We’re very thankful Avery’s going to bring her skills in relationship building and mentoring and her competitive energy to our gym. 2024 is going to be a great one!”

Click here to say hi to Coach Avery!

Head Coach Hannah Lindstrom is excited to further introduce Coach Katie Spooner to the community. “Katie is an energetic, dynamic coach with extensive leadership experience to contribute to our program,” she says. “Her values of team building, high character, and athlete confidence and development are already evident on her court. Her devotion and love for the program and athletes is so strong. She’s a tremendous asset for us!”

This is Katie’s first year coaching volleyball with Chisago Lakes High School. While she’s new to this role, she is not new to the game. Katie grew up playing middle school, high school, and club volleyball. She’s passionate for the fast-paced sport and all the pieces that come with it- teamwork, grit, competition and positive energy. Katie joins us this year with a well-rounded background. She graduated from the University of MN in 2016 with a degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies, a minor in Sport Management and over 18 years of service with the MN Army National Guard. Her desire to lead and coach our youth by instilling dedication, commitment, and team mentality is unmatched. She is a local member of our community and resides in Chisago with her partner, Mark, two daughters, Addi (14) and Vera (9) and Murphy, their highly energetic Boston Terrier.

“We’re thankful for her leadership with the 9th grade teams and for her contributions to the varsity team,” Lindstrom says. “We’re thankful for her and believe she’ll have a long-lasting impact in our program’s success and ability to be competitive.”

Dear Players, Coaches, and Parents,

I hope you all have had a glorious start to the new year! I wanted to inform you all that I won’t be coaching for Chisago this fall. This is a decision I have wrestled with for months and was a challenging choice to make. I have cherished every moment spent in the gym, on the buses, at games, and all the times in between. I am so honored to have been a part of this wonderful program and will carry with me so great many memories! I will continue to cheer you on just from the stands, I’m your new biggest fan! Good luck this year, keep crushing it, and keep having fun! I will dearly miss all the huddles, practices, and laughs but you are in good hands 🙂 I’ll be seeing you around, go Wildcats!! 

With love, 

Kayla

We are excited to announce our 2022 volleyball captains!

The selection process is not easy. We follow the same process as many programs at CLHS and using recommendations from the Minnesota State High School League:

1. Each spring, all returning Varsity players and incoming seniors are emailed an application and an explanation of the process. They have two weeks to submit applications to our coaching staff including short essay questions, references, leadership experience, and ideas for the program.
2. The coaches review the applications, discuss our experiences with each applicant, reach out to references provided by the applicants, and ask the applicants follow-up questions when necessary. Then the coaching staff makes the captain selection based on athlete’s leadership experience, mentorship capabilities, work ethic in the gym, and other notable qualities. There is no voting by players. All applicants are notified if they are selected or not. All captains must apply each year, even if they were a captain the year before. They must agree to our Captain’s Expectations to accept the captainship position.
3. From there, the captains meet weekly with the coaching staff all summer to prepare for the 2022 season. They complete a leadership book study (this year its “Beyond Grit” by Cindra Kamphoff) and multiple planning tasks (apparel selection, social calendar, training, promotions, etc.). They also help write curriculum for our program this fall where they will lead weekly lessons based on our summer reading to help develop our program as a whole.
4. The captains also meet weekly with the coaching staff during the season for communication and connection to the team. They will continue planning events for the group, helping mentor and teach the younger girls, and representing the program to the community.

Our 2022 captains are as follows:

Abby Zins (Jr. OH): “I would like to be a captain because it would be so much fun to encourage and inspire other girls in the volleyball program. It also would be really cool to help plan events and team bonding activities. I would like to take a bigger role in the volleyball family by showing my commitment and leadership skills.”

Brianna Wille (Sr. DS/L): “Being in a leadership role is a goal of mine.  I believe in this school, this program, and the girls involved.  I want to show my commitment and dedication by supporting this program as a captain.  I would take the captain role very seriously and make sure I represent our team as a positive, strong, and supportive role model.  I believe that I can give the volleyball program what it needs. I can hype up players with my fun spunkiness but I also know when to buckle down and be serious when it is needed. I want the younger kids to watch me and learn that you can have a fun time at practice but balance that with focus, attention, and hard work.  I want my teammates to be able to come to me for support and know that I will be there for them.”

Julia Siefert (Sr. RH): “I want to be a captain because when I was an underclassman I was really inspired by the captains that I had, they pushed me to be a better player and to always try my best. I want to do the same for all of my teammates.”

Ella Weinzetl (Jr. S/RH): “I’ve always looked up to our captains. I would love the opportunity to be someone that the younger girls can look up to and go to talk about anything. I think that having a trustworthy captain can make the younger girls be much more comfortable with the upperclassmen. I want to set a good example for them and I would love to share knowledge with them and help them be the best version of themselves.”

The coaching staff is already pleased with our group of 2022 captains. “After losing 10 impactful seniors last year, there are many new opportunities for leadership in the program. We’re excited for our 2022 captains and the direction they will take us in!” says Coach Hannah. The captains have already been working hard this summer and have big plans for 2022.

See more about the expectations and requirements of captainship here.

Hello Chisago Lakes Volleyball families,

We’re very excited for our volleyball season to start! Here is some important information:

The fall registration & parent meeting will be VIRTUAL on Monday, August 8, 2022 from 6-7pm. Here is the link to join: meet.google.com/reu-rftp-neh. This is required for all players planning to tryout for the high school program and their parents.

Tryouts for the high school program (incoming 9-12th graders) will take place on Monday, August 15th and Tuesday, August 16th. Tryouts will take place from 8-11am AND 12-2pm each day. More tryout information can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C4MgERuqsfUwknxpsaj2eRQ5h_HwDQ05RSZgx4bzYLA/edit?usp=sharing. The remainder of the season schedule can be found here: https://chisagolakesvolleyball.com/calendar/. All athletes trying out should bring a water bottle, court/volleyball shoes, kneepads, and outdoor running shoes to tryouts.

All athletes trying out for the high school program MUST be registered by 8am on Monday, August 15th. Complete your registration here: https://1993a.cf.wordwareinc.com/?p=2143.

All athletes trying out for the high school program MUST have a current sports physical by 8am on Monday, August 15th. This is a common issue for our incoming 10th graders, as their last physical was in 7th grade and they are current for 3 years. There are many options to have your sports physical completed, but here is a common free resource in our area: https://tcomn.com/SportsPhysicals/?fbclid=IwAR1P8_8uGnERuU1iW2Y2DlUuhcmYUCTYJaUmEgrZVnIpRIfdHgcxJhvPpO0.

Please reach out with further questions.

Go Wildcats!
-Coach Hannah

Hello, Wildcat volleyball families and fans!

Our online apparel stores is open starting Thursday, July 7 and will close at 11:59pm on Wednesday, July 12, 2022.

I know it’s early- but if we don’t order these items this early, they don’t arrive in time for the season. We will open the online store once more in the fall but those items will likely not arrive until after the season is over. If you purchase volleyball apparel but then are not a part of our program this fall, we are typically able to offer a buy-back solution where the program purchases new, non-personalized apparel for future use.

Here is the link to view and order: https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/clvb2022

We love when our athletes are as uniformed as possible in class, on the bus, in the stands, and in the gym. We ask that all 2022 high school volleyball players purchase the following items, chosen by our captains:

White T-Shirt
-BSN SPORTS Phenom Short Sleeve T-Shirt in white
OR
-Nike Legend Short Sleeve T-Shirt in white

White Sweatshirt
-BSN SPORTS Men’s Cotton Rich Fleece Hoodie in white
OR
-Nike Club Pullover Fleece Hoodie in white

Gray Sweatpants
-BSN SPORTS Men’s Cotton Rich Fleece Joggers in gray
OR
-Nike Club Fleece Pant in gray

We’ve added many more youth and adult fan apparel options this year and really have something for everyone! Please share our store with as many as you can!

Please reach out if you have any questions.
Go Wildcats!
-Coach Hannah