Rox Volleyball at AAU Nationals Session One
The Rox team spices up AAU Nationals with fun, music, dancing and Destinee Hooker!
It was that time of year again when Rox Volleyball joined forces with the 1st Place crew to jam pack two semis full of everything from colorful spandex to blow up palm trees (for our sweet Rox Beach set up)! Shana, our Warehouse Manager, played a mean game of Tetris trying to fit everything into the trucks!
Set-Up:
Then the semis’ doors came down and the guys were off, with Troy as their fearless leader, to the Orange County Convention Center for the AAU Nationals. The girls sat in the office with the cool A.C. and a beautiful view of Summer out the office windows, while the guys were wrestling with a bad case of the Mondays in the hot, dark convention center. After the heavy lifting was done the girls headed down to make the booth look like AAU’s own personal mini-mall filled with all your favorite Rox stuff. By 11 p.m. we finished up and headed to the room to catch a few quick hours of Z’s before heading back to the booth.
Wednesday:
The doors opened and anxious volleyball moms flew in the booth in the name of their daughters who lost their kneepads and forgot their shoes. By 10 a.m. Mel and I were tackling lines that were comparable to an opening night of a Justin Bieber tour. Puerto Rico was represented strong with a ton of great teams. Unfortunately our Spanish is limited to “Hola” and “Si”, which wasn’t too useful. Thankfully Rox Volleyball’s Puerto Rico rep was there to our rescue! And I learn one valuable thing I will carry with me throughout life: “Bolsa” is not a dance similar to the salsa, but actually a customer requesting a bag! Day 1 of AAU Nationals was coming to an end and the crew was exhausted. We headed off to enjoy a good meal then hit the sack.
Thursday:
Our alarm (aka Jaime) went off and we were ready to “rox and roll” by 6:30 a.m. But the day couldn’t start without a few Caramel Machiattos and Troy’s Latte with a dollop of whip, two pumps of caramel, one pump chocolate, and finally shaken not stirred. As soon as we opened BOGO spandex were flying through the air as excited players pulled them off the racks. But the only thing more colorful than those spandex were the teams wearing the Roxamation line. Rox sponsored teams such as Energy VBC were looking sharp in their lime green Boom and Carolina blue Absolute jerseys.
The end of the day was near and by this time word got out that USA National player, Destinee Hooker, would be flying in that evening to hang out in our booth for a few days with the girls. We closed up the booth and Troy and Jaime were off to the airport to scoop up Destinee and her dad (who doubles as her agent). Then it was off for some grub and bed.
Friday:
Today was the Day…DHook was in the house! Girls raided the Rox Volleyball DHook apparel and mini balls to get them signed by Rox endorsed athlete Destinee Hooker. Disney and AAU interviewed Destinee about how she got where she is and her encouraging messages to young athletes out there. Watch this interview here. Between signing autographs and hanging out with her fans, Destinee watched some of the Rox sponsored teams, like Altitude Volleyball, play and interact with the players.
1st Place Volleyball also announced their lucky $250 Shopping Spree winner, Adele Nader from Ohio, who bought her entire team tie die Destinee Hooker Tees signed by Destinee.
The end of the day was here and while Destinee was fighting a hand cramp from signing autographs all day, Mel and I were fighting a hand cramp from all the receipts we wrote.
Saturday:
Saturday: The last day of the 1st session was upon us. Danielle and Jaime stocked the shelves with whatever product we had left on the trucks. The Rox Basic Crew seemed to be a hit because the boxes and shelves were picked dry of them. As the day went by, the line grew longer waiting for Destinee’s return. When she arrived she challenged all the girls to a 3 p.m. dance-off. It was on!
The Rox and 1st Palce Booth was more hopping than a night at the Roxbury
(great movie by the way)! Destinee showed her Single Ladies dance moves while the players tried to show her up by beat boxing and dancing around…but nothing was a match for a three year old’s break dance moves. He won the whole dance contest! We will post these sweet moves on YouTube before you know it!
The day was over and that was a wrap to part one! Congratulations to Altitude’s 14Rox for taking silver! And congratulations to all the girls in the first half of the AAU Nationals! Look for images to come on the 1st Place Volleyball and Rox Flickr and Facebook accounts.
Filed In: Destinee Hooker | News
Posted by Courtney Davidson on June 24, 2011