As of April 11, 2024

Dear 303 family and friends – I am writing to let everyone know that after 15 wonderful years, I have made the difficult decision that this will be the last season for the 303 Volleyball Academy.

This is a truly bittersweet moment, and I look back with great fondness at all of the kids and families who have come through our doors and let us be a part of their lives.  We always strived to maintain a balance between treating everyone with respect and teaching kids life lessons, while training at a high level, and to look for the potential in kids instead of looking at them as a finished product or commodity.  

I have decided to close the club due to numerous reasons which all came into alignment during this season, but rest assured it was an incredibly heart wrenching decision.  Many of you know that I have been pulled away from day-to-day activities at 303 given my position within my family’s restaurant business which requires significant travel.  

In addition, our lease is expiring this summer, and the market rate rent is drastically higher than what we are paying now - along with inflation, our desire to keep fees as low as we could, all while providing financial support to families in need, it became clear that the prudent fiscal decision was to bring an end our operations.

I fondly remember all of our purple gear (including spandex haha) from our early years before we switched to the Colorado state colors, all of the talent shows which probably caused more laughter than applause, the boys and girls team that played in Puerto Rico, winning an 18s USAV Qualifier and the Golden Ball in Omaha, as well as all of the girls’ and boys’ teams USAV bids, winning two boys’ USAV bids in one season, and all of the kids who went on to play in college; but even moreso, I am continually moved by all of our alumni who have become such good friends with each other, and come back to play every summer, and especially those who returned to coach and passed along the values so important to 303 – I can’t name them all because we have had so many, but I will point out Jimmy Aschenbrenner, Vy Tran, Ian Byrne, Madi Ferguson, Val Blake, Jurnee Farrell and Gracey Jarecke.  

It touches my heart to reflect on all of the parents who chose to have multiple children play at 303, and it’s why I will always think of 303 as a family.  I would like to think that we made a positive influence on our players’ lives, and if so, I am truly at peace with this decision.

I want to take the time to convey my gratitude to all of the staff from this season and seasons past; in particular, I need to thank Rachel Olson (who became the de factor director as well as overseeing Colorado Alliance), and Denny Bryan who became an interface for the staff and oversaw our youth programming.  The two of them have taken the reins over the last couple years while I’ve been out of the office and done an amazing job – I cannot put into words how much I appreciate both of you. 

I can never adequately thank all of our coaches who have graced us with their presence throughout our 15 years, but I do want to acknowledge Tracy Bell and Scott Martensen (who helped get 303 started), Al Ball and Kaitlin Dennehy who are the longest tenured current coaches along with Rachel and Denny. Scott Smith and all of our boys coaches who achieved amazing success in a short amount of time.  

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Ann Shih who was the matriarch of 303 for so many years, and spearheading the boys program which ultimately contributed to helping boys volleyball become a high school varsity sport in Colorado.

This was supposed to be short and sweet, but after 15 years, I guess I had more to say than I thought I would.  Thank you again for letting me and our staff be part of your families’ lives - it has been an honor and a privilege.

With deepest regard,

Erik