Dear Core Values Families,

Our season is officially over and I wanted to take a moment to personally thank all of you for your time and commitment to Core Values, whether this was your first year or your sixth. I know that since the beginning of COVID in March 2020 things have been very rough at times. The players, the parents, and the coaches of Core Values all felt the physical and emotional impacts of the stop-and-go season full of unpredictable and endless changes. I applaud all of you that made it this far! I know this email seems long at first glance, but there is some extremely important information below, so please keep reading.

When I started Core Values in 2014, I never imagined that we would ever grow past one or two teams, yet we have experienced 40-60% growth year-over-year! I started Core Values to “pay it forward” to young athletes and their families in hopes to give them the same opportunities I was once given. I wanted to be able to teach young kids that confidence, discipline, and determination can change their lives and that we should always give more than we take in this world. I never wanted anything in return for giving kids the opportunity to play volleyball, and I didn’t even collect a paycheck the first three years we operated. What I have received in return over the years is worth so much more than money. Knowing that good people do still exist in what can be an ugly, ugly world sometimes is invaluable.

Since 2014 we have had over 200 kids join our little club and summer programs and they’ve done some amazing things. Let’s start with the important stuff outside of the gym. We’ve donated over $8,000 in supplies to local homeless organizations, helped raise over $10,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, sent over 2000 Christmas cards and 50 care packages to our Troops overseas, plus held book drives, fed the homeless, built dog houses for the Denver Animal Shelter and distributed over 1000 recycled rope toys to different animal shelters across the metro area. We’ve also given back over $50,000 directly to our Core families in the form of fundraisers and scholarships over the years. On the court, our little club went from only playing in local AAU events, to dominating AAU in Colorado in just under two years. Then we moved to USAV and have had some amazing results in the last 4 years. Specifically getting to watch as our “flagship team” climbed from the bottom of the RMR in 2016 to ending 2020 as a top 10 team before COVID hit. Even though all our teams faced a lot of challenges this year with injuries, quarantines, and other changes, this season every one of our teams had at least one 1st place finish at a tournament! Our 18’s team broke more club records and placed 3rd at the RMR Showdown, 1st at the RMR Classic and 17th at Colorado Crossroads. And our small, but awesome, 13’s team finished ranked 13th in the RMR overall and constantly battled strong teams all year long.

Despite constant adversity, the growth on all our teams was tremendous this year and I cannot express just how proud I am of all our athletes. So, it is with mixed emotions that I write this email today. I have literally invested more than half of my life in the sport of volleyball, but the time has come for me to say goodbye.  In 19 years of coaching, I feel like I have had a small hand in raising more than 1,000 kids that have come through my programs here at Core, the City of Golden, and the City of Aurora. Some I only had for a day, or a week-long camp, while others I’ve spent 8+ years as a part of their life. While I will never regret the choice to start coaching, and I will always cherish the memories I’ve made with “my kids” over the years, something has always been missing.  I have always put others’ kids and the programs ahead of my own life choices and goals, which includes being able to start a family of my own. So, as age has started to catch up to me, the time has come for me to say goodbye to Core Values VBC and to start focusing on my family and goals outside of the gym.

So, while this is goodbye for me, I have spent many years curating relationships in the volleyball community in hopes that one day I would find someone that I trusted enough to continue our vision. Three years ago, I found that person in Coach Brianna Smith. Brianna has been behind the scenes since her first day with Core making sure that we could keep things operating even in the toughest of times, and she has had glowing reviews from her players and parents about her coaching methods and connections she’s made over the years. So, I am confident and excited to announce that Brianna will be taking over Core Values VBC immediately for the 2021-2022 season and beyond.

I am also happy to share that Brianna will be transitioning the club to a non-profit organization so the club can provide even more opportunities and give back even more to the community than before! Additionally, Coach Brianna will be bringing back our summer programming and Core Values VBC will join the new Club Youth League. She is also working on a fantastic plan for the 2021-2022 club season to ensure our core values stay intact while offering your athletes even more fun and competitive opportunities. While I won’t be in the gym, I will be working closely with Brianna to make this transition as smooth as possible of the next couple of months. The Core website will remain the same, but contact information will be updated accordingly, so please add the following information to your contact lists for the club:

Brianna@corevaluesvbc.com

As my final contribution to Core Values concluded today, I felt the need to leave a little video as well. A couple of years ago I asked our Core athletes to write a letter to volleyball, I opted not to participate at that time, but it now feels like the time is right. You can see my video here if you're interested.

 I know that change can be hard, and this news is likely a shock to most of our Core Values family. Please know it was not an easy decision, and I spent many days and sleepless nights and lots of tears trying to figure out how to say goodbye. However, I found comfort in knowing that Coach Brianna truly believes in our vision and she is the kindest, most generous, and genuine person I have ever met. I know that if you will put your trust in her as you did me, Core Values VBC will continue to grow and change lives for many years to come.

With Love and Respect,

Cynthia Dang
Core Values VBC Founder