(May 23, 2002)

Minnesota Chill Honored in the
United States House Of Representatives

OAKBROOK TERRACE IL (May 23, 2002) The Minnesota Chill, the 2002 United States Professional Volleyball (USPV) Champions, was honored earlier this week before the United States House Of Representatives in a special order by U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R, Minnesota).

Gutknecht addressed the entire House on Monday in a speech that was televised live on C-SPAN. Gutknecht, who performed an honorary coin flip prior to one the Chill's regular season matches, lauded not only the Chill for its championship victory over the Chicago Thunder, but the entire USPV as well for its fan friendly approach and outstanding rapport with young fans.

Here is the transcript of Gutknecht's special order:

I would like to pay a special tribute to some very special athletes and to an incredibly important entrepreneur. To paraphrase one of my favorite presidents, "those who say there are no more American heroes, well, they don't know where to look". For too long, there have been too few women athletes for girls to look up to.

A brave entrepreneur named Bill Kennedy decided to change all of that. He created the United States Professional Volleyball league. This was their inaugural season. They assembled some of the finest athletes and put together an exciting seasons. If you thought 30-foot vertical jumps were only for the NBA, you would be wrong.

Fans paid their respect by filling arenas and cheering to the top of their lungs. We are especially proud of head coach Tore Aleksandersen and general manager Kevin Ruetten and all the members of the Minnesota Chill. They won both the regular season and playoff championships. Rochester, Minnesota is proud to call them our home team.

Perhaps even better than seeing the Chill win the championship was to see the adulation in the eyes of young girls who came to cheer for their local heroes. We all need heroes and role models. We have been blessed to find a new group in the Chill and in the entire league. We saw little of the bad behavior which, has been so commonplace in modern
day sports. We were treated to spirited competition that parents would be proud to take
their children to. I have little doubt that the league will grow and prosper.

Again, I would like to congratulate all the members of the Minnesota Chill for their championship in this inaugural season. Thank you again to Bill Kennedy for giving us this new league and a wonderful group of new heroes.

[Source: Mike Miazga, Director of Media Relations, USPV, at (630) 575-8827]