Waking up
at 4am on a Friday is not my idea of fun but I was so focused on the tryout for
the USA Women’s Junior National Volleyball Team that sleep deprivation was the
least of my concerns. I arrived in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center
early in the afternoon of Friday, February 22rd and two hours later
I began the first part of the tryout. Actually two tryouts were going on
simultaneously, one for the Junior National Team (WJNT) and the other an open
tryout for the National Team (WNT). We started by playing 6 on 6 wave drills. Although
doing the same drill for two and a half hours can seem daunting and
repetitious, the level of play was fast paced and extremely competitive. Since
I haven’t played since September 1st, it was exciting to play with
athletes who understand what it means to compete at a high level.
The second
day began with physical testing. This included a one-meter sprint, standing
reach, block touch, agility test, height, arm speed, and attack contact height.
The interesting thing about all of the physical testing was that all the
measurements were done electronically and many were recorded on camera to be
reviewed later. At our second practice we learned the USA Volleyball blocking system
that involves a split step and intense focus on reading the setter. Then after
a short break those trying out for the JNT played timed matches with different teams.
Even though I was just playing with college freshman and younger the level of
play was still so high it felt so good to be playing.
On the
final morning we were divided into teams. We played a mini tournament (my team
won all three of our games). It was a great experience and I hope to bring back
a high level of play to Leede Arena this spring. The hardest part at the end
wasn’t the physical and mental exhaustion but trying to return to college. Mother
nature has a way of intervening in travel plans and my trip back to Hanover,
never an easy place to get to under normal circumstances, was stopped dead in
its tracks. A big snowstorm in Denver and the surrounding area caused the
cancelation of many flights, including mine. I would have been stuck in at the
airport in Colorado until Tuesday if my dad hadn’t been there to drive me home
to NM so that I could travel from Albuquerque where the sky is almost always
blue.
Observations:
-
the majority of the players at the tryout were
6’ and above, the tallest player being 6’9.5” and the highest reach 11”
-
some schools send a large number of their
players to the tryout and they travel in packs and some schools like Texas and
Penn State send none at all
-
the Olympic Training Center has an awesome
dining hall where we all ate more than 3 meals a day
-
in the end it doesn’t matter how old someone is
or what school they come from, just that they are playing their best not only
for themselves but especially for the 5 other people on the court and above all
USA
