NOTEBOOK The conversation Ben Patch
Rising young opposite helps U.S. Men’s Junior National Volleyball Team earn NORCECA title after learning the game with rare desire The team not only won the NORCECA title,
B
en Patch wanted to play volleyball really bad when he was 13 years old after see- ing his cousin spike at a family picnic. Problem was that there was no high school or boys’ club volleyball in Provo, Utah, where Patch lived. So he pleaded with girls’ team coaches to let him practice, signed up for city and church leagues, attended clinics and camps, and became a gym rat in a state that did not breed boys’ volleyball players. So when Patch
helped the U.S. Men’s Junior National Vol- leyball Team to the 2012 NORCECA Men’s Junior (U-21) Continental Cham- pionship gold medal with a victory over Canada in Colorado Springs on Sept. 1 and was named the tournament’s most valuable player, it was a sweet reward for keeping a passion burning against the odds.
Patch, 6-8, began his freshman year at Brigham Young University (they most defi nitely have men’s college volleyball in Utah) in September and is projected to make a huge impact on the collegiate and international volley-
because the team developed strong chemistry right from the beginning. Some new guys who weren’t on the youth team last summer blended in quickly and there was a trust de- veloped on the court that you could feel in our play. The coaches did a fantastic job.
but qualifi ed for the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Junior World Championship. Are you looking forward to the trip?
It seems like it is one tournament to the next, but once the fi nal point dropped against Canada the players were already talking about keeping this team together for Turkey in 2013. It’s very competitive in these pipeline programs because everybody wants to be here.
What’s the dynamic of playing with guys on the National Team level and know- ing you will be going at each other in college?
Even when we are training together we are doing some trash talking, so playing against these guys in college won’t be much dif- ferent. It will be a lot of fun but nobody wants to let the other guy get the upper hand.
How closely did you follow the U.S. Olympic Men’s Vol- leyball Team in London?
The Olympics were going on when we were in Colorado Springs so we watched all the time.
Do you have a favorite player you pattern your game from off the men’s team?
PATCH WORK: Ben Patch (9) celebrates a big point with teammate Matt West. Patch is currently a freshman opposite at Brigham Young University.
ball landscape for the next several years as an emerging opposite hitter. The 18-year-old is challenging himself with a business and pre-med curriculum. He wants school to be a challenge as well.
VolleyballUSA: What was it like training and playing in Colorado Springs for the NORCECA event?
Patch: I mean right from the get go we were going after it. On day one there was lots of intense, hard work where we were pushing our bodies and mental endurance every single moment. It was really a cool experience
The team went 5-0 and you racked up some
great stats in the event in Colorado Springs, but were you still surprised by being named the MVP of the tournament despite such a consis- tent performance?
I don’t know if I deserved it because it was such a team effort. There is no way one person can look good without everyone else doing their jobs. The passers have to pass, the setters have to set for hitters to look good. Micah Christenson was putting the ball in such a great location every time, it was hard not to put balls away. He probably deserved the MVP.
12 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
I mean Clay Stanley of course is world renown and he plays my position so I love watching him. He just takes these amazing swings hitting high and deep over the block. Sometimes on the court I am thinking about those swings and trying to
copy some of the things he does.
Can you envision yourself playing at the next stage of international competition? Everyone’s dream is to be at the highest level and being in the feeder system you’re only a few teams away. I’d love to play in the Olympics for my country and it’s something I am striving for. When you’re this close to just needing to make a few more teams, it seems like you can taste it, but you never get there if you stop working your hardest and stop think- ing about getting better.
PHOTO: USA VOLLEYBALL
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