NOTEBOOK Q Ask the Olympians
“Did you do other sports growing up and if so do you think it helped or hurt your volleyball development?
— Craig Andrew KEVIN BARNETT
2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team
“I played a variety of sports growing up. I played football, ran track and did diving in junior high school. In high school I was a diver and swimmer before moving to volleyball dur- ing my senior year. The only reason I ended up playing volleyball was because I tried a variety of sports. Even as a high school athlete you don’t always know where your true talents lie. Without taking the opportunity to explore a variety of sporting options you may never discover your “best” sport. The defi nition of “best” could vary widely. It could be the sport in which you possess the most skill and ability. It could be the sport you most enjoy playing. Even players at a college or professional level do not always end up in the sport that they have the most skills. There are many baseball players that had great football potential. Or basketball players that had football potential. (Charlie Ward) Sometimes athletes choose the sport they most enjoy playing no matter the level.”
SARAH NORIEGA SULENTOR 2000 U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team
“I played basketball for two years in high school. Physically I wasn’t able to handle the dual sport (also played club volleyball during basketball season) so I chose volleyball.”
TAMARI MIYASHIRO 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team silver medalist
“I played baseball, basketball and soccer and started volleyball last. I believe at a young age kids should play as many sports as they want. Playing other sports helped me with volleyball in many ways. Of course the best transfer is playing volleyball, but there are similar movements in these other sports that can directly correlate to volleyball. I think part of growing up is fi nding what you enjoy and going from there. I tell my parents it’s a good thing they put me in baseball because that’s when I found out I truly loved volleyball.”
16 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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