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INDOOR VOLLEYBALL July 21 – July 25, 2016


BEACH VOLLEYBALL July 26 – July 31, 2016


Greensboro, NC


J U N I O R J O U R N A L Spiking with the stars After an inspiring holiday camp playing alongside the U.S.


Women’s National Team, our new juniors’ columnist is more driven than ever to play each ball like it’s match point by Kendall Kipp


The National Sports Festival for Adult Athletes


• 24 Sports • Opening & Closing Ceremonies • World Class Venues • Health & Fitness Expo • Games Village • Daily Entertainment and Social Activities


For information and to register visit USAmastersgames.com


HI! MY NAME IS KENDALL KIPP. I AM 15 years old, and I’m a freshman at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California. I play middle blocker for Mo- mentous Volleyball Club. This is my fi rst blog for the magazine,


and I’ll be sharing my thoughts with you every issue. I’ll be talking about the game and what I’ve learned from my coaches or my teammates and how I feel about practice, tour- naments, wins, losses and, in general, life as a volleyball player. This past December,


I was fortunate enough to participate in the USA Volleyball National Team Prospects Training Block. This is an annual program (formerly the High Performance Holiday Camp), and it’s usually held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. This year, however, the location was changed. The training block was held at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, California. The U.S. Women’s National Team had not yet qualifi ed for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, so they were all train- ing hard at the ASC before traveling to the NORCECA Olympic qualifi er. (They won that tournament in January and earned their Olympic berth.) The USA Volleyball HP staff scheduled the training so we could train alongside them. Every day, we had a morning, afternoon


and night session, each about two to three hours. The fi rst two days were training days; we split up into position groups and worked on all skills. The third day served as a tryout. We were placed on teams of six or seven players. There were six possible teams: red, white, blue, gold, silver or bronze. Once we practiced playing with our teams, we began the tournament. Between practice sessions, we had time


to watch the national team train. It was amazing to see the best volleyball players in the country playing together in the same gym. It was even more amazing to realize


that we were practicing in the same gym as them, training with the same system. As I watched them play, I realized what


makes them so good. Aside from long, hard hours spent training on and off the court, national team players set themselves apart with their determined attitudes. I didn’t see one player let a ball drop with- out sprinting after it and diving fi rst. I realized that if you give 110 percent toward every contact, you can make plays that you’d never expect to make. Not only were all of


the U.S. athletes incred- ible volleyball players, they were super nice too. Every chance they had, they would come over and talk to us and answer our questions. One question we asked was what advice they would give to their 15-year-old selves. The answer that stuck with me


most was, “Don’t overreact to every little thing.” One point, one game or one tourna- ment that you lose might seem like the end of the world, but it won’t matter in a few years. It’s reassuring to know that the best players in the country were once making the same mistakes that we do. Yes, it’s important to always give it your all, and it’s okay to be upset when you lose – but don’t let it get you down. Stacy Sykora, the former U.S. libero who


played in three Olympics and was one of the High Performance coaches at our training block, gave great advice as well. She empha- sized how important it is to not take a single rep for granted. Every play matters equally, whether it’s just a practice or you’re at the Olympics playing for the gold. After Stacy talked to us about focusing on the simple techniques every time we touch the ball, the level of play in the gym drastically increased. My play improved signifi cantly, too. Not


only did I grow physically in performing the skills, I also grew mentally. I learned a new mentality. From this day forward, I’ll be making every single rep count with 110 percent effort. If you want to be your best, you have to play like the best.


26 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at usavolleyball.org/mag


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