USA High Performance Camp by Taylor Toms-Overn

This summer, I was invited to participate in the High Performance A2 Training and Invitational Team. This was my first year and I didn't know what to expect, but it was so amazing! (It was totally and completely exhausting, but still so amazing!!)  It was so cool to be able to play at that level with girls who eat, sleep and breathe volleyball, like me!

We had three practice sessions every day and one classroom session. I learned so much that I thought my brain was going to explode!  The coaches were all really awesome - some of them were really intense! 

In the A2 Program, we practiced for 5 days and then had a 2-day invitational tournament.  We lived on the college campus for the week and got to stay in dorms.  This was really fun, but also hard to be away from my family.  We were up by 6:30 almost every day to eat and go to our first practice at 8:00, and then we weren't finish with our last practice until about 10:00pm!  The beds weren't very comfortable, but I was so tired by the end of the day that I barely noticed!

Camp was a little intimidating at first.  All of the girls were so good!  I tried not to let it get to me, because I knew I have had some of the best coaching ever from my OJVA coaches and that they had prepared me to be able to keep up with any of them!  I started in the bottom group and by the end of the week I had earned a spot in the top group!  When they first announced the teams, my coach said I was going to be the backup setter because the other setter had a lot more experience.  I was really bummed and decided to work extra hard to show her I deserved more playing time.  During most of the tournament, she made me the primary 6-2 setter/hitter and made me floor captain because she said I was really positive, a hard worker and a good leader.

I'm really grateful to my OJVA coaches.  Without them, I never would have made it to the High Performance Program.  If I were to give advice to other girls who want to make volleyball their life, I would tell them to work hard, don't get lazy, and to use their mistakes as learning opportunities - don't dwell on them. They can negatively impact your confidence, your performance, and your whole team. Most importantly, don't be afraid to dream big!!

Signed,

Taylor Toms-Overn, 14 Gold