Young Writers 4 Young Players
Two Young Writers 4
Young Players - Seth Rubinroit from USA and
Cecilia Mussi from Italy - are now in Singapore taking in the great
experience what is the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
Both Seth and
Cecilia arrived in Singapore after winning the FIVB's Young Writers 4
Young Players competition (see below for their winning entries).
Follow Seth's and Cecilia's work on the FIVB website, which include daily
previews, features and reports, not to mention
a daily blog from Cecilia
Young Writers 4 Young Players winning
entries
A special thanks By Cecilia Mussi
When I think
about youth Volleyball I remember when I was ten, probably the first time
I held a ball. Up until that moment I didn’t know what it meant to enter a
court with your team, to score a point, to win or lose a match, to
practice with your teammates. But I did it quickly.
From that moment I just played
Volleyball and although time passed and I
grew up and changed teams, there’s something that has never changed, my
deep love for this wonderful game. Youth Volleyball has been a longtime
friend, a vent and a relaxing moment out of school, but above all, a way
to establish friendships that I still have today after so long.
When you join a team and you’re so young, you create special links that
grow bigger out of the gymnasium with some people: same school, same
friends etc. You grow up together, because when you meet someone two or
three times a week, you speak about everything in your life, from the boy
you like, to the bad school grade you get. When you are in the gym
there is nothing but the Volleyball world, in which you’re just a
little piece of a big puzzle you’re doing step by step.
I
have learnt the discipline of practice, to enjoy during friendly matches.
I have learnt from my coaches, my teammates and my opponents. I have
learnt how to deal with significant matches, even though I was only 14,
what it means to enter the court with the heart beating because you know
that if you win you’re in, and if you lose, you’re out. I have learnt to
triumph with my team even if I haven’t been involved in the match, or to
cry for an error which could have changed everything.
Therefore the first word I can refer to youth Volleyball is an endless
“thanks” for the emotions it gave me, for the beautiful people I have met,
and for what it gives me still today, at the age of 21.
Pepperdine men's Volleyball seeks to build upon 2008 success
By Seth Rubinroit
With five national championships, Pepperdine men's
Volleyball has
a rich tradition of excellence and success. This year's team seems up to
the challenge of making some history of its own.
The fourth-ranked
Waves (4-0) have had a strong start to the season. They won the Brian
Mallard Invitational in Canada, and, on Saturday, they upset third-ranked
Stanford University in a three-game sweep.
The Waves hope to
surpass last season's success. In 2008, Pepperdine entered the MPSF
Tournament as a fifth-seed, but ended up winning it and earning a position
in the NCAA tournament. The Waves advanced to the championship game,
finishing the season as the national runners-up behind Penn State.
This season, the Waves return with 10 of the 14 players from 2008.
However, Pepperdine has to replace setter Jonathan Winder, who was the
NCAA Player of the Year and a four-time All-American before graduating.
The team will also be without senior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach,
who is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
"I do not
think we can replace those two guys," Head Coach Marv Dunphy said of
Winder and Schleppenbach. "They are two great players, so we are having
everybody pick up part of the slack."
So far, the Waves have found
players to adequately substitute for Winder and Schleppenbach. Sophomore
setter Kasey Crider was named the MPSF co-Player of the Week, and Cory
Riecks and Matt McKee have played well as outside hitters.
Pepperdine will count on senior Paul Carroll for his talent and
leadership. Carroll has the impressive credentials of being selected to
the All-MPSF team three times, being named an All-American two times, and
making the All-NCAA Tournament team twice. In 2008, he led the nation in
kills and points, and earned the title of Australian Male Volleyball
Player of the Year.
"[Carroll] is a big guy who sees and plays the
game well," Dunphy said. "He leads by example."
Dunphy has
immeasurable credibility with players and recruits. In his 26 seasons at
Pepperdine, he has guided the Waves to four NCAA men's volleyball titles,
coached 32 first-team All-Americans, and has been named National Coach of
the Year. He was head coach of the Gold-Medal winning 1988 Olympic
volleyball team, and was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame. Nobody
prepares more than Dunphy, who records every play on film and has his
staff constantly enter statistical data into computers during games.
"[Coach Dunphy] is a big reason why a lot of us came here," Carroll
said. "Over the four years I have been here, I feel like I have been
growing as a person as well as a player, and I credit him and how he
carries himself for that. When he walks into the gym, everyone knows he is
there. He demands attention, and not because he talks loudly."
As
good as the Waves have looked so far, Dunphy said he knows they could be
better, citing receiving and serving as areas for improvement.
"This team has a ways to go," Dunphy said. "We are not meeting some of the
standards we need to meet, so that is what we are focusing on. There are a
lot of really good volleyball teams this year, and we hope to be one of
them."
*All entries
for the Young Writers 4 Young Players competition had to submit a story
about youth Volleyball in their country. The two winners travel
to Singapore to report for the FIVB at the Youth Olympic Games
|
 |
|