Iowa High Performance Volleyball

          High performance or HP, is a volleyball program for advanced players from all over the world. Making a team is a huge accomplishment and it is an indescribable experience. To get to the High Performance Championships (HPC’s) you have to go through multiple tryouts, camps and practices with your team.

          Iowa HP tryouts take place all over Iowa. During tryouts your height, reach, and jump touch is measured before you start playing. Then, you are split up according to your position (libero, setter, right side, outside, or middle). Depending on what position you play you are evaluated on your skills, attitude, and decision making on the court.  It is an awesome experience trying out with players from all over the state that have the same passion for volleyball that you do.

          About a month after the tryout, the results are posted to the Iowa region website. If your t-shirt number and initials are listed you have made the training camp, which takes place in the summer before the High Performance Championships. Usually around 50 athletes in each age group make the camp, so if you make it that is a huge accomplishment. The training camp is a 4 day camp where your skills will be further evaluated to decide on teams to take to the High Performance Championships. You stay in dorms with 3 other people and it is a blast. During the camp you meet so many new people and you get to learn from many different high school coaches, college coaches and even Olympic players. On the last day of the camp the teams that will be traveling to the HPC’s are posted. The teams consist of WIJ (Women’s International Juniors), GYNT (Girls Youth National), GYNT (Girls Youth International), GSEL (Girls Select Black), and GSEL (Girls Select White).

           If you make a traveling team you will travel with the other teams to the High Performance Championships. 9 to 10 players are selected for each team so that means 20 out of the 50 athletes in each age group are chosen for a team. This year the HPC’s took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma and next year they will be held in Des Moines, Iowa. If you make an International team you will compete against teams from all over the world, including Hawaii, Brazil, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and many others. If you make a National team you will compete against teams from all over the country. This summer I played on the Girls Youth National team and we played in the championship match against a team from Texas. I can’t even describe the feeling of playing in that match. It was definitely one of the best days of my life. Even though we didn’t win we played as a team and I wouldn’t have wanted to experience that with anyone else. 

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