Matt (16) has been invited to participate in the 2009 Holiday High Performance Camp (HHPC) as a member of the USA Volleyball Youth and Junior Beach National A2 U-19 program.  He was one of eight players selected by USA Beach Volleyball. The HHPC is a high-intensity beach volleyball training camp intended for elite beach volleyball athletes who hope to participate in future international competitions as well as NCAA sand teams, the AVP tour, and other elite beach programs.  This year’s camp will take place December 27th to 30th in San Diego, CA at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. 

Last year Matt’s older brother, Grant, was a member of the USA-U21 Team. 

Matt was also selected as a member of the USA Indoor Volleyball A-1 Camp.  He and I will be in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from July 15th to July 26th.  Would be nice to hook up with some Ft. Lauderdale and Miami at-home dads.

We are grateful to have two sons who are very talented in a sport they love to play.  And lucky to have both as members of the USA Beach Volleyball Team. 

Matt, like Grant, wants to play professional volleyball and in the Olympics.  Both have the talent to make their dreams come true.  Now it all comes down to doing the work and listening to dad! J

Side note:  I did not encourage my boys to play volleyball.  They chose the sport. 

When Grant was 15 he gave up basketball to tryout for the high school volleyball team.  Tough for me to swallow because I had been Grant’s youth basketball coach for 5 of the 6 years he played.  (And volleyball was frowned upon as a wimpy sport).   But this was his choice and I supported him.   I didn’t think he had a snowball’s chance in hell to make the team.  He did and the rest is history. 

Matt did not play organized sports until he was 12.  He was into drawing and music.  He played bass, piano and was very good at playing the drums and had a good singing voice.  I thought he was going to be a rock n’ roll star and the next Phil Collins.  Then he started playing volleyball with Grant and the rest again is history. 

Matt has become the Pete Maravich/Magic Johnson of volleyball.  Even Grant admits that Matt is the better player and that there is something special about him.  Whenever Matt is on the court he makes his teammates better players and good things happen.  Spectators are amazed at some of the plays he has performed on the court and the way he plays beyond his years.  Matt has played this year in several Open Beach Tournaments including AVP.  One of Matt’s partners was 36 year’s old.  And he has also practiced with Beach Volleyball legend, Karch Kiraly and Olympians Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal and other AVP players like Matt Fuerbringer and Casey Jennings.  Matt and Grant have also played together in a tournament and plan to team up again sometime in the future. 

Good thing I set my ego aside and followed Grant’s lead.  His decision to play volleyball has brought a lot of joy into our family’s life.

Like many young kids, I dreamed one day of playing in the Olympics and winning a gold medal.  I never made it to the Olympics but I did get my gold medal …..well actually four of them.  Their names are Tina, Grant, Wesley and Matt. 

Dreams don’t cost anything unless you want them to come true. 

KOD