Hola! My name is Cody Caldwell.

Im from Newport Beach, California and was very fortunate to have the opportunity to go through this great experience at the 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship.

Today the team was preparing for our last match to play for 11th place in the world! We had another chance to play Egypt to prove that the first time we beat them in five was not a fluke. We woke up around noonish as some of the guys and I still have not adjusted to the four-hour time difference. We then had our typical lunch of pasta, bread salad and chicken. After that we had our normal 2:00 p.m. film session to brush up on some last things before the match. We left on the bus for the game at 3:30 p.m. and the weather was the nicest it has been yet. On our way there we thanked our attaché with flowers and a necklace. We had our usual pre-game ritual of tag as soon as we got on the court and were all about business from there on out. We handled Egypt in four sets and showed a great improvement from the first time we played them. After the match we struggled to get on the bus as the fans were trying to grab any article of USA clothing they could right off our backs. The team was stoked after the win and it was a great way to end the tournament.

Go USA!
-Cody