NORCECA Girls’ Youth Championship Gains Importance

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 16, 2010) – The U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team travels to Guatemala next week to compete in the 2010 NORCECA Girls’ Youth (U-18) Continental Championship, which is slated for April 27 to May 2 in Guatemala City.

U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team Head Coach Jim Stone (Columbus, Ohio) identified his 12-player roster at a seven-day tryout held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, which concluded on Jan. 1. The selected outside hitters/opposites are Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla.), Mimi Eugene (Houston), Brittany Howard (Los Altos, Calif.), Angela Lowak (New Braunfels, Texas) and Andie Malloy (Allen, Texas). The middle blockers chosen for the team are Molly McCage (Spring, Texas), Chloe Reinig (Detroit, Mich.) and Shelby Sullivan (Richardson, Texas). The setters are Madison Bugg (Apex, N.C.), Allison Palmer (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Lauren Sieckmann (Omaha, Neb.). Haley Pouliezos (Imperial, Mo.) was tabbed to the roster as the libero. Due to the versatility of the team’s talent, some of the players may train and compete at multiple positions.

Countries expected to participate in the event alongside the U.S. are Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago. With a 10-team field, the tournament will have three preliminary round pools (two pools with three teams and one pool with four) played April 27 to April 29, followed by the quarterfinals on April 30, semifinals and qualification round on May 1 and final qualification round on May 2. NORCECA has not released the pools or preliminary round schedule.

Copyrighted by USA Volleyball Madison Bugg sets while Charlene Johnson-Tagaloa (left) and Jim Stone (right) watch. Currently, Mexico is ranked No. 1 in the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Division, which weights results from the most recent NORCECA and FIVB World Championship events for the age division. The U.S. is ranked second, followed by No. 3 Dominican Republic, No. 4 Puerto Rico and No. 5 Costa Rica.

The top three teams in the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship final standings earn a berth to compete in the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship, which will be staged in Turkey.

However, the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship has gained added significance for the U.S. squad in recent days. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has invited USA Volleyball to enter a team in the first-ever IOC Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore between Aug. 14 and Aug. 26. Originally, USA Volleyball was not selected as the USOC’s girls’ youth team representative into the Youth Olympic Games, which limits countries to one team sport per gender.

Teams invited by their respective national Olympic committee to compete in Youth Olympic Games must still qualify for the event through various qualification tournaments. The 2010 NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship serves as the qualification event for USA Volleyball’s zone. For the U.S. to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games, it must win the gold medal at the NORCECA event.

Typically, the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship is held between June and August in even-number years. However, the event was pushed to its current schedule based on the qualification process into the Youth Olympic Games. Due to the earlier schedule, USA Volleyball has dealt with many issues surrounding its team selection for the 2010 U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team and this year’s High Performance tryouts.

“At this point, there are numerous questions for USA Volleyball to sort through with regard to athlete selection, budget considerations and scheduling should the U.S. Girls’ Youth Team advance to Youth Olympic Games by winning the NORCECA championship,” USA Volleyball Managing Director of Indoor High Performance Tom Pingel said. “By the time the tryout results are posted on May 6 for the youth athletes, we will have most, if not all these questions answered.”

According to Pingel, all Youth-Age tryout participants from this spring will be considered in the selection process should the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team advance to the Youth Olympic Games.

To follow the 2010 U.S. Girls' Youth National Team at the NORCECA Girls' Youth Continental Championship, click here.

2010 U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team Roster
Player (Pos., Ht, Hometown, Club, Region)
Madison Bugg (S, 6-0, Apex, N.C., 2012, Triangle, Carolina)
Jordan Burgess (OH, 6-0, Tampa, Fla., 2012, Tampa Bay Juniors, Florida)
Mylan “Mimi” Eugene (OH, 5-11, Houston, Texas, 2014, Texas Tornados, Lone Star)
Brittany Howard (OH, 6-3, Los Altos, Calif., 2012, Vision, Northern California)
Angela Lowak (OH, 6-0, New Braunfels, Texas, 2012, Austin Juniors, Lone Star)
Andie Malloy (S/OH, 6-2, Allen, Texas, 2012, Skyline Juniors, North Texas)
Molly McCage (MB, 6-3, Spring, Texas, 2012, Texas Team, Lone Star)
Allison Palmer (S, 5-9, Laguna Beach, Calif., 2012, Laguna Beach Volleyball Club, Southern California)
Haley Pouliezos (L, 5-7, Imperial, Mo., 2012, High Performance, Gateway)
Chloe Reinig (MB, 6-4, Detroit, Mich., 2013, Michigan Elite, Lakeshore)
Lauren Sieckmann (S, 5-11, Omaha, Neb., 2012, Nebraska Elite, Great Plains)
Shelby Sullivan (MB, 6-2, Richardson, Texas, 2012, TAV, North Texas)

Head Coach: Jim Stone (USA Volleyball High Performance Coach)
Assistant Coach: Melissa Wolter (University of West Florida)
Assistant Coach: Charlene Johnson-Tagaloa (USA Volleyball High Performance Coach)
Team Leader: Diane French (USA Volleyball High Performance)

Tags: 2010 U.S. Girls' Youth National Team, FIVB, FIVB World Championship, Jim Stone, NORCECA Girls' Youth Continental Championship, U.S. Girls' Youth National Team, Youth Olympics