USAV Selects Boys’ Youth National Training Team

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
Email: becky.murdy@usav.org

CORRECTION: The dates of the Boys' Youth Pan American Cup have been corrected to read July 9-17. USA Volleyball regrets the error in the original release.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 7, 2011) – The USA Volleyball (USAV) High Performance (HP) Department has announced the 2011 Boys’ Youth National Training Team (BYNTT).

Nineteen players have been selected through 16 high performance tryouts held throughout the country. Those players are vying for a spot on the 12-person roster that will compete at both the Boys’ Youth Pan American Cup July 9-17 in Mexico and the 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship on Aug. 19-28 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ken Shibuya will serve as head coach of the team. Shibuya is in his fifth season as the assistant men’s volleyball coach at Stanford University. He will be assisted by Dan Friend of Lewis University and Rob Neilson of Bringham Young University.

“My goal is to make this team as competitive as possible in the short time that we have them,” said Shibuya.  “With great effort and dedication, I believe we will be able to prepare these young men to handle the challenges that await them this summer and for future years ahead.”

"I’m privilege and honored to work with USA Volleyball once again as well as to work with some of best young volleyball athletes in the country," Friend said. "I know this team and staff will do what it takes to represent our country in a phenomenal fashion both on and off the court.  This young group of guys are very physical and dynamic.  I believe if we can ball-control and serve at the level needed we will go far at the World Championships."

"I'm very excited to work with USA volleyball and with coaches Shibuya and Friend," Neilson said. "This is an excellent group of athletes and I'm thrilled for the opportunity to learn, compete and grow together as a team."

The team will be invited to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. for a three-day, second tryout where the coaching staff will evaluate the players and whittle the team down to a 12-person squad, forming the 2011 Boys’ Youth National Team (BYNT). Alternates for the team will also be selected at this time.

“Making the training team is quite an honor for each of these young men and also the alternates for the team,” Shibuya said.  “Being selected acknowledges their talent and hard work that they have put in up to this point. This is also an opportunity for these athletes to step up their training as volleyball players and compete with the best that this country has to offer at their respective age group.” 

After returning from the Pan Am Cup, the BYNT will begin training in mid-August for the 2011 Boys’ Youth World Championship. The location and dates of the training sessions have not yet been confirmed.

“I believe that we have assembled a highly talented and competitive group of players that will represent their country and their sport well,” said Shibuya. “We have good size, athleticism, and great attitudes on this team. We certainly had hard decisions to make and eventually left off a number of deserving young men from the BYNTT.”

Of the 19 names on the roster, nine players are returning from the 2010 BYNT that finished second at the NORCECA Boys’ Youth Continental Championship, qualifying the team for the 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship. Returning players include: Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), Austin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Owen McAndrews (Avon Lake, Ohio), Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.), Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.), Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.), Matthew Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.), Matthew West (Seattle, Wash.) and DJ White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.).

Nine regions are represented by the roster with nine athletes from the Southern California Region and two from both the Great Lakes and Northern California Regions. The Badger Region, Ohio Valley Region, Intermountain Region, Southern Region, Chesapeake Region and Puget Sound Region all are represented by one player. 

“I believe that we have a big picture goal and an immediate future goal,” Shibuya said. “In the big picture, we are preparing these athletes to become the next men’s national team.”

2011 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Training Team Roster

Name (Position, City, State, Club, Region)
Nikola Antonijevic (MB, Buffalo Grove, Ill., Adversity, Great Lakes)
Cody Caldwell (OH, Newport Beach, Calif., Balboa Bay, Southern California)
Taylor Gregory (MB, Saugus, Calif., Legacy, Southern California)
Dillon Hoffman (Libero, San Clemente, Calif., Balboa Bay, Southern California)
Austin Kingi (OH, Tousand Oaks, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
Josh Kirchner (MB, Sussex, Wis., West Allis Lightning, Badger)
Matthew Marsh (Opposite, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., OCVC, Southern California)
Owen McAndrews (MB, Avon Lake, Ohio, Elite, Ohio Valley)
Michael Mullahey (Setter, Manhattan Beach, Calif., SCVC, Southern California)
Ben Patch (Opposite, Provo, Utah, Utah Elite, Intermountain)
Greg Petty (OH, Downers Grove, Ill., Sports Performance, Great Lakes)
Scott Rhein (OH, Pleasant View, Tenn., Impact, Southern)
Kyle Russell (OH, Loomis, Calif., NCVC, Northern California)
Aaron Russell (MB, Ellicott City, Md., MVP, Chesapeake)
Andrew Sato (Libero, Calabasas, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
James Shaw (Setter, Woodside, Calif., Mountain View, Northern California)
Matthew Tarantino (OH, Van Nuys, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
Matthew West (Setter, Seattle, Wash., Spaceneedle, Puget Sound)
DJ White (OH, Hermosa Beach, Calif., MB Surf, Southern California)
Nicholas Olson (MB, New Berlin, Wis., West Allis Lightning, Badger Region)

Staff

Head Coach – Ken Shibuya, Stanford University
Asst. Coach – Dan Friend, Lewis University
Asst. Coach – Rob Neilson, Bringham Young University

Additional Quotes from Ken Shibuya

“We are strong in the setting position with Michael Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calf.), James Shaw (Woodside, Calif.), and Matt West giving us a trio of very talented distributors. Not only are they skilled at setting, each brings other attributes such as size, leadership, and athleticism that will prove to be big bonuses for the position. In the middle, the group of Nik Antonijevic, Taylor Gregory (Saugus, Calif.), Josh Kirchner (Sussex, Wisc.), Owen McAndrews and Aaron Russell provide good size and physicality and gives us that presence we need when we go up against the world’s best. We also have some very physical, point-scoring guys at the opposite position in Matt Marsh, Ben Patch (Provo, Utah), and Matt Tarantino. We feel very fortunate to have the power that we do in these three athletes. At the outside hitter position, we put together a group of guys that gives us a little of everything. We have the impressive physical presence of Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill.), Scott Rhein, and Kyle Russell (Loomis, Calif.) and we also have the great ball- control guys like Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.), Austin Kingi, and DJ White.  At libero, we have two wonderfully gifted young men in Dillon Hoffman (San Clemente, Calif.) and Andrew Sato who just have some innate characteristics that you need in the position. Both understand the game and have a nose for the ball. They are also solid receivers that we can rely on to start our offense. Dan Friend and I both agree that this is a really nice team and has the potential to do some damage in Argentina.”

“I believe that we have a big picture goal and an immediate future goal. In the big picture, we are preparing these athletes to become the next men’s national team. My goal is to make this team as competitive as possible in the short time that we have them. We will be competing against teams that train year-round and have dedicated facilities and full-time staffs. We can’t control those variables so we have to focus on getting our team to buy into our system and perform up to its abilities. We will concentrate on taking care of the details and seek to improve every time we get on the court. If we can display the dedication and effort I believe that we have, the score will take care of itself. With great effort and dedication, I believe we will be able to prepare these young men to handle the challenges that await them this summer and for years ahead.”

Tags: Ken Shibuya, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, World Championships, Youth World Championships