Court 13 Breaks Language Barriers

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

 

TUCSON, Ariz. (July 28, 2011) – Court 13 broke the language barrier on Thursday at the 2011 USA Volleyball High Performance National Championships in Tucson, Ariz.

A group of girls from Iowa and boys from Chile initiated a coed match with the language of volleyball being their verbal foundation.

“We finished our match and got to play free and we asked the girls if they wanted to play,” Sebastian Karmy said.

Karmy, a member of the Chilean boys’ team that competes in the Boys’ International Division wrapped up their morning match and decided to play some free-ball before heading to lunch. A group of familiar faces, the Iowa Girls’ Select White team, were also looking to get some hits in before a team meeting. 

“We met at opening ceremonies and took a few pictures with the Chile team,” Kayla Ruff said. “Ever since then every time we see each other we wave and say hi.”

Through broken English and a few known Spanish words the two groups have been able to communicate enough to get some good volleyball rallies in.  

“I know we don’t speak good English,” Ignacio Zavala added. “On the court we don’t have to. They understand volleyball and so do we. 

The 13th edition of the championships welcomed teams from Chile, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, China and Peru, in addition to the 30 USA Volleyball High Performance Teams and 48 regional high performance teams.

“I think it is a great experience to meet with people from different cultures and interact with them,” Ruff said.

“Its great that we have a central connection with them and that connection is volleyball,” Elizabeth Cilliton said.

Though English is the spoken language of the tournament the international teams understand by the use translators and their own knowledge of English to obtain their information about court times, activities and vital championship information.

“There are a lot of teams and we don’t know much English but we get by,” Marcelo Concha said.

The USAV HP Championships is one of only three coed tournaments for indoor volleyball that the U.S. participates in. That in turn enhances the learning experience for the players not only with international competition but also with the ability to watch and notice gender differences in playing habits.

The Grand Prix and the Olympics are the only other two indoor volleyball coed tournaments that the United States competes in.

“We learn about how other teams and countries play volleyball,” Zavala said. “We know that what we want to say doesn’t always get through but when we are playing volleyball it doesn’t really need to.”

The experiences that international tournaments give these young 10-18 year-old players doesn’t come around too often so the athletes make sure they don’t take their five days of playing time together for granted.

“We want to come back next year,” Concha said. “We want to come back and win. 

All but one championship match will be played Friday with the exception of the Girls’ National Select Division championship matches which are slated for Saturday.