Jordan Burgess Earns Gatorade National Honor

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
Email: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 10, 2012) – Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla.), a two-time member of the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team, was named the 2011-2012 Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year as the top high school player in the country.

Burgess, a senior outside hitter at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, Fla., was surprised with the news on Tuesday at her prep school given by USA Volleyball’s 2011 Beach Female Athlete of the Year April Ross, who earned the same Gatorade honor in 1999-2000 academic year.

“It has been an amazing surprise to receive the Gatorade award,” said Burgess, the first player from Florida to earn the national honor. “I am extremely honored to receive this award with all those who have won it before – April Ross, Logan Tom, Kerri Walsh and the others. They are idols to me.”

Burgess, who has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Stanford University beginning the fall of 2012, helped lead Berkeley Prep to a 30-2 record in 2011 and a third consecutive state championship this past volleyball season. She amassed 553 kills, 366 digs, 48 aces, 38 assists and 32 blocks in 2011 while recording a .457 hitting efficiency en route to earning her second consecutive Gatorade State Player of the Year honor, all while playing with a broken pinky finger on her swing hand for much of the season. During the Florida Class 4A state title match victory over Bishop Moore, Burgess charted 15 kills, 13 digs, four blocks and 29 service receptions in the 3-1 win. Burgess was named to the 2011 AVCA High School All-America First-Team and selected as Team East’s Most Undeniable Player following the AVCA Under Armour High School All-America match on Dec. 16.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Burgess as the nation’s best high school volleyball player. A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Burgess from more than 400,000 high school volleyball players nationwide. Burgess is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special afternoon ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

Courtesy FIVB Jordan Burgess attacking during the 2011 FIVB Girls' Youth World Championship. While competing for the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team, Burgess has excelled the past two summers. She helped the squad to a ninth-place finish at the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship in Turkey. She contributed 10 kills in the ninth-place match as her team swept the final five matches after falling to silver-medalist China and bronze-medalist Serbia in the first round. In the previous year, Burgess helped lead the U.S. to the gold medal at the 2010 NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship to qualify Team USA for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship.

“The (USA Volleyball) High Performance program by far has made me a better player,” Burgess said. “By playing on a team with so many other great athletes helped raise my level. My experience at the FIVB World Championship was enlightening, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I would encourage everyone to try out for an HP Program. Playing in HP can be challenging for some athletes where they may be the best on their club, but not with their HP team. That challenge makes you better. I just have to give HP a ton of credit.”

Burgess plays club volleyball for Tampa Bay Juniors 18 Black (Florida Region), which finished fifth in the 2011 USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships.

“USA Volleyball wishes to congratulate Jordan on earning such a prestigious award after a tremendous high school season and career,” said USA Volleyball Senior Director Tom Pingel, who oversees the National Governing Body’s Indoor High Performance Program. “She continues a long line of successful USA Volleyball High Performance athletes who have been recognized by Gatorade and many of gone on to future success at the college and international level.”

Burgess, who maintains a perfect 4.0 grade point average in the classroom, is a founding director of the charitable initiative “Everyone Should Play” Foundation that was formed in 2009 to assist the area’s disadvantaged youth offset sports registration fees and equipment costs. She has also been active on the volleyball sidelines volunteering as a youth coach and serving as team manager of the Berkeley Prep boys’ volleyball squad since 2009. Burgess is a participant in a community literacy-outreach program and has serves as a team lead at a two-week youth business leadership camp in 2007 and 2008.

Past Gatorade Volleyball National Players of the Year include Kerri Walsh (1995-1996) as the first-ever selection, Logan Tom (1998-1999) and Ogonna Nnamani (2000-2001) as U.S. Olympians in either indoor or beach volleyball. Other notable U.S. Women’s National Team and beach volleyball players earning the honor include April Ross (1999-2000), Kristin Richards (2002-2003), Cynthia Barboza (2003-2004, 2004-2005), Megan Hodge (2005-2006) and Alix Klineman (2006-2007).

“When I received the award, it was a really significant moment for me, so it felt great to surprise Jordan with the news and invite her into one of the most prestigious legacy programs in high school sports,” Ross said. “Gatorade has been on the sidelines fueling athletic performance for years, so to be recognized by a brand that understands the game and truly helps athletes perform is a huge honor for these kids.”

Ross, ranked No. 4 with partner Jen Kessy in the 2012 Olympic Games qualification ranking, has gone on to win the 2009 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship and a total of nine international volleyball titles. She earned the 2007 FIVB Rookie of the Year in 2007 and has amassed over $1 million in career earnings.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, baseball, softball, and boys’ and girls’ track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

For more information on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit the Gatorade Player of the Year Web site at playeroftheyear.gatorade.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.

Tags: 2010 U.S. Girls' Youth National Team, 2011 U.S. Girls' Youth National Team, April Ross, Jordan Burgess, mobile