USA VOLLEYBALL'S HIGH PERFORMANCE PROGRAM

USA Volleyball is the National Governing Body for the sport of volleyball in the United States. We run and manage the USA National Men's and Women's Volleyball Teams, the USA Olympic Teams, and also USA Youth and Junior National Teams for each gender. The Youth and Junior National Teams, along with a number of tiered training programs, fall under the High Performance (HP) Department.

The HP Department works to advance volleyball talent and build a broader and stronger pipeline of athletes and coaches for our USA Olympic Teams. The HP Program at USA Volleyball is the "pipeline" for young volleyball athletes who aspire to reach the elite level of their sport and who dream to one day represent the USA on the National Men's or Women's Volleyball Team.

HP provides many team and camp opportunities for young volleyball athletes in three designated age groups for each gender. These age groups are determined by an athlete's year of birth (using international criteria) and begin approximately when they are 13 or 14 years old, continuing for six seasons, often into their collegiate years.

The goals of the HP Program include:

• To bring young volleyball athletes together in challenging and rewarding training environments;
• To provide them the opportunity to learn and develop with the best coaches in the USA Coaches' Pipeline and to compete at the elite and international levels;
• To grow the number of opportunities available to volleyball athletes, the number of high-level matches that they are able play and the amount of time they are able to train;
• To participate High Performance teams in all FIVB or related international events possible; and
• To consistently prepare a broad pool of qualified and experienced athletes available to compete for spots on the USA Men's and Women's National Teams.  

Entry into all HP teams and camps is based upon selection at one of many USA HP Tryouts during the winter and spring of each year.

A1 Programs

This is the National level of the USA Volleyball High Performance Program.  This level consists of Men's and Women's Junior National Teams (MJNT, WJNT), Boys' and Girls' Youth National Teams (BYNT, GYNT) and Boys' and Girls' Select A1 camps (BSA1, GSA1).  Junior and Youth Teams include the top 19 athletes per gender and age group chosen from High Performance Tryouts. 

The MJNT, WJNT, BYNT, and GYNT represent the USA at the NORCECA Zonal Championships (even years), and, upon qualifying, at the FIVB World Championships the following year (odd years).  These 4 teams usually train leading up to the event in the U.S. and then the top 12 athletes travel outside of the country to participate in the Championship event.  The tryout and training specifics for these teams are subject to competition schedules for that year. 

Select A1 programs consist of the top 30 - 50 athletes per gender and age group from HP Tryouts.  GSA1 and BSA1 teams train and compete at HP Championships (HPC's).           

A2 Programs

A2 Programs consist of the top 20-50 athletes per gender and age group who were not selected to their respective A1 Program.  These groups all train together for a number of days and then typically participate in a competition experience.  Most A2 Programs train in the city where US High Performance Championships are held and then compete in HP Championships.  Check the HP Championships page to see where the event will be held this year.  This is an international event with teams from the United States and abroad attending.

The MJA2, BSA2 and GSA2 programs do not attend HP Championships.  This group is usually invited to attend a 5-6 day camp. 

Continental Teams

The Continental Team program involves both boys' and girls' teams that will participate in the HP Championships, but will have a reduced training schedule as compared to the other USA teams in training for HP Championships. Athletes for these teams will be exclusively from USAV Regions that do not field teams in this age group and gender for the HP Championships. Head coaches will be assigned by USAV from its Coaches Pipeline and assistant coaches will be assigned by recommendations from Regions. 

A3 Camps

A3 Camps are the third tier of the HP Program. In 2009, approximately 200 volleyball athletes attended camps at this level, which held across the country during the months of June and July.

Sites for the 2009 Boys' A3 Camp were Columbus, Long Beach, and Wisconsin Dells, while 2009 Girls' A3 Camps were held in Ft. Worth, Austin, Colorado Springs, Kalamazoo, Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, and Wisconsin Dells. 

Training Camps

Training Camps are the fourth tier of program selection for Girls who participate in an HP Tryout.   In 2009, approximately 220 athletes attended Training Camps held in Long Beach and Wisconsin Dells for boys and Danville, Colorado Springs, Davidson, San Antonio and Memphis for girls.

Development Camps

Girls' Development Camps are OPEN to athletes born in the years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 or 1999 who want to train under the guidance of a USA Volleyball High Performance coaching cadre.  These camps spend most of their time on skill development.  In 2009, 23 athletes attended the Development Camp in Colorado Springs.