LOST OF UPDATES. PLEASE READ CLOSE!
If you are receiving this email, it is because you or your daughter(s) are registered for the 2021 Badger Region High Performance tryouts this Sunday at the New Berlin Sports Plex (2900 S. 163rd St., New Berlin). Parking is tight, so please be safe and conscious of where you are parking your vehicles in the lot or along the road.
We are slightly changing the start times for our Girls HP athletes. This will allow us to better focus on the specific positions of the athletes and allow athletes who might be trying out at multiple positions to be seen up against athletes of those positions in questions. It will also alleviate all 90+ athletes checking in right away.
Girls Youth (Born in 2004-2005)
- Outsides/Right Sides (Pins): 9 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
- Setters; 9 a.m. to Noon
- Liberos/DS: 9:45 a.m. to Noon
- Middles: 9:45 a.m. to Noon
- Outsides/Right Sides (Pins): 12:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
- Setters: 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Liberos/DS: 1:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Middles: 1:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The times listed above are the on-court start times. If your position does not get evaluated right at the start of the tryout period, please be patient on checking in. If you are a middle or libero, please check in 30 minutes before your official start time (that would be 9:15 a.m. for the older group and 12:45 p.m. for the younger group). Let’s get the athletes who need to be on the court at the start of the tryout checked in first.
In a normal year, I would host a parent meeting at the start of tryouts. Since we cannot accommodate an in-person meeting at the start of tryouts, please consider the following information as the details that I would have shared had we been in person:
A. We are selecting 30 athletes (per age group) who the coaching staff considers ready to compete at a five-day international tournament this summer. Since we only get about four days to train with these athletes, we must base our decisions off what we see now, not what we might be able to foresee if we had an entire season to train with an individual.
B. We are also looking for athletes that we see are taking good feedback, working hard and following all guidelines set by the coaching staff. We must take into consideration that we are going to be with some of these athletes three days at UW-Oshkosh and seven days in Phoenix. We want everyone to be respectful of each other and the rules (i.e. mask wearing) that we all must follow. We don’t know right now what USAV’s mask rules/spectator numbers will be, as they are still working with the City of Phoenix on all of that.
C. The rules at HP are different. By international rules, we are only allowed SIX subs per set. That means that coaches must be very conscious of their selections knowing that most athletes must have the potential to play six rotations. Having players who can play multiple positions is a positive since we can only take 10 athletes to Phoenix. Liberos are also not allowed to serve in the international game. Middles must serve on their own or a serving sub can be made — but again that takes away another substitution from that set.
D. Other random international rules that you may not have known: If the ball hits the ceiling it is out of bounds, we play two best-out-of-five matches per day, simultaneous contact on a ball (usually on a dig or serve receive) is considered two hits. The libero is designated for the match and cannot be changed set to set.
E. One of the AWESOME things about being selected to High Performance Training Camp is the fact that this is a “competition camp.” Not only are athletes competing for a spot on the travel team, the focus throughout the three days is competing. And being that everyone must try out to be in the camp, this makes it a top-notch camp like none other in the state of Wisconsin. There is no “top court” at camp. All the teams and all the athletes are elite and get to play against other elite athletes.
F. Lastly, the intention of this year’s tryout is to build a pool of potential athletes who will travel with us to Phoenix for the HP Championships. We ask that if you know you cannot attend the HP Championships this summer, please decline your offer to attend camp — as this year we want to make sure that all athletes joining us at UW-Oshkosh are athletes who can (and want) to attend the Phoenix tournament.
A handful of athletes have been required to self-quarantine due to close contact at school or at other volleyball events, so we have had a lot of athletes switch over to video-only tryouts. That is OK. We want to emphasize following guidelines and safety protocols. We will make sure those athletes get a proper evaluation through the video-only process just like the other athletes who are playing in other club tournaments this weekend.
I think that is all for now. Please let me know by the end of the day today if you have any other questions. I will be at the Boys HP Tryout all day tomorrow. If anything comes from that event that would be beneficial for all of our female athletes to know, I will make sure to share it tomorrow night. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday. (See below for information from the previous email sent on Monday night).
Brian Sharkey
Badger Region Program Director
If you are receiving this email, it is because you or your daughter(s) are registered for the 2021 Badger Region High Performance tryouts this Sunday at the New Berlin Sports Plex (2900 S. 163rd St., New Berlin).
We are VERY excited to get the High Performance season going this weekend and look forward to some upcoming, high-level training opportunities in the very near future.
Tryout registration remains open through Wednesday night if you have any other friends or teammates interested. After that, we will only accept walk-up registration at a higher fee.
A reminder that tryouts for the YOUTH age level (girls born in 2004-2005) is from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Registration opens at 8:15 a.m.
For the SELECT age level (girls born in 2006-2008), tryouts start at 12:30 p.m. and will go to 3 p.m. on Sunday as well. Registration for this will open at 11:45 a.m.
At registration, here are some steps that you will need to follow:
- Change into a numbered Badger Region HP tryouts t-shirt
- Verify your date of birth and the primary position that you are trying out for
- Start stretching and warming up — an athletic trainer will be on site starting at 8:30 a.m.
- We have a very large number of athletes trying out and therefore will not be allowing spectators for the tryout
If you have signed up for the “video feedback” or “video only” option, coaches’ feedback will be emailed to you after seeing the athlete(s) try out in person. Feedback from in-person tryouts will be combined with the pointers from the videos submitted and sent to you a few days after the tryout. Athletes who signed up for “in-person tryout only,” will not be given written feedback. On another note, athletes who do not receive an offer for the training camp are permitted to ask where they might sit on the waiting list as there is a chance that someone has to back out for various reasons.
From the tryouts (which includes a handful of athletes who submitted a video-only option due to conflicts), 30 athletes from each age group will be chosen to come to UW-Oshkosh July 6-8 for HP Camp. Offers will be emailed to participants in the days following tryouts. The Region will give athletes until May 7 to decide if they will accept their offer to join us at the camp. Payments will be due in late May. No refunds will be offered after June 1 unless a replacement for camp can be found.
From the final training camp, a 10-player team that will travel to Phoenix for the HP Championships will be chosen at each age group. A one-day training session in mid-June, right before leaving for Phoenix, will also be scheduled for this group. Cost for the overnight camp is expected to be $425. The cost for individuals who are selected to go to Phoenix is roughly $675. The Phoenix fee includes the athletes’ flight and housing at the HP Championships as well as tournament entry fees and region admin, as well as some apparel and gear needed for the event.
I will be going through all registrations this week to verify membership and payment of all tryout fees and will reach out if needed to those that are incomplete in some way.
I think that is all for now. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out or check out our HP website: https://
I look forward to seeing you all in the gym on Sunday!
