Varsity Weekly: AAU volleyball has 5,800 teams in Orlando; basketball scholastics
More than 117,000 athletes and coaches descend on the Orange County Convention Center for 25-day AAU Volleyball Junior Nationals. 5,865 teams registered make it the largest sporting event ever held… The world's largest volleyball tournament, the 51st edition of the AAU girls and boys Junior National Volleyball Championships, is set to begin at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center on Thursday and runs until July 7. Teams from all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are entering. The 25-day event, set to be the largest sporting event ever held at the OCCC, features 5,865 teams participating in 67 divisions. The 17-and-under age group is particularly watch due to its high school senior year. Two Orlando area clubs, Game Point 17 Rox and OTVA 17 Felix, have had strong seasons but have not played each other this year. The NCAA certified June scholastic live periods, designed to allow college recruiters to evaluate players in a high school setting, differ from individual showcases and travel team tournaments.
公開済み : 3週間前 沿って Buddy Collings の Sports
The world’s largest volleyball tournament tips off Thursday and runs through July 7 at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.
Teams from all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are entered in the 51st edition of the AAU girls and boys Junior National Volleyball Championships. The 25-day event boasts 5,865 teams (1,263 boys and 4,605 girls) participating in 67 divisions. It’s set to be the largest sporting event ever held at the OCCC — breaking last year’s record.
The 17-and-under age group, loaded with college prospects heading into their high school senior year, is one to watch. The Open divisions have the top tier teams for each age group and two Orlando area clubs have talented girls 17s teams with high hopes.
OTVA 17 Felix and Game Point 17 Rox have both had strong seasons but surprisingly have not played each other this year.
“We’ve been in the same tournaments a lot. We just haven’t crossed each other,” said Semei Tello, one of the OTVA coaches. “I feel like we’ll probably play them either at AAU nationals or the USA Volleyball nationals (July 3-11 in Las Vegas).”
The OTVA squad has Orlando Sentinel All-Area players Tyler Peluso (Winter Park) and Kierstin Bevelle (Lake Highland Prep), who last month committed to sign with FAU. Other committed players include Amina N’Diaye (Lake Brantley) to Miami, Leah McDonald (Bishop Moore) to UNF, and Rylee Yarborough (Oviedo) to Rollins. Bishop Moore’s Anika Groom is a standout who has yet to make her college choice.
“We have beaten a lot of the top teams in the country,” said Tello, the Olympia High School coach. “We should do very well here.”
Game Point 17s squad includes Hagerty setter Brielle Mullen along with college commits Victoria Hill (Trinity Prep) to Appalachian State, Kayden “KK” Green to Holy Cross; and Sydney Davis, who played for Timber Creek last season and is committed to South Carolina.
Play begins with all 10U through 14U divisions and the 18 Open and 18 Premier tournaments, Thursday through Sunday. The second wave, Monday through Thursday of next week, has all seven girls 15’s divisions along with the 18 Classic and 18 Club. That will be followed by a session for the girls 16’s age group, June 21-24; the 17s divisions; and then boys competition (June 30-July 7).
The NCAA certified June scholastic live periods, built for college recruiters to see basketball prospects playing with their high school teams, include Florida’s Conrad P. Foss Basketball Showcase events. They begin this weekend with girls on stage at the Alachua County Sports and Event Center in Gainesville.
The boys events are set for June 21-23 and June 28-30 at the same site.
The NCAA created the scholastic periods in 2019 to allow coaches and scouts to evaluate players in a high school setting that differs from the individual showcases and travel team tournaments that drive most of the recruiting process.
Florida didn’t get on board until last year, when the Florida High School Athletic Association granted approval for the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches to operate the showcases.
State champ pitchers Skylar Cloud (20-1, 1.59 ERA) of Eustis and Nevaeh Williams (13-4, 0.93) of Montverde Academy were voted Class 4A and 3A softball players of the year. That makes them two of the seven finalists for the Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Softball award.
Cloud graduated recently and Williams will be a junior in the fall.
Their coaches, Brittany Beal of Eustis (26-2) and Kahley Armstrong of Montverde (28-4) are in the running for the Dairy Farmers coach of the year honor.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at [email protected].
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