Seal Beach Volleyball Club will have three teams competing in the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships in Columbus, including the region's number-one-ranked team.
The Seal Beach Volleyball Club is sending three teams to the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships to be played in Columbus, Ohio, this summer. This is the third time in the club’s 20-year history that at least three teams qualified for the event formerly known as the "Junior Olympics."
The Seal Beach 14 years old and under, 13 years old and under, and 12 years old and under teams will all go east in search of a national title during late June and early July at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio's capital city.
"It's always a great accomplishment for any club to send multiple teams to the JO's, and I'm really proud of the hard work these young ladies have put into this year," said Tony Rodriguez, club co-director and coach of both the 14's and 12's teams that will go to Ohio. "We have sustained a very high degree of success for 14 and under players for many years, and now we are committed to bringing the same type of success to the high school level players."
Seal Beach’s 14’s and 12’s teams received at-large bids and will compete in the 48-team National Division for their respective age groups, which consists of teams that won one of 10 JO qualifying tournaments around the country or ranked highest in their respective regions.
The 12's team won the Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) 2012 Season Tournament and is currently ranked number 1 among 144 teams in Southern California with an overall mark of 37-8. The 14's are ranked 5th among 350 teams in their age group in SCVA.
The nucleus of the 14's team is making their 3rd straight JO's appearance. As 13-year-olds, the team traveled to Atlanta, Ga. to compete in last year's national championship tournament, placing third out of 48 teams in the American Division and bringing home the bronze medal.
This year's 13's team, coached by Roger Goodwin, founder and former director of Long Beach's Ichiban Club, is ranked 8th in their age group with a record of 26-9 and received an at-large bid to the JO's to compete in the American Division, which also consists of 48 teams.
The 12’s and 13’s teams will play in Ohio from June 29 to July 2, while the 14’s competition
will take place June 30-July 3.
In 2012, the Seal Beach Volleyball Club had 11 teams competing in seven age divisions from ages 12 to 18. The competition began in early January and culminated with the Junior Nationals in late June. SBVBC's teams not traveling to Ohio will compete in the season-ending SCVA's "Summer Soiree" tournament in Anaheim in June.
SBVBC's Summer Program for indoor and beach volleyball runs from early July through mid-September and includes "open gym" for both high school and middle school players (10-14 years old) as well as camps, skills clinics, and beach training. Tryouts for next season's teams will take place in early October (12-13-14's teams) and early November (15-16-17-18's teams).