VB Women's National Team Open Program: Through Kara McGhee's Eyes
2/28/2022 3:48:00 PM | Volleyball
I am so excited to share my journey with y'all. This is my second time going to the WNT Open Program. I had an amazing experience last time and cannot wait to experience Riley, Elise, Lauren and Allie's first time at this awesome tryout. I hope y'all continue reading and enjoy as you live this experience out through us vicariously.
We left on Thursday for Colorado Springs and the minute we got to the airport our flight was delayed two hours. It was not the best start to the weekend but Baylor Volleyball is always down for an adventure. As we waited at the airport, many flights near us were getting canceled due to weather. We sat on the edge of our seats, eager to leave but worried it may not happen. Finally, we were taking off and could breathe knowing our dreams of getting to Colorado Springs were officially happening. We ended up getting there pretty late so we checked in to the hotel and went straight to our rooms. When we walked into our living quarters for the weekend it was about 35 degrees, so sleeping in our parkas we got a good night's rest. Even with all of our mishaps early on, I can confidently say this weekend was one for the books.
There was only one session on Friday so we got to spend the majority of the day catching up on homework and socializing at the dining hall. Having played against the other girls attending the camp for years, you feel like you know them. Being able to finally talk to these players, we finally got to really know them. When the first session hits I find that I always feel a level of nerves that I cannot seem to shake, but after the warmup I was ready to go and felt nothing but excitement. I genuinely enjoy the nerves because it means I care and if I deal with my nerves right it can be a great launching point into having the best practice, game, etc ever. Going into the second day I was feeling good after having adjusted to the altitude and the environment the night before.
We then had two sessions on Saturday, one in the morning and one in the evening. All the sessions were around an hour and a half. We started with a warmup and moved into a short time of serve and pass where the middles and setter got an opportunity to serve at the liberos and pins. After that, we moved into hitting lines so the hitters could warm up and have an opportunity to connect with the setter. We then moved into six-on-six (which is game-like drills). The six-on-six drills we did on both Friday and Saturday did not have names but on the Baylor court, we do similar drills called jungle ball and Baylor Bear SicEm. It was nice to have already been familiarized with the drills so I did not have to worry about figuring out what was going on the whole time and just really got to focus on my game.
The coaches that were running the drills were all very encouraging and positive. Coach Karch (the head Women's USA Volleyball coach) gave a lot of great feedback every time we huddled up. He also went around watching each court encouraging people by name and making a point to have a brief conversation with most of the players. It made a big impact to see him doing those things because I believe it showed his character and amazing leadership of the women's national team. No wonder they won a gold medal!
It was such a surreal moment playing with people I had only ever scouted and played across the net from. It was refreshing to have some of them on my side of the net for a change. I enjoyed seeing how I compared to these girls skills-wise but I gained so much more from their leadership and kindness. We were all here to compete for a spot on the collegiate national team roster but they did not stop a single girl from being uplifting. The people I was playing with made the sessions go by fast and genuinely just so much more fun even when it was getting tough.
On Sunday we had only one session in the morning and we did a mini-tournament. The coaches split us up into teams and we played three different games with our respective teams. It was probably the coolest part about the whole trip because I got to compete side by side and call some well-known, talented girls that did big things at their programs this past season teammates even if it was only 45 minutes.
This weekend allowed us to be in such a great environment. We all learned so much from this camp and cannot wait to go back to Waco and apply what we learned in our gym. We will be back in Waco tomorrow, getting after it with our teammates sharing what we learned and having a blast being a part of, in my opinion, the best collegiate volleyball program in the nation.
We left on Thursday for Colorado Springs and the minute we got to the airport our flight was delayed two hours. It was not the best start to the weekend but Baylor Volleyball is always down for an adventure. As we waited at the airport, many flights near us were getting canceled due to weather. We sat on the edge of our seats, eager to leave but worried it may not happen. Finally, we were taking off and could breathe knowing our dreams of getting to Colorado Springs were officially happening. We ended up getting there pretty late so we checked in to the hotel and went straight to our rooms. When we walked into our living quarters for the weekend it was about 35 degrees, so sleeping in our parkas we got a good night's rest. Even with all of our mishaps early on, I can confidently say this weekend was one for the books.
There was only one session on Friday so we got to spend the majority of the day catching up on homework and socializing at the dining hall. Having played against the other girls attending the camp for years, you feel like you know them. Being able to finally talk to these players, we finally got to really know them. When the first session hits I find that I always feel a level of nerves that I cannot seem to shake, but after the warmup I was ready to go and felt nothing but excitement. I genuinely enjoy the nerves because it means I care and if I deal with my nerves right it can be a great launching point into having the best practice, game, etc ever. Going into the second day I was feeling good after having adjusted to the altitude and the environment the night before.
We then had two sessions on Saturday, one in the morning and one in the evening. All the sessions were around an hour and a half. We started with a warmup and moved into a short time of serve and pass where the middles and setter got an opportunity to serve at the liberos and pins. After that, we moved into hitting lines so the hitters could warm up and have an opportunity to connect with the setter. We then moved into six-on-six (which is game-like drills). The six-on-six drills we did on both Friday and Saturday did not have names but on the Baylor court, we do similar drills called jungle ball and Baylor Bear SicEm. It was nice to have already been familiarized with the drills so I did not have to worry about figuring out what was going on the whole time and just really got to focus on my game.
The coaches that were running the drills were all very encouraging and positive. Coach Karch (the head Women's USA Volleyball coach) gave a lot of great feedback every time we huddled up. He also went around watching each court encouraging people by name and making a point to have a brief conversation with most of the players. It made a big impact to see him doing those things because I believe it showed his character and amazing leadership of the women's national team. No wonder they won a gold medal!
It was such a surreal moment playing with people I had only ever scouted and played across the net from. It was refreshing to have some of them on my side of the net for a change. I enjoyed seeing how I compared to these girls skills-wise but I gained so much more from their leadership and kindness. We were all here to compete for a spot on the collegiate national team roster but they did not stop a single girl from being uplifting. The people I was playing with made the sessions go by fast and genuinely just so much more fun even when it was getting tough.
On Sunday we had only one session in the morning and we did a mini-tournament. The coaches split us up into teams and we played three different games with our respective teams. It was probably the coolest part about the whole trip because I got to compete side by side and call some well-known, talented girls that did big things at their programs this past season teammates even if it was only 45 minutes.
This weekend allowed us to be in such a great environment. We all learned so much from this camp and cannot wait to go back to Waco and apply what we learned in our gym. We will be back in Waco tomorrow, getting after it with our teammates sharing what we learned and having a blast being a part of, in my opinion, the best collegiate volleyball program in the nation.
Monday, December 08
Monday, December 08
Monday, December 08
Monday, December 08
