July 12, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU volleyball associate head coach
Jason Tanaka has been selected as an assistant coach for the USA Select Girls' A1 program. The program features 50 of the top players in the country ages 15 and under. This marks the second straight year that Tanaka has served as a coach for USA?Volleyball, working with the USA Youth National A2 program during the summer of 2006.
Each region will be represented and compete against other regions from around the country and teams from out of the country. Training for the 2007 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships is slated to begin on July 16 and run through July 21st. The tournament championships are slated for July 22-26 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"I am very excited for the opportunity to represent TCU on a national scale with the USA Select Girls' A1 program," said Tanaka. "I will get the opportunity to work with some of the top 50 youth players in the country and I am honored that I will be able to help these players with their future in volleyball. Since our program is only 11 years old, it is great that we can be involved with USA Volleyball and the community."
There are forty Regions of USA Volleyball across the United States. Each of these Regions has the option of operating a "regional arm" of the National High Performance Program. These Regional Programs can hold athlete tryouts, run camps and enter competitive regional teams into the US High Performance Championships held in mid-late July of each year.
Regional HP Programs are separate and distinct from the National HP program in their specific operations. However, the National Program offers guidance and assistance to these programs to ensure that certain standards are met and that coaching staffs are well versed in training principles and methods of the US National Team. Region HIP Programs are seen as part of the National Team Pipeline. These programs have grown, developed and evolved in recent years in response to the interests of athletes, regions and coaches.
In 2006, USA Volleyball and the NCVA hosted the first-ever Boys' US High Performance Championships in Sacramento. In 2007, the boys' tournament will take place concurrently with the girls' tournament in Fort Lauderdale. The only boys' division offered will be International Youth.
