Volleyball athletes from all over British Columbia have started taking matters into their own hands. Specifically, by using their smart phones to create content for Team BC's Volleyball Virtual Tryout on GMTM.
The recent pandemic that has mandated social distancing across Canada made hosting team volleyball events almost impossible. So, British Columbia's most-elite junior teams have gone online, hosting a Virtual Tryout athletes can submit film to while quarantining at home or social distancing at the local gym.
The Volleyball BC Program, an affiliate of Team BC, sponsors 4 divisions of Men's and Women's indoor and beach volleyball teams who compete nationally throughout the year.
Using GMTM, Team BC Volleyball coaches are able to watch submissions from players from every corner of the province, evaluate their talent, and invite athletes with the most potential to in-person development camps.
The event, which runs from April 16, 2021 to May 21, 2021, was inspired by the success of Volleyball Canada's Virtual NEP Identification earlier in 2021.
For that event, hundreds of male and female volleyball athletes from across Canada submitted videos in hopes of being selected for Volleyball Canada's National Excellence Program, a semester-long development program for Canada's top youth players.
Two Team BC Select teams are hosting a 2021 Virtual Tryout on GMTM. They include the Team BC Select 18U Virtual Tryout- for athletes born in 2003 or later - and Team BC Select 17U – for athletes born in 2004 or later.
The 2021 program will identify and select two training groups (17U & 18U) per gender and the top prospects in each group will be invited to train with Team BC in July.
This is the top program for athletes in the Team BC High Performance Pathway, most of which have their sights on representing Canada in international competition.
In fact, two alumni of the Team BC Volleyball program (Jamie Broder and Fred Winters, both from Victoria, BC) were selected to compete for Canada in the most recent Summer Olympic Games in Brazil.
Details On How To Submit Your Virtual Tryout
To be considered for one of the BC select teams, male and female athletes have to be from British Columbia and fall into either of the sgr groups. For the 18U Team, athletes must be born in 2003 or later. For the 17U Team, athletes must be born in 2003 or later.
The online event costs $40.00 to compete in and includes 14 individual activities that showcase different metrics.
To submit to each activity, athletes need to create a GMTM profile, click on the Men's or Women's Virtual Tryout, then record videos and upload them to the event. After that, coaches will have access to each athletes uploaded content and start searching for the best youth Volleyball talent in British Columbia.
Each of the four teams (Men's 17U & 18 U and Women's 17U & 18 U) will include 18 athletes. Each athlete will be invited to train with Team BC and prepare for national competitions later this summer.
Full program details can be found on the Team BC Select Website.
