MY JOURNEY

I have played the game of volleyball since I was three years old.

From an early age, I remember spending hours upon hours practicing, bumping balloons against a wall until I could bump 10 times in a row and exchange it for an actual volleyball.  My mom, a devoted volleyball coach herself, challenged me to bump the volleyball off the wall 10 times without an error before she would pepper with me.

While her teams competed, I watched. And, during every timeout, side change or between matches, I was in a hallway somewhere working on my next challenge.

Volleyball became my passion and I have competed at every level. 

I started playing AAU at the age of eight and I won an AAU State Championship at age 11 playing on a 14-and-under team. It was my real beginning of what sisterhood was like – a group of girls/women with the same passion, who came together to compete. 

It is people like Sharon Schatz who invest a lot of time in young people, in helping them make their dreams come true.  It was that AAU experience that opened the door. I played in middle school but AAU allowed me to compete against the best volleyball players in the country.

Through AAU, I competed against the likes of Deja McClendon and Mika Hancock, met Alisha Glass on my visit to Penn State and also trained with Karch Kiraly and other Olympic players and coaches. I played for Skillz Finestthrough my senior year at Southfield High School and I was selected as an Under Armour All-American.

Although I had several offers to play collegiate volleyball, I chose Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Va.) to play college volleyball because they offered me a full ride, something I was told Libero’s do not often receive. I started as a freshman and was chosen the Atlantic 10 Libero of the year in 2013.  I played for the USA volleyball program on the Regional and Continental teams from 2009-2011 and, in February 2015, I attended the USA Women’s National Team open try-outs in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the U.S. Olympic training center where I was chosen as an alternate for the College National Team and played for the BIP/USA team at the Global European Challenge in Europe in July.

AAU volleyball exposed me to opportunities that have allowed me to see the world playing a game I love and serving my purpose.

At 22 years old, I have the best job in the world.

When you line up to take your next test, standing reach or vertical, shuffle, think about a 5-foot-2 girl, 22 years of age that had Middle’s her size when she started playing AAU at eight years old and remember these words:

When they say you didn’t touch high enough, run fastest enough or reach high enough, ask them, “Did you measure my HEART?"

Amanda Love