George Washington University Athletics
Holmes Represents U.S. at NORCECA Continental Championship
9/10/2018 3:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Colonials’ assistant coach helps team qualify for 2019 U18 World Championship
WASHINGTON - GW volleyball assistant coach Nicki Holmes recently donned the red, white, and blue while serving as a coach for the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as part of the NORCECA Continental Championship. It marked the third such international tournament in which Holmes has taken part.
"Anytime you get to represent your country," Holmes said, "there's something to be said about playing for a bigger cause or purpose. In any role I can do that, it's just a wonderful opportunity. I think it's equally important to take those experiences and then bring them back home to GW."
Holmes has been involved with Team USA for the last 13 years and has had the opportunity to represent the country overseas at tournaments in Puerto Rico and Italy. But this experience was unlike any other.
"Honduras was great," Holmes said. "The Hondurian government was great to us in terms of support and hosting us. There were a lot of little things that you could tell were taken care of by the government to make sure that the environment was safe and good for competition. It was first class all the way through."
The team, comprised primarily of high school sophomores and juniors, went through an annual process to be selected. Holmes took part in the whittling down of the roster from approximately 20 players in June to the final 12 that went to Honduras.
Most of the other teams the U.S. squared off against held an advantage of competing together for elongated periods of time.
"What's unique about the United States is that we go through a tryout process annually at the youth level," Holmes said. "It's extraordinarily tough because you clearly have this team issue where they don't know each other, but more importantly, you have all these teams that have kids who have played professionally at their age.
"There's that dual challenge of them facing really tight-knit teams that have been together, and then you add on them being in a foreign land and dealing with challenges that would be normal for any travel."
The American team overcame those supposed disadvantages to roar through the tournament, going 5-0 without dropping a single set. Only one team, Canada in the championship match, recorded more than 17 points in a set. As a result, the team qualified for the 2019 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship to be held in Cairo, Egypt next summer.
Holmes is hopeful that he will be able to once again to take part in representing his country on the world stage.
"It's so wonderful that (head coach) Sarah (Bernson) and (Director of Athletics and Recreation) Tanya (Vogel) allowed me to go," Holmes said. "Hopefully we can impact our GW student-athletes in some small way. It's going to help us be better volleyball players and better owners of the game. Anytime you get an opportunity to play high level volleyball and see that, it's well worth it as a coach."
"Anytime you get to represent your country," Holmes said, "there's something to be said about playing for a bigger cause or purpose. In any role I can do that, it's just a wonderful opportunity. I think it's equally important to take those experiences and then bring them back home to GW."
Holmes has been involved with Team USA for the last 13 years and has had the opportunity to represent the country overseas at tournaments in Puerto Rico and Italy. But this experience was unlike any other.
"Honduras was great," Holmes said. "The Hondurian government was great to us in terms of support and hosting us. There were a lot of little things that you could tell were taken care of by the government to make sure that the environment was safe and good for competition. It was first class all the way through."
The team, comprised primarily of high school sophomores and juniors, went through an annual process to be selected. Holmes took part in the whittling down of the roster from approximately 20 players in June to the final 12 that went to Honduras.
Most of the other teams the U.S. squared off against held an advantage of competing together for elongated periods of time.
"What's unique about the United States is that we go through a tryout process annually at the youth level," Holmes said. "It's extraordinarily tough because you clearly have this team issue where they don't know each other, but more importantly, you have all these teams that have kids who have played professionally at their age.
"There's that dual challenge of them facing really tight-knit teams that have been together, and then you add on them being in a foreign land and dealing with challenges that would be normal for any travel."
The American team overcame those supposed disadvantages to roar through the tournament, going 5-0 without dropping a single set. Only one team, Canada in the championship match, recorded more than 17 points in a set. As a result, the team qualified for the 2019 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship to be held in Cairo, Egypt next summer.
Holmes is hopeful that he will be able to once again to take part in representing his country on the world stage.
"It's so wonderful that (head coach) Sarah (Bernson) and (Director of Athletics and Recreation) Tanya (Vogel) allowed me to go," Holmes said. "Hopefully we can impact our GW student-athletes in some small way. It's going to help us be better volleyball players and better owners of the game. Anytime you get an opportunity to play high level volleyball and see that, it's well worth it as a coach."
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