Amelia Quinn is a very experienced volleyball player who at 12 decided to take it to the next level. Quinn was accepted on the USA Junior Volleyball Olympic team four consecutive years. She and 40 other girls made it out of all the girls who tried out in whole United States.

Quinn has been playing for nine years.  She is on the varsity team at Liberty and plays club season when the school season is over.

“When I was younger, I was like obsessed with volleyball, that’s all I ever wanted to do,” Quinn said. “I didn’t care about hanging out with friends. I just wanted to play volleyball.”

When Quinn was 12 years old, her mom saw that the the USA volleyball tryouts were being held at the Scottrade Center, so they decided to sign up. Going into the tryout, she was super nervous, but Quinn said that she plays better under pressure.

Being only 12, it was a lot of pressure, but she did it. The event was being held at Colorado Springs, where they had an Olympic Training facility. The whole first week they just practiced everyday, later on they were put into teams to play different games with other teams around the world.

Although it was really fun for Quinn, it was hard for her in the beginning. The two weeks she was there were very busy and she was separated from her parents for a long period of time. She cried a majority of the first week dealing with not being able to see her mom very much.

“Well, first off you have to stay in dorms on a college campus, and your mom isn’t allowed to come into the dorm. They all have to stay at a different hotel. You can’t like go say hi to her at the games or anything, so basically you’re on your own.”

Not only did she get accepted the first time, but also the next three years after which wasn’t very common. Her mom was very confident she would make it, but of course was a little unsure after the first year since the chances were so slim.

Angela Quinn, Amelia’s mom said, “After her first year, I was then nervous about her making it again the next year because I was told that many girls don’t make it two years in a row and most not three years in a row.”

She was very proud of Quinn and had a fun time traveling to the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado and the other cities, watching her play with girls from all over the US.