Who's who of volleyball coming to Salt Lake
Nation's top players to compete in girls championships
It will be Utah's largest sporting event since the 2002 Winter Olympics. Some 800 of the best junior volleyball players from around the country will be competing daily. Two of the best players from Utah will play in this nine-day event.
Airial Salvo, a senior from Viewmont, will play in the Junior Championships this summer and then go overseas with the Junior National Team to play in the World Championships. She's being compared to Olympian Logan Tom. The former Highland High National Player of the Year and Stanford All-American also competed in the Junior World Championships in 1999.
Alta's Sydney Anderson is also part of the regional team. She plans to play for the University of Utah and is considered the top setter in the state.
Kim Norman is the executive director of Intermountain Volleyball and says this competition will bring out the best players in the state.
"If you look at my roster, you'll see it's a who's who of volleyball in the state of Utah," Norman said. "You know all of a sudden we're (Utah) developing some really great players and that's what makes this event so great."
The Utah Sports Commission and Intermountain Volleyball are acting as partners along with the Downtown Alliance. They needed to guarantee USA Volleyball funds of $100,000 before any kind of agreement could be reached. That's small potatoes when you compare it against the state of Utah's expected economic impact numbers. The regulators estimate a windfall of $40 million going into the state's economy.
Even more volleyball is scheduled for later in the summer. The U.S. Global Challenge will take place from July 23-28. This international event will include teams from China, Russia and Slovenia. Westminster College will provide housing for the teams and serve as a mini-Olympic Village. Norman says the Global Challenge will return every other year. Next year, it will be held in Venice, Italy.
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