COLUMBUS, OH - The Yorktowne volleyball club is now in it's 21st season. Their reputation precedes them as they routinely collect the best talent in Pennsylvania.
Sports director Todd Sadowski shines the spotlight on the local club competing in the U.S.A. Volleyball Boys Junior Nationals.
"It started out with us trying to go out and bring the athletes into the program but now the program itself is doing the work and the athletes are actually helping us out and they are bringing in the guys that they want to play with to put the best team together to compete against the best in the country." Those are words of Josh Brenneman, the Yorktowne volleyball club director
At the u-18 level, that includes star players like Cole Johnson from Central York and Cole Brilhart of Northeastern. They are fierce competitors during the high school regular season, but here on the same floor with a common goal, to be the best club team in the country says Johnson.
"It was kind of tough because right after the season ended, some people had grudges on other people because they beat them. That's kind of the cool part of this, we're building a relationship and team chemistry thru the winter and stuff like that"
A two and a half hour drive to practice is not uncommon for some of the Yorktowne kids. Seth Fine plays at Parkland High School near Allentown in the Lehigh Valley.
"Pennsylvania is a strong volleyball hub and York especially. Yorktowne always has strong teams out here, it's very fun to be under a Yorktowne team and we're showing out there, we're doing well."
Coach Kevin Ecklund, knows he has a dedicated bunch.
"Majority of our team is from District 3. York, Harrisburg, we have a couple of kids from Parkland, Emmaus out towards the Lehigh area. I'm from Harrisburg so I travel a good bit but there are some great kids."
Around 90 percent of Yorktowne kids will play in college. The regular season runs from October to March. Players then join their high school teams until the championships in June. Then it's back together to prep for the junior nationals. Which is pretty cool for guys like Cole Johnson.
"It's pretty much like a showcase, I think it was the other day, UCLA was on the side, watching me play and I'm serving and he's sitting like right there. I will look over and see little kids and other coaches and teams watching us play, so it's just cool."
"We've been putting a lot of Open teams in these divisions year after year. As you can see, watching the court,a lot of the collegiate coaches know that we are one of the best programs on the East Coast and they are coming out to watch our athletes," according to Brenneman
Reporting from Columbus,OH, Todd Sadowski FOX43 Sports