Sport camps and clinics are very common in the US. Only recently, stars Micah Christenson and the Shoji brothers held one in Hawaii, for example. However, that is not the norm in the rest of the world, as most countries develop their players in a club model, instead. However, after playing for a season with former Team USA star Nicole Fawcett, Brazilian opposite hitter Andreia Sforzin decided the idea was such a good one, that she would bring it to Brazil. Thus, she gave birth to AS Volleyball Camp, and is even contemplating retiring from professional sports all together to focus on her new venture, according to an interview given to Blog Saída de Rede:
“Fawcett told me how these camps were cool for teenagers and asked if there was anything like it here in Brazil. When she heard that there was not, she encouraged me and gave me lots of ideas, as did her parents, who were also volleyball coaches. Many of us athletes fall by parachute in the middle of the older players in our first seasons, without knowing how things work, with no specific coaching.
Today the project is still private, but I hope to have supporters for the upcoming events in the future. I can not say for sure that I will not play this season, either here in Brazil or abroadt! But it’s really not my focus or my will, I have a 7-year-old son who suffers and demands his mother’s presence. I am 35-years-old and miss him so much during team trips! My choices are based on his needs, and being with him is a real need, I do not like to make my son have a nomadic lifestyle like us athletes, I want him to create roots and bonds, to have a stable structure in life.”
Coach Paulo de Tarso, who won an Olympic gold medal with Brazil’s national team at the 1992 Games, will be one of the project heads alongside Andreia. Will the idea catch on?
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