Austin Sports Center

Athletic Development Featured Player: Hannah Blood
 

Hannah Blood joined the Austin Juniors' Academy program as a sixth grader in 2014. She was a little inexperienced, but she was ready to develop her skills. On her 12U and 14U Academy teams, Hannah learned the importance of teamwork in volleyball and loved getting to scrimmage against other teams in the program. The training sessions and game-like settings helped her become more comfortable with each volleyball skill.

Hannah became so comfortable, in fact, that this year she tried out for an Austin Juniors club team and made a roster for the first time ever! While she will miss her coach and teammates on her Academy team, she is excited to say she's a member of AJV 14 Toro. Since Hannah has accomplished her goal of being a club volleyball player, she's now reaching for new heights. This year, she is hoping to improve her individual volleyball skills even more. Her ultimate goal is to finally nail a topspin serve.

Athletic Development Featured Coach: Jill Peters
 

Jill Peters was once an All-Big 12 setter for the Texas Longhorns. Now, Jill is helping to develop the next generation of athletes in the Austin Sports Center's Athletic Development program. She loves to watch the kids, including her two daughters in the program, transform from young athletes to young volleyball players as they learn the skills and see the pieces of the game connect.

"It's super important to start learning volleyball the correct way from the beginning so that you know the right technique. Then eventually, as your body gets stronger, your body will follow what you know," Jill says.

Since Jill's daughters are only 9 and 10 years old, she isn't ready for them to play club sports quite yet. She's glad she found a low-stress environment where they can learn the game with high level coaches while still allowing them the time to be multi-sport, well-rounded kids.