Prep Dig Nebraska's 17s "Dream Team" for Club Season

OK, before you read any further please make sure to understand the following: this is not an “all-state” team for the club season nor is it designed to honor the 16 best players during the club season. I want to make sure that’s very clear. Now, here is a breakdown of what the Prep Dig Nebraska 17s Dream Team for club is. It’s a hypothetical look at what I, Berk Brown, would do if I were in charge of putting together a “Dream Team” from Nebraska to compete at the national championships. It’s well documented how successful Nebraska teams are during the club season at the national level. What is even more amazing, however, is the fact that a state with a population of roughly 1.9 million people can divide its talent up among five-ish clubs that are able to compete at the national level. Now, THAT is amazing. Plus, consider most of those club teams are dominated by Omaha and Lincoln area players, so the clubs are really only drawing from a population base of closer to 1.2-1.3 million. Now, consider that the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area has roughly 3.2 million people with about three clubs drawing from that pool. The Kansas City metro area has roughly 2.3 million to pull from and Denver has about 2.8 million. That’s just comparing the Midwest area, not even taking into account Chicago, Southern California, Texas, Florida, etc. I think you get my drift. So, what if Nebraska consolidated all of its talent into a top team to compete at nationals – hypothetically, of course. What if Nebraska were on an equal footing with all the other national powers when it came to the size of the talent pool it had to draw from. Well, I’m biased, but such an entity would bring home A LOT of hardware – and I’m talking at the Open level here. It’s with that thought that I give to you what I think a “Dream Team” from Nebraska would look like. Of course, since this is all hypothetical anyway, I’m going to do things a little differently. So, if I were in charge of this hypothetical club, I would have different hypothetical ways of doing things. First, I’m taking 16 kids on each team. Traditionally teams from Nebraska have 10 players – sometimes more, but USAV restricts your roster. But, here is what drives me crazy about roster restrictions. Teams are picked before Thanksgiving and that’s your team until the 4th of July. That’s crazy to me. You’re telling me that after six or seven full months that the top 10 kids you picked back in November are still your 10 best players? What about injuries? What about kids you develop quickly or simply have the light go on and really flourish? Anyways, I’m taking 16 kids because I want kids to not get burned out. I want kids to play multiple sports in high school, which will cancel out a lot of availability for tournaments, etc. Second, each one of the 16 kids will have a defined role on the team. Nobody sits the bench in consecutive matches. My goal isn’t to win all season long, my singular goal is to make kids better each and every day all the way through the season. I’m not going to care about winning tournaments except at nationals. I’m going to showcase all my kids for college coaches. Every single person on the team has a job and it will be vital to the team. Finally, when it comes time to turn in a roster for nationals, I’m entering two teams of eight. I’ve spent the previous six or seven months finding out who works best with who, getting everyone quality touches in big matches and I’m likely taking the eight hottest players at the moment on my A team and the remainder on my B team, but both would play Open at nationals and I would expect both would be capable of winning it. So, without further ado, if I could have put together an 17s “Dream Team” for nationals this year, it would have looked like this. When putting this team together, I'm immediately concerned about the lack of a 6'2 or taller big hitter on the outside that so many of the national powers playing in the Open divisions have at this age group. But, I think we easily overcome that with an array of some of the best shot makers in the state who just know how to terminate. That starts on the outside with Kelsie Cada (Bishop Neumann) and continues on with Skutt Catholic's Megan Skovsende (who has to play up because of her age), Jaden Ferguson (Lincoln Southwest) and Hailey Zuroske (Omaha Marian). If you're wondering how in the world Skutt Catholic's Lily Heyne isn't among the group, it's because I need her ability in the middle along with Wahoo's Kyla Swanson and Johnson-Brock's Fallon Stutheit. One of the things that intrigues me the most with this group is that it would allow you to tinker with what Stutheit might look like as a pin hitter, something she's never been in high school or club but that I personally think she could be really, really good at. I know she's still out with back issues, but I would want Emma Grunkemeyer on the right side and we're just going to go with the plan that she's hypothetically healthy for this hypothetical team. And, I love the idea of having Red Cloud's 6'2 setter/RS Mary Nibbe here as well. At setter, I'm going to take Mara LeGrand (Papillion-LaVista South) and Sami Clarkson (Omaha Concordia) knowing either one can run a 5-1 at the Open level. But, also give me Hope Leimbach (Lincoln Lutheran) because she's just going to find a way to make the team better. Where I'm really going to crush opposing teams is by mentally wearing them down with a back row that will eat bullets better than Wonder Woman's forearm shied things. If you give me Jaiden Centeno (Millard West), Erin Williams (Lincoln Lutheran), Jordan McCormick (Elkhorn South) and Jessie Brandl (Stanton) we're going to have a chance to beat anyone. So, here’s your fictional “Dream Team” for 17s Kelsie Cada, 6'0, OH, Bishop Neumann (VCNebraska) - committed to Wayne State Megan Skovsende, 6'0, OH, Skutt Catholic (Premier) - committed to Creighton Jaden Ferguson, 6'0, OH, Lincoln Southwest (Nebraska Juniors) - committed to Northwest Missouri State Hailey Zuroske, 6'0, OH, Omaha Marian (Premier) - committed to Wyoming Kyla Swanson, 6'3, MH, Wahoo (VCNebraska) - committed to Illinois Lily Heyne, 6'1, OH/MH, Skutt Catholic (Nebraska Elite) - committed to Tulsa Fallon Stutheit, 6'1, MH/OH, Johnson-Brock (Nebraska ONE) - committed to Nebraska Emma Grunkemeyer, 6'3, RS/MH, Millard North (Nebraska Elite) - committed to Iowa Mary Nibbe, 6'3, RS/Setter, Red Cloud (Innovation) - committed to Concordia University Mara LeGrand, 5'10, Setter, Papillion-LaVista South (Nebraska Juniors) - committed to Regis University Sami Clarkson, 5'11, Setter, Omaha Concordia (Premier) - committed to Omaha Hope Leimbach, 5'6, Setter, Lincoln Lutheran (Nebraska ONE) - committed to Midland University Jaiden Centeno, 5'7, Libero/DS, Millard West (Premier) - committed to Iowa State Erin Williams, 5'5, Libero/DS, Lincoln Lutheran (Nebraska ONE) - committed to Omaha Jordan McCormick, 5'10, Libero/DS, Elkhorn South (Nebraska Elite) - committed to Wayne State Jessie Brandl, 5'8, Libero/DS, Stanton (Stanton Juniors) - committed to Wayne State