Young Athlete Spotlight : Selin Özdemirli

My name is Selin Ozdemirli and I am a 15 year old at the National Cathedral School. I play on the Virginia Elite 16’s team and I started playing volleyball in 4th grade. I chose volleyball because my brother Kemal started playing it and I loved watching his team play. I was chosen for the ISLA Award for my school as a setter and I was recognized on the JVA Watch List. Nemanja Rozgic played in pro teams and coached Woman’s Pro teams in Europe. He was an assistant coach at Georgetown, now he is my private coach. My goal is to continue my volleyball career in college. This year was my first year playing on my school’s varsity team and my head coach quit in the middle of the season. It was very unexpected but as a team we still continued to win games including one against SSSAS, which was my old school and they won the ISL league. Before a game, I visualize and meditate and control my breathing to calm my nerves down. Physically, my team and I do warm ups and specific stretches. Before and during tournaments, I watch what I eat. My practice schedule is 10 hours a week and every other weekend I usually have 2-3 day out of state tournaments. I would like to thank my school for all of their unconditional support as I continue my athletic career.