Puerto Prueba Summer 1999

 
Top Row:
 Keenan Whitehurst, Guillermo Donaldo Harris, Brian Bowers, Thomas Duke, Mike Duckworth, Chris "Tiffer" Guigliano, Steven Loeswick
Bottom Row:
 Jason Kepner, Zach Pelzel
Not Pictured:
 Ivan Marquez (Guest Coach), Tim Kelly (Assistant Coach), Chris Walmer

Chris Walmer's Journal Donny Harris Puerto Rico Journal

 

Bring It USA took a top team of American players to Puerto Rico to play against the Puerto Rican National Team and various top club teams for a week. As guests of the FPV (Puerto Rican Volleyball Federation), Bring It showed off 12 players for the Puerto Rican Superior League and also spared with the National Team as they began summer preparations for the NORSECA zone qualifiers for Sydney 2000.

For the following season (April - June 2000), the Puerto Rican Superior League will hire ten "foreign" players from Bring It to play in the league for the first time. American men have been trying to get into the league for years and this opportunity is a first.

The ten players will be selected in a draft of players spotlighted in three events. Each drafted player will receive a set base salary which will include airfare to San Juan, housing, insurance, all transfer fees, and a wage for the 2 month season + playoffs. The first of these events is the Puerto Prueba at the end of July '99 and other two will be in the spring of 2000; a tour in early spring and a player draft combine in late spring which will occur the week before the actual draft.

The Bring It team includes the following players:

  • Steve Loeswick - setter, USC '97, Moers (D) '98
  • Curt Vaughan - setter, Hawaii '98, USA Team '98, Zorgvliet (B) '99
  • Chris (Tiffer) Guigliano - outside hitter, USC '97, Vrevok (NL) '98, Bilzen (B) '99
  • Donny Harris - outside hitter, UCSB '97, USA "B" '98, Lanaken (B) '98
  • Mike Duckworth - outside hitter, George Mason '98, Amakim (Israel) '98
  • Zach Pelzel - outside hitter, UCI '95, Cartegena (E) '99
  • Chris Walmer - outside hitter, LBSU '98, VK Orkelljunga (S) '99
  • Jason Kepner - outside hitter, Penn State '97, USA "B" '98, Vrevok (NL) '98
  • Brian Bowers - middle, Rutgers U. '98, Arizona U. '99
  • Tom Duke - middle, USC '89, USA Team 1989-91, Link (NL) '94-8, Vrevok (NL) '98
  • Keenan Whitehurst - middle, Stanford '98, Cabezon (E) '99