Samuel Dabney '23 Recruiting Profile

Hi, I'm Sammy, I'm an American citizen living abroad. I am 6 foot 5 inches. I live in the UK and fully plan to go to college in the United States. I don't plan to apply to any UK schools or any outside of the US. I have been playing volleyball for 3 years and I think have made significant progress. I play for Richmond Volleyball Club and my school's team. My main position is OH but I am able to play Outside if needed. I would like to pursue a sports scholarship and continue to compete at a high level. I think I would make a good candidate due to my ability to learn. Over the course of 3 years, I went from a person who had barely heard of volleyball to an English National Champion.  I'm a hard worker and am always looking to improve. I love learning from someone who's better than me, it allows me to develop faster as well as create a positive team environment. Academically, I have gone through the IB system for my entire life. I have always strived to be one of the best. I think this is reflected in my awards as well as transcripts. For those who know the IB, in 10th grade, I had a GPA of above 6.0 for the entire time. Currently, I have 6s in my HL subjects and am in the top 10% for math. Below I have written a short story about my introduction to volleyball, I hope that through my writing you can grasp a sliver of my character. Overall, I try to be positive even when I've had a tough day. If you need someone to be there for you, I try to be that person. In all of the teams I have played for, I have developed positive relationships with all of the players. they are some of my best friends. I would like to think I'm funny, but that's for you to decide. In conclusion, I would love to continue playing volleyball in college. A scholarship is what I would be looking for, and finally, I think I can fundamentally change the locker room and brighten your day. 

Sammy,

A little story, feel free to ignore it if it's too long. 

I first found volleyball in the 8th grade, when my best friend came up to me and said, "look dude you're super tall, you should join middle school volleyball." Honestly, I had never considered playing volleyball before, I had only recently gotten into competitive sports, so men's volleyball wasn't on my list of potential sports I must admit. But, nonetheless, I joined, and I guess my coach saw something in me because before I knew it I was a full-time starter. Being one of the only kids in middle school over 6 feet, volleyball was an amazing fit. Over time I realized that men's volleyball was my key to college, basketball was overpopulated, and I was way behind in other sports. I grew to love playing and would actively recruit friends and cute girls to come and join. 

I was in an amazing position in 9th grade because I was kinda a shoo-in for our varsity team. Except I wasn't because of a small rule our school had. You see, seniors in my school had free passage onto ANY varsity team, and unfortunately for me, there was a less than capable senior who just so happened to play volleyball. Don't get me wrong, he was an amazing guy, just maybe not the best varsity player available, I digress. This meant that all of the spots were filled and I was forced to go down to JV. I guess my consolation prize being captain and learning how to evolve my skills on JV. All said and done, I won MVP for that season, plus the varsity coach pulled me up for the last month of the season so all's well that ends well. 

10th grade rolls around and well COVID has ruined this season's travel. I was the #2 middle and was progressing nicely now that I was privileged to be playing on a higher-level team. We played 1 away game and won, this would sadly be it for my volleyball career in that school. 

Cut to 11th grade and a brand new school, I was transferred to outside/opposite, unfortunately, we have a severely lacking volleyball squad and that meant that development was limited. However, we persevered and our unlikely squad stumbled our way into LSSA's DIII tournament where we proved that we could play as a team and dominate. Previously to this, we had lost every season game by at least 10 points, we were demoralized and couldn't bear another series of defeats. We went into it full of confidence because we knew we had nothing to lose, somehow we came third and it was a great conclusion to the season. 

During my 11th grade year, I joined the best volleyball club in the UK, Richmond Volleyball Club. This was my primary club and I would learn a lot from them. Because there's a lot I'll shorten it a bit, essentially we won everything. We dominated at a thanksgiving tournament, never dropping a set. I had a handful of blocks and at least 3 kills playing my primary position as opposite. Additionally, in the UK around April Nationals happen. Our run to the nationals was a breeze, we played three qualifier tournaments, winning all, and never dropping a set. Here I would be playing middle due to my height, but I am projected to play on U18 As, next year as our #1 opposite.  Anyway, the finals were one of the best experiences I've ever had, we won 3-1 in a best of five. I guess that means that I'm the #2 middle in the country...

The week after I played for the city of London for Inter-regionals where we took 2nd place. Finally, the week after I played in my first ever beach tournament with school and came in 2nd again. But I did win MVP so there's that. 

I hope you enjoyed my life story and this gives you an indication of my character through my writing. I try to have a good time always and try to be the life of the team if I can.