The Tokyo summer Olympics start next month and 2 former Rocky Mountain Region members will be playing for Team USA! Jordyn Poulter who played for Front Range Volleyball Club and Haleigh Washington who played for Colorado Juniors, will get to compete together in pursuit of a Gold Medal. Here is what their former clubs had to say.
Jordyn Poulter submitted by Jim Miret
Jordyn Poulter was named to the USA Women’s Volleyball 2021 Tokyo Olympics roster in early June 2021.
We have been fortunate to have many driven, competitive, hard-working athletes go through the Front Range Volleyball Club and Jordyn was certainly one of the best.
Jordyn played at Front Range from age eleven through her senior year in high school. During that time, she set four teams to win Open-qualifying bids to the USAV JNC’s. She received AAU All-American and USAV All-American honors her senior year, while setting Front Range 18-1 Black to a 3rd and 5th place finish respectively in the 18 Open division.
Jordyn is an intense competitor, and one of the hardest working players we have had at Front Range. During her club career she spent hundreds of hours training each season as she worked on perfecting the skills of volleyball and specifically, setting. Jordyn is an effective team leader and wonderful person off the court. While she can display an intense demeanor in competition, off the court she is lighthearted and funny. She is supportive of her teammates and enjoys a good laugh just as much as anyone.
One of my favorite memories of Jordyn happened during her senior year. We had a team issue arise, and instead of feeding into the drama created by the issue she said she wanted to work to make sure the current event would not affect the team or become a distraction. Jordyn said: “Jim, we are all on the same team and we all have the same goals. This will not be an issue.” That kind of leadership is very special, and no doubt will be a valuable asset that Jordyn will bring to Team USA in Tokyo. We at Front Range Volleyball wish Jordyn and every member of the USA Volleyball Teams the best of luck at the Olympics in Tokyo!J
Haleigh Washington submitted by Judy Peer:
Haleigh Washington - what a journey! From Clear Creek, Colorado - she drove over an hour down to Colorado Juniors to “check us out” after she was discovered at a Regis Univ camp. I can’t say it was love at first site for her - but it was for us! We knew she was a special athlete, with special gifts as a human as well. She asked us if we thought she could play at Penn State - her dream school - when she was 15. Clearly a yes, from us! She committed to Penn State - after a camp her freshman summer and family visit the next summer. She played on various USA youth and junior national teams along the way, as well as being named the country’s top college recruit as a senior. Three time first team NCAA All-American, NCAA champion, numerous BIG conference honors - quite a collegiate career. USA volleyball came calling - and she answered the call. She’s been on many USA rosters and played professionally in England and Italy - but being named an Olympian is the top! An absolutely “team first” athlete - could not have happened to a more deserving individual. We are all so proud of her - these things take a village - and she’s got quite the village behind her!
