Dante Chakravorti called the upcoming week he’ll spend with the United States’ Youth National Training Team a “dream scenario.”
The Glencoe resident, who’s one of the best setters in the U.S., will be able to choose from four of the country’s most talented hitters each time the ball touches his fingertips.
“All four options on the floor at all times are guys that I can go to when I know I need the point, so that’s a huge advantage, especially competitively,” said Chakravorti, a senior-to-be at New Trier.
Being surrounded by that type of talent is an ideal situation for any setter, but it comes with a catch. Members of the training team, who begin practicing together Monday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are vying to make the 12-person USA Youth National Team. Chakravorti is competing with three other setters for a spot on the Youth National team, and separating oneself requires much more than just being able to find the hot hitter on the court.
The other setters “are all going to be able to do the basic things that would normally set a setter apart in a high school tryout or a club tryout,” Chakravorti said. “For this team, I think the big thing is who’s going to run this system the best — who’s going to fit with this team.”
He added: “It’s about finding that next-level stuff — different system stuff, different attacking stuff — that can help this team the best.”
For Chakravorti, developing on-court chemistry with a slew of new hitters will have to come quickly. The Youth National team tryouts are scheduled to last from July 7-13, with the NORCECA U19 Continental Championship beginning on July 14 in Tulsa. That’s a short amount of time to develop the type of precise timing that can take weeks to cultivate during the high school or club campaigns.
Chakravorti has a couple built-in advantages, however. First, he said he’s familiar with the majority of the 19 players who are trying out for the Youth National team as a result of playing for USA Volleyball’s Select A1 teams in previous summers.
Moreover, he’s played for a variety of coaches, in a number of different systems and with many different players in recent years. He’s grown used to adapting to new teammates quickly, which should help him adjust rapidly and make a good impression during his time with the training team.
“He plays on multiple different teams — from high school to club to the national team,” said, Kevin Lada, Chakravorti’s coach at Vortex VBC. “Being able to have that experience … definitely helps him excel on that front.”
Chakravorti added: “It’s all about adapting and figuring out how to work with each guy individually.”
