Siblings represent Team USA

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Fourteen-year-old Kiersten Varga has grown up admiring her older brother Cameron, 17. Over the years, she’s watched him become one of the nation’s elite baseball players, and looked up to him for his accomplishments both on and off of the field.

As the younger of the two siblings, Kiersten has followed in the footsteps of her older brother — forgoing basketball and instead, focusing first on gymnastics and now on volleyball.

Kiersten has jokingly tried to show her brother up whenever the chance presents itself, but in a household that features a father who played professional basketball in Spain and a brother who plays for IMG Academy and has Major League Baseball aspirations, those opportunities are somewhat few and far between.

But this past summer, Kiersten hit a whole new level, and Cameron and the rest of the country have taken notice.

Kiersten, who plays both indoor and beach volleyball, was invited to tryout for both the USA U17 National indoor and beach volleyball teams.

After a long indoor club volleyball season, Kiersten decided to tryout for the beach volleyball team and spent the summer competing for Team USA where she won a silver medal in the U17 division.

“I was really excited,” Kiersten said. “It was a (shock). I feel really blessed. To represent Team USA was an honor. It was a great experience, and I had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to next year.”

Kiersten only began playing volleyball two years ago after deciding to forgo her competitive gymnastics career.

“I lost my full interest in the sport,” Kiersten said. “I went to a volleyball camp and I loved it. I knew I wanted to do it. It was amazing.”

It didn’t take long for Kiersten to develop a natural talent for the sport, but both she and her older brother were a little surprised at how quickly she took to the sport.

“I was a little bit surprised, but I was so happy for her,” Cameron said.

Not to be outdone by his sister, Cameron spent the summer competing for his own opportunity to represent the United States. Cameron was one of 144 players from across the country selected to participate in the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars in June, at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Following the first round, Cameron was placed on the 40-man 18U National Team Trials roster. Cameron advanced to the final round of 28 where the final 20 players would be named.

“I was excited,” Cameron said. “I thought it would be an honor to represent my country and just the whole experience would be awesome. I feel like I’ve played good thus far, so I just need to stick with what I know how to do. All I can do is continue to do my best. It would be an honor just to have that name (USA) across my chest,” Cameron said.

Cameron began playing baseball when he was 4 years old, but it wasn’t until he was about 11 years old that he decided to concentrate solely on baseball. He started attending IMG Academy last year in hopes of elevating his game to the next level.

“I wanted to put all of my focus into baseball,” Cameron said. “I think they have the best facilities over there and it’s really close to us.”

Cameron was scheduled to fly to California Aug. 16 with the hope of representing the U.S. in the IBAF Junior AAA/18U World Championships in Seoul, South Korea, but a sprained ankle forced him to stay home.

“This is definitely devastating to him, but he understands the importance of proper recovery,” his mother, Kristie Varga, said.

Cameron will return to IMG this fall for his senior year with the hopes of eventually playing professional baseball. 

“I’ve always seen myself playing professionally,” Cameron said. “I would hope that my hard work pays off.”

Kiersten will begin preparing for another club volleyball season before trying out for Team USA again next year

“I want to go to the Olympics,” said Kiersten, who met three-time Olympic beach volleyball champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings earlier this year. “It’s what I want to do.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].