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ADDISON – Addison 14-year-old Caira Williams is anxious for high school, but first she has a volleyball-filled summer that will take her everywhere from Orlando to Italy.
"I know it's going to be really hard," Caira said about an upcoming training camp in Las Vegas.
She recently found out she qualified for the USA Volleyball High Performance program, which aligns perfectly with her Olympic ambitions.
When asked about when she set her sights on achieving the elite honor, the candid teen answers "fourth grade" without hesitation.
After trying out for a club team, Caira quickly found her passion. Watching the U.S. women's volleyball team lose the gold medal to Brazil in 2012 just inspired her more. She admired the professional players.
"All the girls were like 10 feet tall," Caira said.
She finally got the opportunity to meet one of her favorite players Destinee Hooker at a camp she hosted in Niles last summer.
"They look really fierce on TV, then you meet them and they're just all calm," Caira said.
Even though she recalls Hooker was pregnant at the time and didn't do too much demonstrating herself, the camp was a fast-paced challenge – a challenge the young player rose to quickly by moving to practice with the 18-year-old group after an impressive serve.
Fueled by her competitive nature and personal drive to succeed, Caira is determined to prove herself next school year at Addison Trail High School. She already has her sights set on the varsity team.
While she has proven her skill by making the USA High Performance program, she doesn't rely on natural talent.
"It's not easy. It's really hard," said Caira, who played on her school team at Indian Trail Junior High School, a club team called Lions Jrs. 14 Red and an Addison Girls Sports Program team, all with overlapping seasons.
And those seasons keep her busy.
"There were several consecutive weeks where Caira played seven days a week," said her father, Jeff Funderburg.
During rare free minutes when she's not practicing for her Olympic dreams, Caira plays violin and does her homework.
Anxious to play with a competitve high school team, Caira understands some of her peers only play for fun. Still, she thought maybe she could encourage more girls to pursue volleyball as more than just a unit in gym class.
"Maybe because they think they're bad or people say they're bad, they just don't want to play," Caira said.
She wants to start a training camp for younger girls to help improve their skills. She thinks if girls see themselves improve, they might want to compete like she does.
Her skills have earned her a trip to Italy with a group of other volleyball players from across the United States. The group of girls will travel the country and play against teams from other nations.
Eventually, she plans to do the same on Team USA.
"You're in a country that you don't even know and you're playing ... other countries. That would be cool," Caira said.
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