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Get Scouted Scouting CareersThe West Coast volleyball world will revolve around Oregon this weekend.
NSR area director and volleyball vertical co-leader, Kari Chavez (Washington), will lead a strong contingency of NSR scouts at the Matt Hartner Memorial Volleyball Classic on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.
This major tournament will host 232 teams in 18U and 16U brackets. It is very special, personally as well as professionally, to Chavez. She coached against the tournament’s namesake and knew his reputation as a driving force for volleyball in the state of Oregon and in the region as well.
Chavez explains, “Matt Hartner was the son of Jim Hartner, the tournament’s director. Matt passed away in his sleep in 2014 at the age of 30. He was instrumental in the creation of the Oregon MLK Classic held at the University of Oregon which is now named in his honor.”
The tournament runs for three days every year over Martin Luther King Jr weekend. College coaches from all over flock to this event, it being the Northwest’s elite volleyball event. This year coaches will attend from as far away as Florida and Texas,” Chavez said.
Chavez sees this year’s tournament as an especially significant growth opportunity for NSR.
“Jim Hartner has been asked by numerous recruiting services to be a part of this fabulous tournament,” declared Chavez. “All have been turned down. I have played against him and coached against him as well as recruited athletes of his while an assistant coach at Gonzaga (University). We have known each other for many years.”
“I took my club team to this tournament last year and saw first hand what an amazing experience this is for high school athletes to compete at a university like UO in front of so many college coaches,” Chavez said. “When I approached Jim by email a few months ago, he immediately had me call him to discuss NSR and he was sold.”
“Jim loved the fact that we are local scouts that will help guide the athletes through the process and promote them to schools that are a good fit,” Chavez said. “He also loved that we are not open enrollment and that we evaluate talent along with making sure the athletes have the grades and the work ethic to play at the next level.”
Chavez added, “The entire volleyball community of clubs and colleges respect Jim so much. The fact that this tournament is named after his late son is even more meaningful now. Matt was a huge role model in the volleyball community,” Chavez confessed. “He coached club for Northwest Oregon Juniors, one of the premier clubs in the country. We are very privileged to be a part of this event and I feel very honored that Jim is welcoming us with open arms to come in and help as many athletes as possible.”
The partnership has gotten off to an exciting start.
“We are going into this tournament to scout and evaluate as many prospects as possible. We currently have 40-plus scout-me forms, so our team will be busy,” Chavez said.
“It’s me, Jackie Arnold (Oregon), Rebecca Bosma (Washington) and Kayla Mainer (Washington) scouting. I’ll be posting our faces on a new social media post tomorrow,” Chavez explained. “We will fly in and set up on Friday and then scout from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 pm Saturday, Sunday and from 8:00 until 5:00 Monday. We need to be sure we are meeting up with as many college coaches as possible for our athletes, but also finding upcoming needs for their programs,” Chavez said.
“Every time I go to a big tournament I speak with a bunch of coaches about NSR and why they should use us. I try to educate as many of them as possible. This has led to a number of them reaching out to me before the tournament asking if I have athletes going. It’s been a good thing for all of us at NSR,” Chavez declared.
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National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.