Reid Priddy

Son of Mechanicsville Resident on Olympic Team.

By Bruce Moore
sports@mechlocal.com
7/30/08

With the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China only a few weeks away top athletes from around the world are preparing to compete on the world stage in events as varied as track and field, gymnastics and volleyball.

Mechanicsville has its own ties to the events happening on the opposite side of the globe in the form of Richmond native, Reid Priddy.

Priddy, the son of Ash Creek’s Reverend Ken Priddy, is one of the elite athletes chosen to represent the United States as a member of the 12-man indoor volleyball team.

According to his father Ken, Reid has had a passion for the game of volleyball since he was 13 years old. “Reid was always athletic and just sort of stumbled into volleyball the summer before ninth grade, which was the beginning,” Ken said.

After high school, Reid went on to play college ball for Loyola Marymount as an outside hitter where he was voted second team All-American and Male Athlete of the Year. From there he went on to join the United States National Team. “Reid graduated on a Saturday and joined the National team on Monday morning,” Ken said.

China will not be Priddy’s first Olympic appearance. In 2004, Reid represented the United States in the Olympic Games in Greece.

When not playing competitive ball here in the U. S. Reid plays in professional European Leagues. He has played two years in Italy, two years in Greece, one year in Austria, one year in South Korea and this past year he played for Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, a European volleyball team located in Siberia, Russia.

The United States does not have a pro volleyball league so once all of the competitions are completed for the year athletes of the sport seek other alternatives in order to play the game professionally.

“Once they get to the close of the (U.S.) season, the players, on what would be considered the main roster, all head to Europe and South America to play in the Pro Leagues.” According to Ken, professional volleyball is a very popular sport in Europe. “Italy has Monday Night Volleyball games that are viewed on national television similar to the way we Americans watch Monday Night Football,” he said.

Priddy was chosen to represent the United States after his performance at the U.S. Men’s Nationals in Bloomington, Illinois, where he led all scorers with 15 points, 10 kills, three blocks and two aces. Priddy helped lead the United States to a victory against Spain by rallying the team from a 21-23 deficit to the 25-23 set victory. According to Ken Priddy the Olympic schedule will be a busy one. “The guys will play five pool matches over the first 10 days with the top eight moving to the quarter finals and the winners of those games moving on to the medal rounds.”

Men’s Volleyball begins on Aug. 10 when the United States will play Venezuela at the Capital Indoor Stadium at 12:30 p.m., followed by an August 12 match versus Italy at the same time and venue. Team USA plays Bulgaria on August 14 at 10 p.m. in the Capital Indoor Stadium. Two days later at the same start time the Americans face China at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium. The final game of the pool round will be played on August 18 versus Japan at 10 p.m. at the Capital Indoor Stadium.

Reid will have plenty of support from his home here in Richmond during the games in Beijing. A total of nine family members including his parents and three sisters plan on making the journey to root him on. “We went to Athens and we are going to this.” Ken said.