Sigourney’s Emma Hammes Shares Experiences of Spain Trip

Soon to be senior Emma Hammes spent her summer after the conclusion of her junior year traveling to Spain to represent America’s Team in the sport of volleyball. 

The journey began when Hammes began being recruited via email to play for America’s team. Her response was, “Of course I would! Who wouldn’t!?”

This process began in July of 2022, so she had to wait over a year for her trip to Spain. 

In the meantime, Hammes’s team, the Sigourney Savages, made school history as they made the gold bracket in the conference tournament under first year Head Coach Sierra Davis. Hammes spoke on being a part of school history with, “It felt awesome. I didn’t even know. I know we just got second, but that is pretty cool.” 

She went on to describe what it means to play volleyball for the Savages with, “The team is like family. Everyone comes together, and I love playing with them.”

After a successful season with the Savages, time had finally come for Hammes to head to Spain for the big trip. 

In the words transcribed on the America’s Team website, they describe the experience as, “If you are looking to expand your game outside the United States, travel with us! Volleyball is played the same throughout the world, but each destination adds their unique spin on the game. Through competition and culture, we immerse teams in all the destinations have to offer - on and off the field! Volleyball is the common theme between you and the foreign teams.”

Hammes explained that one of her favorite parts of the trip was the food she was able to experience. Another aspect of Spanish culture that she was fascinated by was the architecture. In her words, “The architecture was so cool. We saw this big church still being built, and it was so cool.”

From the sports side of the trip, Hammes had an immense amount of pride in the fact that she got to represent her country on foreign soil against other countries, and some other groups of America’s Team. 

After games, players had a tradition of swapping jerseys with one another, and Hammes was able to participate in this tradition. After a game, she received a jersey from a player on the Barcelona team. She had never heard of a tradition like this, and was surprised and excited to get to do it herself.  

Hammes hopes to bring back a sense of aggressiveness to the Savages that she learned from her time overseas. She saw the tenacity at which teams like Belgium and Barcelona would play at, and she admired that. She hopes that she can bring that mentality to Sigourney for the upcoming season that starts on August 21, when they travel to WACO high school for a tournament.