Why LOVB Is Must See TV, Just Ask Amber Igiede

“I am still young, and I feel like a lot of my accomplishments have been through really understanding the big goal,” she explained, “but also setting the small ones and trying to hop over the small ones one step at a time.”

In fifth grade, having never played volleyball before, that goal was to simply make the team. Then in eighth grade, it was to make varsity the next year. In high school, to be able to play at the collegiate level—and so on. Needless to say, she aced them.

“I’ve always had these big goals of like, ‘One day, USA national team,’” she detailed. “But then when I bring it back to Earth, I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s just make the varsity team.’ So, it’s like the little goals really matter. And it helps you. It helps you feel less overwhelmed.”

So, while Amber admitted she is “really trying to live in the moment” when she hears Olympic rumblings—after all, the Games are still years away—she also isn’t shying away from dreaming big.