Hattie Monson of Morris recently won the Sports Performance Volleyball C-Fed spirit award, becoming the only recipient of that honor in the club’s 11-year-old age group.

There is a catch. Monson is a member of the Sports Performance 11-Elite, which is the organization’s premier team for girls 11 years old and under. She certainly fits the “and under” classification. At eight years old, Monson is easily the youngest player on her team.

The C-Fed award is a Sports Performance accolade created in honor of Christine Rehor Federico, who died in early June and was both a player and a coach for the Aurora-based club.

“It’s a spirit award for kids that have shined at practice, working hard and are really on practice, that come to practice every single day with a good attitude,” said Janie Tomasek, who oversees all Sports Performance 12 and under teams. “Hattie is on our 11-Elite team, but I could tell she didn’t mind. Her age didn’t stop her from fitting right in with her group.”

Each age group — ranging from the under-11 “Mini” teams to the 18s — merited one C-Fed award winner. For Monson’s age group, players from the 11-Elite, 11-Red and 11-White teams were all eligible for the one award. According to Tomasek, Monson was selected the winner from a pool of 36 players.

Tomasek was the first person to deliver the news to Monson that she had won.

“When she called my name, I was really surprised and happy,” Monson said.

“I just couldn’t believe I got the award.”

The daughter of Morris Community High School freshman girls volleyball coach Susan Monson, Hattie played club volleyball for the first time in 2011.

“We took her to one clinic called Volley Tot they had in October or November, and she did really well. They moved her up like right away to a higher level,” Susan Monson said. “They noticed her skills were higher than everybody else there and they tried to con-vince us to let her play for a Sports Performance team.”

“We went back and forth about it, my husband (Eric) and I, and we decided to let her go and try out. It was an amazing process. I would say there were over 100 girls — I can’t imagine how many were there. They held three practices, and after those three, they divided them up according to where they felt they should play.

“She made the 11 Elite team after she tried out. It was pretty exciting. She’s half the size of everyone else out there, but because there is not a whole lot of blocking or net play at that level, she can still do OK.”

According to Susan Monson, the experience was “extremely positive” for Hattie and her family. The team practiced twice a week and participated in six one-day tournaments.

Matches in those tournaments were competitive, though winning was made a significantly lower priority than ensuring the players learned and had fun.

“At that age level, they’re concerned, more than winning, with playing the game the correct way and teaching the correct skills,” Susan Monson said. “They’re competitive, but it’s more about giving them a chance to play in game situations.”

Fulfilling the time commitment during the school year was made easier for Hattie, who is about to enter the fourth grade at Immaculate Conception School in Morris, by the relatively relaxed attendance requirements for the 11-Elite team. Susan said that if the Monsons were unable to get Hattie to a practice, it was excused, which happened a couple of times this year. The 40-minute trip up to practice often had its own benefits.

“She would do her reading or homework on the way there and then finish on the way home. Or we would have good mommy-chatty time. It was very positive for us,” Susan said.

If the Monsons initially had concerns that joining a Sports Performance club team might prove too much for Hattie to handle, they were put at ease as time wore on.

“There’s not a lot of pressure on her,” Susan Monson said. “Right now, she is having fun playing sports, and we want her to keep doing that and enjoying herself. Plus, it’s enhanced her personality. She has met and gotten to know kids from all over the state. That has been really fun for her.”

“It was amazing,” Hattie said. “I had a lot of fun and met a lot of nice people. I felt like I was at home there.”

At the present, Hattie is occupied with Champion Fitness, an A-level softball team based in Pontiac of which she is a member. The team recently won a National Softball Association state tournament, earning a spot in the national tournament in Indiana later this summer.

“She was playing soccer, but for now, those two (volleyball and softball) are keeping her busy,” Susan Monson said. “This team in Pontiac is a really good supportive team. For the most part, they do (play during the summer), but they did do a couple of tournaments in the winter.

“She’s a little shortstop. She’s full of fire and just fun.”

It is fitting that Monson’s softball team is designated for players 10 and under.