Skills development was the name of the game at this year's Sunshine Coast volleyball camp in Sechelt.
Now in its 12th year, the camp saw close to 70 athletes, both male and female from grades 3 to 12, participate in the four-day camp that wrapped up Thursday.
Chatelech Secondary School was the main venue, where 36 youth from grades 7 and 8 worked out for three hours in the morning, followed by three hours in the afternoon for youth in grades 9 to 12. Approximately 15 youth from grades 3 to 5 worked out at Sechelt Elementary School.
Chatelech coach Quinn Campbell said the numbers were good this year, and the main emphasis for instructors was to hammer home the importance of skills development.
"The goal is to hammer away at the foundation and the basic skills, so when they get to their school or club teams, they can focus on the technical, tactical part of the game," said Campbell. "For some of these kids, it's their first crack at volleyball, so it's really just getting their hands together, passing, setting - again the real basic skills."
This year's main instructor was Beathen Thomas, the new assistant coach for the women's team at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Beathen takes over from Jesse Knight, who has been at the camp the past few years. Knight is now head coach at the University of Calgary.
Campbell said the change in coaching and philosophy at the camp has been seamless.
"It's all the same - same concepts, ideas, same theory or focus behind the game, but slightly different delivery, different terminology, so for the kids who have been here for two or three years and learned from Jesse, they're getting the exact same information in a slightly different way, so it sort of reinforces the skills for them," said Campbell. "The game of volleyball starts at fundamentals. If you can't pass and can't set, you will never get a chance to hit."
Thomas said he has enjoyed the experience of coming to the Coast to coach.
"I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm impressed with the athleticism, the enthusiasm, the hard work and just the eagerness to learn," Thomas said. "You can tell they haven't had a lot of exposure to the sport. They don't get a lot of highly competitive opportunities, so if we can bring that and introduce new drills and skills, they will be turned on to the game."
Thomas said it's also important for the university to get to young players early to see whether they have the potential to be UBC players in the future.
"Any opportunity we can have as a university to get out and promote the university, promote the sport, identify athletes who could be potentially long-term girls we want to encourage into the provincial system - it's a great thing for us," he said.
