Cougar camp focuses on fun, competition

Standing back and observing the Trinity Lutheran volleyball camp, one would see a mix of learning and laughter.

One minute the girls are attacking the net, and then they are playing the queen of the court rally competition.

For coach Sara Clark, the fundamentals are key, but sprinkling in some fun things makes a positive difference.

"It is so nice as a coach when I stop and see everything that's going on in this gym and see these older girls working with these kids and encouraging these kids and giving them a high five," Clark said. "That's what it's about."

Clark has had nearly a dozen high school kids serve as volunteer coaches every day at this week's camp, and they were working and playing right along with the campers.

"When you see them working with youth, those are lifelong skills," Clark said. "I like that. I like to see that."

Besides coaching at Trinity Lutheran, Clark works with younger kids at Girls Inc. of Jackson County through its instructional leagues.

With this week's volleyball camp, which is for grades 4-9, the week began with passing and footwork and progressed into setting, serving and hitting. On Friday, campers will take the court and learn offense and defense.

Allison Hackman, who will be a seventh-grader next fall at Lutheran Central School in Brownstown, was one of 14 girls taking part in the seventh- and eighth-grade camp, and 24 were in the fourth- through sixth-grade camp.

Hackman plays volleyball at Lutheran Central and her sister, Megan Hackman, plays on the team at Trinity.

"My sister got me started in volleyball," Allison said. "I guess it's just exciting because you don't know what's going to happen next."

Through three days of camp, Allison said she had learned a lot from Clark.

"She helps a lot," Allison said, "and she has a lot of one-on-one time because there's not very many girls."

Of what she's taken from the camp so far, she said, "How to work with actual sportsmanship and actually be good, too."

Clark said camp gives kids a chance to see if volleyball is the sport for them. 

"I think the one thing for me that's real important in the gym is that the girls are having fun with it," Clark said. "There's times, too, you'll have a kid come in and she struggles and she struggles and she struggles, and now's the time though for the kids to find out if this is going to be something they are going to enjoy.

"With what is required for kids to really excel at sports anymore, it takes so much time and coaches ask a lot of the kids. So if they can't enjoy it, they are going to be burnt out by the time they get in high school. My key, I would say, is to make sure the kids are having fun and enjoying it and learning."

Having the high school kids there, she said, is "huge." She's had some of her players approach her after camp saying they never understood what it took to teach the basics of the game.

"I think it makes them a better player, too," Clark said. "In their minds, they have to figure out how to break it down, when they are struggling with footwork or they are struggling with their approach or serving or whatever. Then, they can go back to what they taught these kids and say, ‘OK, I need to break this down for myself.' That is a wonderful thing for the high school kids."

One of the best moments of camp, Clark said, is when she watches the younger and older kids interact.

"When I can sit back and see these little kids looking starry-eyed at these big girls and they come in this gym and they know all these varsity players' names," she said, "it's the excitement of just seeing the enthusiasm with the kids and the camaraderie with these older girls."

Clark's love of the game is what keeps her going, and she hopes the same will be true for the campers.

"Hopefully, I can pass that on to some of these kids if we keep it fun," she said. "There are girls in here that I can tell really love it, and then there's some kids that come in here that like the game, but they also enjoy the camaraderie of it and they want to be a part of something.

"Planting the seeds of encouragement and the love of the game and understanding the game at a different level all the time, I think it's real important."