January 28, 2004
On-court rivals team teach sport
Volleyball clinic participants learn from both West and Central High coaches and players
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Bump, set, spike then repeat, repeat, repeat.
At least that was the plan for 134 children who attended Sunday's volleyball clinic held at the Central High School gym. They learned, practiced and then practiced again the basic moves of the sport.
But learning the game's fundamentals was secondary to lighting a spark about it among these potential future team players, all in grades ranging from fifth through eighth.
"We want to get them coming out of the gym liking the sport and wanting to play it," said Lisa Placek, coach of the Central High School volleyball team. "They all got better throughout the clinic."
"They've usually already played soccer and basketball so we just want to give them another piece of the puzzle," she noted.
Kortney Stevens, a fifth grade student from Bertha Vos Elementary School, discovered she liked the sport after the clinic. A scrappy player with a natural athleticism, she quickly picked up the moves and rules.
"I learned how to set, you put you hands like a window and use all your fingers," she said. "And when you serve, you use your palm, not flat handed."
Friends Andrea Fly and Taylor Bartlette, both sixth grade students at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, attended the clinic together to improve their game. They play volleyball in gym class and, after the clinic, both would like to play more.
"I liked the bump, set, spike drills and I learned how to do an overhand serve," Fly said. "If they have the clinic again next year, I want to come."
Placek and West coach Jamie Al-Shamma guided the volleyball clinic, with small group coaching provided by members of both teams. The fourth annual clinic was divided into two parts: the first session for fifth and sixth graders and the second session for seventh and eighth graders.
This year, in addition to drawing the most attendees ever, a few boys came along to try their hand at the game.
Despite an intense on-court rivalry, Trojan and Titan team members mesh into a coaching crew during each year's clinic. Many have known each other for years from playing on elementary school teams or now play on club teams during the off-season.
"Both programs benefit from this," said Tricia Noss, a parent of a volleyball player at Central who helped organize the event. "This is a cooperative effort, done jointly by Central and West, and when we first got here a lot of the girls were hugging each other because they don't see each other a lot."
The clinic also taught players how to do an overhand serve as well as explaining the positions and rotations of the game. After some warm-up drills, small teams sparred with each other, playing four teams at each net, while high school players served as coaches and encouragers.
"When they were playing at first, it was hard for them to put the basic skills together," said Mallory Guimond of the fifth and sixth graders. "We use all the drills we were taught to teach them."
Guimond, a junior at West High School and a member of the varsity volleyball team, noted the participants' positive attitude.
"They were very eager to learn," she said.
Lyndsey Forton, a tenth grade student at Central High School, is now a varsity player on the Trojan volleyball team. She attended the volleyball clinic a few years ago and was back on the court Sunday as a coach.
"I remember the girls teaching me all these basic techniques," she said.
The half-hour break between the clinic's two sessions shrank as enthusiastic players in seventh and eighth grades fanned out on the court. They formed into small, informal groups and began running their own practice drills until the clinic began.
For Placek, these enterprising players show that volleyball remains a fun game, in addition to being a serious sport.
"Volleyball is a lifelong sport," said Placek, who also teaches French at Central High School and East Junior High School. "I think it is something that you can play at a barbecue, indoors or outdoors."