DWU VB Camps A Great Success

The DWU VB camps turned out to be a great success this year. We went with our normal schedule of Youth Camp and Team Camps and then also added a HS level skills camp for the first time. We had the most Youth campers we have ever had in the past 4 summers and will continue to look for growth each year. The youth camp is so fun to do, we get to help mold these very young athletes with the skills that have made our players so successful during their careers. They are also so fun to coach and to watch them play can be funny and so rewarding when they get 3 contacts and play out rallies.

Our HS level skills camp was exciting. I didn't know what kind of response we would get with it being the first one we have done but we did get a good number of over 25 participants for that camp. This camp was a great opportunity for the campers to get involved in some high intensity drills that we use at DWU and to learn some advanced concepts and strategies about the game. We also had a couple of recruits come up for the camp to from Texas and Minnesota. It was a great opportunity for our players to meet and play with these players in a get to know type of atmosphere. It paid off as we did get a verbal commitment from our Minnesota recruit.

This year's team camp ended up being a good after we were nervous to not have enough teams as heading up to it we had 2 teams back out on us at the last minute. It was amazing to see the growth of the players and the teams as we went through 3 days of hard team concept training. It was such a great camp and so beneficial for the players and coaches. We had a great response from the coaches as to the great amount of time we spent on skill development while at the same time being able to do it in a 6 v 6 format. We held a tournament to finish off camp and Ethan HS defeated Baltic HS to win the championship. We then capped off camp with an All-Star match that included 10 players from the teams at camp facing the DWU players that were at camp to coach. The match started off pretty tight as the All-Stars held a quick lead but the ability to terminate the ball late in the game in transition for the DWU players ended up being too much for the All-Stars as the final margin of victory ended up being 9 points. It was fun to see some of the All-Stars raise their level of play against these college players.

We will always continue to put forth a well planned camp and bring a fun learning environment. I want to thank all of the DWU players that were here to help with camp. Thank you to Brooke Warne, Kayla O'Connell, Liz Humiston, Jordyn Heath, Cara Chomey, Stacie Brinker, Katie Lindow, Vanessa Johanneson, Myriah Beiswanger, Ashley Styer, and Briana Jung. These ladies did a great job with teaching the skills but also staying positive and energetic through the entire week. Great job ladies.