Easter Camp this year was hosted by Kilgraston School, Bridge of Earn. The four day residential camp was attended by sixteen young athletes from across Scotland and supported by four coaches from the Scottish Volleyball Association.
The theme for the camp was ‘Linkages’ and the aim was to develop the players skills and their understanding of the linkages between the different aspects of the game.
Day one concentrated on players positioning and posture when passing. The youngsters encouraged to move early, pass with a peak to target.
Day two recapped on the importance of posture and correct positioning prior to playing the ball and progressed with the introduction of attacking skills and linking with the setter.
Day three began with the group completing a jigsaw puzzle and a discussion around how there are many aspects to volleyball. The group consolidated the knowledge learned previously and moved on to small sided court games where three elements (pass, set, attack) were linked. In the evening the games based drills continued and culminated in a tournament style competition.
Day four reviewed the progress to date and developed the role of the passer/hitter encouraging the movement and links between passing and attacking.
During the camp the participants enjoyed two Sport Science activities where they shared interesting aspects about themselves and their volleyball ambitions. Emma Waldie, who attended the camp as an assistant coach and mentor, shared her career story to date giving an inspiring account of her volleyball experiences to date.
Feedback from the athletes was very positive with everyone rating themselves as having improved their own skills as individuals and agreeing that they had all contributed to the improvement to the enhanced level of teamwork skills.
Head Coach Vince Krawczyk commented ‘The camp has been a huge success. All of the athletes have been outstanding in their attitude to the game and have all embraced the camp and activities with enthusiasm. We have achieved our aim and it has been an absolute pleasure to be part of this event. It is hoped that many if not all the players will take part in the next stage of the Scottish Volleyball national pathway which is with the Flying Scots Programme due to start up for this year at the beginning of June.
Thanks to resident coaches Vince Krawczyk, John Scrimgeour, Ken Fraser and Emma Waldie for their time and effort delivering this successful event. Many thanks also to Kilgraston School and their staff for assisting in the smooth running of this now annual event.