Shawano Community High School varsity volleyball coach Jean Wolff has been holding youth camps long enough that her assistants for this year’s camp, which began Tuesday, attended the same camp nine years ago.
“It’s fun because some of the coaches I have now, and last year, too, started with me when they were in first or second grade,” Wolff said.
Wolff runs two sessions during the youth camp, one for first- through fifth-graders and a second for sixth- through ninth-graders. There are about 35 girls in each session.
Next week, Wolff will use the five contact days the WIAA allows for a three-day camp and a two-day trip to Platteville for a another camp.
“It’s going very well,” Wolff said. “We have over 100 girls between this week and next week. That’s awesome.”
This week’s camp is less intense and focused more on getting the girls familiar with the sport.
“We’re working on a lot of the basic skills,” Wolff said. “The underhand passing, the overhand passing, and some of the basic rules and contact rules so when they are practicing at home, they know what is legal. With this grade level, it’s just to get them to be loud and communicate with each other and love volleyball.”
The afternoon session for sixth- through ninth-graders is more advanced, focusing on building the skills the girls will need at the high school level. The high school camp next week is when Wolff really turns up the pressure.
“We go for eight hours Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” Wolff said. “And then we go to Platteville for two days.”
Waiting in Platteville is a 30-team two-day camp that features a new match every hour.
The experience gained at this year’s camp will be important for the varsity program, which lost several seniors.
“We’re going to have a younger team this year being I graduated so many seniors last year and most of them were starters and played all around,” Wolff said. “We have talent coming up. They’re quick learners and good listeners.”
Wolff said not much has changed from that first camp she put together nine years ago.
“The biggest thing that has changed over the years is that I’ve gained in numbers, significantly,” Wolff said. “I guess I’ve changed with the game, as the rules of the game have changed. Teaching a new rule and everything that goes into it.”
She also said the community is more aware of the volleyball program in Shawano than when she started, and the camp has played a role in that.
“The community is more aware of the program because of the publicity this brings and how the girls love it,” Wolff said.
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