ROCKINGHAM — Another successful volleyball camp, apparent by the laughs and smiles that filled Richmond Senior High School’s gymnasium, wrapped up on Wednesday.
Back for its fourth summer since varsity head coach Ashleigh Larsen took over the program, Richmond’s volleyball camp maxed out at 60 campers for the second summer in a row.
Including elementary students (ages 7-10) and middle school campers (ages 11-14), the three-day camp served as a way to grow the sport’s interest and continue building a foundation for the Lady Raider program.
Larsen said a majority of the campers were in the older age group, and added she was pleased with this year’s turnout.
Assisting with the camp as counselors were returning varsity players Ava Edmondson, Jenna Gardner, Kady Harris, Makailah Jackson, Christi Jacobs, Keyoni Nichols, Allie Rodgers, Katie Way and Abby Wellman. Recent graduate Catherine Dennis also helped out.
“This year went better,” Larsen explained. “We were able to better anticipate how to break down each day and cover each age group with the right drills. The staff we had was really involved and enjoyed being here. It was great to see how they were able to meet the needs of all the girls.
“Even though we cut out an age group, we still maintained 60 campers, which is really great,” she added. “The girls were excited when they got here and happy when they left. Overall, it was a really great camp.”
During the three-day progression, campers started on Monday with what Larsen called a passing-focused session. Split into different age groups, campers learned the importance of being able to pass the ball before advancing to moving drills.
Tuesday started with a review of passing techniques, and Larsen and the counselors added hitting drills and other small-sided games.
Closing out the camp on Wednesday, defensive drills were taught to campers, who also worked on specific skills, played games and scrimmaged for the final half hour.
Julie Lewis, 8, and a rising third grader, shared how inserting games into the fundamentals of volleyball made camp an enjoyable experience.
“My favorite parts were tossing the balloons in the air and playing duck-duck-goose,” Lewis said. “I also liked how we learned to dive to hit the ball. The coaches were nice and did a good job.”
Chassidy Brown, 11, who is a rising sixth grader at Ellerbe Middle School, talked about some of the new skills she learned that she hopes to incorporate when she plays for the Lady Wildcats.
“I really liked learning how to spike the ball because that’s something I didn’t know how to do,” Brown said. “And learning how to serve overhand was also something new to me.
“All the coaches taught me more about the game and how to keep my hand straight when I serve. Playing all of the games (on Wednesday) was my favorite part.”
Harris, who returned to help out with another camp, expressed the importance of having fun while also continuing to build up the future of Lady Raider volleyball.
“This week was really good and there were a lot of campers,” Harris said. “I think they learned a lot and really showed improvement by the last day. Some of the highlights were the hitting lines and seeing the girls get better with their approaches.
“Playing Queen of the Court with their teams was pretty fun, too,” she added. “It’s important to grow the love for volleyball so these girls can see how much fun it is, but also teach what it means to be a good teammate. Hopefully some of them will be here as counselors in the future.”
Below are photos from the final day of camp, taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
