ROCKINGHAM — A lot of small-group and individualized instruction occurred during the fifth annual Richmond Senior High School volleyball camp this week.
The three-day development session wrapped up Wednesday in the school’s gymnasium as head coach Ashleigh Larsen, junior varsity coach Melissa Dennis and a host of current and former players helped prepare future Richmond players.
Going a different route this year, the camp was open for rising first to fifth graders due to limited space at the high school. A total of 16 campers attended.
Though she said she was disappointed by not being able to host a full camp like years past, Larsen said the smaller number of campers allowed for a more intimate learning environment.
“Having a smaller group of campers worked in our favor,” Larsen said. “There were so many Raider volleyball players willing to come out and help and we got more one-on-one instruction with the girls and that was helpful.
“We were able to break down more skill development in the smaller groups,” she continued. “With everyone pretty close in age, that put us on the same wavelength and that helped camp run smoothly. It’s been a great week.”
Helping serve as coaches during camp were rising senior Ava Edmondson, rising juniors Leiana Brooks, J’Nasia Neal and Ka’mora Watkins, along with rising sophomores Madisen Jackson, Kalynn McCormick, Kaylan Parsons and Aliah West.
Georgia Grace Anderson, a 2021 Richmond graduate and current William Peace University volleyball player, was also on hand to help out.
During Wednesday’s final session, campers continued to work on fundamentals like serving, footwork, hitting, passing and communication. Small workout periods were intertwined with a series of games.
The final hour of camp was spent scrimmaging, as campers were split into teams and rotated opponents with live volleyball rules.
Satisfied with how the younger age group’s camp went, Larsen isn’t ruling out putting together a middle school camp in the coming weeks.
“We are going to try and run a camp later this summer for the middle school group,” Larsen explained. “That would give us a chance to work with those girls and build on their skill development from the spring workouts.”
Below are photos from Wednesday’s camp, taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
