PITSBURG – Twenty-five girls in the fourth through sixth grades attended the Franklin Monroe volleyball team’s Junior Jet Camp last week.
The goal of the Junior Jet Camp was to increase the girls’ love of volleyball by giving them a chance to try it out at the summer camp and introduce them to the basic skills and techniques of the sport at a young age, Franklin Monroe volleyball coach Angie Filbrun said.
“Just get them excited, get them in the gym, get a ball in their hands,” Filbrun said. “We don’t start volleyball until seventh grade so it’s not like some of the other sports where they get to start when they’re younger. We have to wait until seventh grade so we have the get them excited when they’re younger to get them to want to play when they’re in junior high.”
Throughout the three-day camp the girls focused on the basics of volleyball including passing, setting, hitting and serving.
“Very, very basic so they can start with that and then move on from there,” Filbrun said. “It’s fun to see the improvements from day one to day three.”
Helping Filbrun lead the camp were approximately 20 of her high school players.
“They were awesome,” the FM volleyball coach said. “I love to see how they relate to the younger girls and how they teach them. As a coach it’s fun for me to see them teaching, too, so they’re learning. I think it’s good for them all the way around.”
Helping lead the camp gave the high school girls an opportunity to grow as players themselves while helping the younger girls. The camp also provided the high schoolers a chance to be good leaders and set an example both on and off the court.
“They love to see the high school girls and just the difference that the high school girls can make in the elementary girls that they don’t realize, good leadership and just being a good example,” Filbrun said. “It is an incredible blessing to see the high school players interacting with the younger players. The smiles on both of their faces tells me that it is a win-win situation for all.”
