Volleyball camps help fund high school teams

Ramona High School’s volleyball programs conduct a series of developmental skills clinics that are fundraisers for the Bulldogs’ girls and boys volleyball programs and also teach skills to younger players.

An evening camp Aug. 1-3 in the high school gymnasium will be for high school girls seeking berths on the freshman and junior varsity squads, and a morning camp Aug. 1-4 will be a beginning session for girls entering eighth grade or lower and boys entering sixth grade or lower who have one season or less of volleyball experience. Also planned is an early afternoon intermediate youth session Aug. 1-4 for girls up to eighth grade and boys up to sixth grade with at least two seasons of experience, and a mid-afternoon camp Aug. 1-4 for boys entering seventh through 10th grades. A camp for middle school boys and girls is planned for the third week of August.

“We encourage anybody interested in trying to learn the sport to come on out,” said girls varsity head coach Connie Halfaker.

The beginning camp allows those with no or little previous experience to learn the basics of volleyball.

“If you’ve never touched a ball in your life, this is the place to be,” Halfaker said.

The high school camp will feature guest coach Shawn Back, who coached at Western State College in Colorado, which is in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Beck, who now lives in San Diego County, became the coach who gave the Mountaineers their most wins.

Ramona’s girls varsity players will be tutoring students at the youth camps while the Bulldog boys will work with the boys camp.

The girls high school camp is only for three days because tryouts for the high school team begin Aug. 4. Girls seeking tryout information before the camp may visit rhsgirlsvolleyball.com.

More information about the camps is available from Halfaker at conniehalfaker@cox.net.

This is the 16th year the high school will hold the volleyball camps, but it is the first time a middle school prep camp will be part of the instruction.

“Kids seem to be real eager for more up the hill,” Halfaker said.

A participant may attend both the youth camp and the prep camp two weeks later.