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Pelham volleyball welcomed kids to learn volleyball skills, build relationships with the players and each other and grow their love of the game with their annual youth camp. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers helped spark a love for the sport of volleyball with their annual youth volleyball camp from July 22-24 at the Pelham High School gym.

Pelham varsity volleyball coach Perry Robinson and his coaches and players led the kids through the three-day skills camp. He was pleased with the number of kids who came and the full program-wide effort to pull off the event and spark a love of the game with the next generation.

“We like to have kids come in our gym and learn about the game and hopefully leave with a big smile on their face and want to come back,” Robinson said.

Campers got a complete learning experience by getting taught all the skills they needed to be successful down the road as volleyball players.

Robinson takes a unique approach in structuring the camp, not just teaching campers isolated skills but how those skills work in tandem with each other when playing volleyball.

In the process, the kids’ skillsets get built up to the point where they can put those skills together and move on to learning the next step while becoming more complete players.

“We do it a little differently now,” Robinson said. “We introduce the skill and then we want to go over the net, use the net as much as possible. So, while we may be working on one skill and actually doing that skill, you may see the kids catching it and throwing it in an appropriate way to learn the next skill.”

The campers learn their way around the net throughout their time learning the skills to put their new skills to use in an environment that more closely resembles a match.

“It’s all we’re getting used to the net, we’re getting used to going over the net, and we just focus on the one skill that we’ve introduced and then as the camp goes on, one skill will become two, two will become three and three will become getting the ball over the net using all volleyball skills,” Robinson said.

One of the things that the Panthers pride themselves on is how player-led the camp always is, and this year’s iteration was no different.

Pelham’s varsity volleyball players helped out throughout the camp to teach skills to the campers from their experience learning those techniques and tools throughout their careers playing the sport.

Relationships always form quickly during camp week, and Robinson has noticed how the kids love going to the players and hanging out with them.

He said it’s a positive to see so many of the campers get those personal moments with the players that they look up to and for his team to mentor the next generation.

The younger players, especially the younger girls, they will kind of find somebody they really like and when they come in, they’ll go to them. And on the side, our players will be working with them, peppering with them, hanging out with them, showing them how things are supposed to work and it’s really good to just look in the gym and see that going on.”

It wasn’t just the younger girls who got valuable time learning from the Panthers. This year’s camp also spotlighted the ongoing growth of boys interested in learning volleyball.

Robinson estimated that this year’s group had more boys than girls, and that excites him given the trajectory of the sport around the country.

Boys volleyball is currently the fastest growing sport nationwide, with multiple states adding the sport within the last couple of years. While Alabama doesn’t offer boys volleyball at the high school level, Robinson believes it’s inevitable that the sport catches on across the state.

“We’re really excited about that because I do think in the next 5 to 10 years, boys volleyball is going to catch hold and once it catches hold, it’s going to be there,” Robinson said.

In the end, Robinson says the camp serves a dual role of getting kids excited about playing volleyball and supporting the Pelham program ahead of its fall season, and this year’s camp did that once again.

“It does two things,” Robinson said. “It gives our kids a chance to give back to kids in our community about volleyball and hopefully we can drive interest. And secondly, it’s a little bit of a fundraiser for the program, so we like to have that.”

He also loves how the camp gives his players an opportunity to serve and give back to the community around them that they play for every season.

“We always have our full program step in and help with the camp,” Robinson said. “I think it’s good for our players to step in with camp and help give back to younger players.”

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