By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The Helena High School gymnasium was a busy place to be for three days beginning Monday, June 11, as 65 campers ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade had an opportunity to improve their skills at the Helena Youth Volleyball Camp.

For the fourth summer in a row, Helena volleyball head coach Amanda Lewis and varsity players have helped campers understand and learn the fundamentals of volleyball through drills and competition.

Days one and two are spent learning the basics, while day three is set aside for more game like situations and putting everything together.

“We worked on all the basics of volleyball,” Lewis said. “The passing, the setting, serving, spike approaches and then the third day we try to go into a game situation and put all the fundamentals together.”

After the camp concluded, sixth graders Addi Keith and Avery Dyer both acknowledged that they learned quite a bit in just three days of camp.

“The last part was my favorite where we got to do some real action on the court,” Keith said. “I definitely learned a lot more about volleyball and I learned how to spike a little better and more of the basics.”

It was both Keith and Dyer’s first time attending the summer volleyball camp.

“I just enjoyed spending time with my friends and learning how to do volleyball with them,” Dyer added. “I improved a lot on my setting while I’ve been here.”

As for the Helena High School varsity players helping run the camp, Lewis said she thinks the camp is valuable for them because they can see things from a different perspective.

“I think it puts a different perspective on the game and it kind of roots them a little bit more,” Lewis said. “They can understand how far they have come too and appreciate it a little bit more.”

To learn more about Helena summer camps happening this summer and for registration information, visit Podcasts.shelbyed.k12.al.us/hlhs-athletics/summer-camps/.