Last week was full of volleyball at Trinity Lutheran High School, for youth camps for middle schoolers and elementary school kids.

Three sessions took place each day throughout the week, wrapping up on Friday with plenty of memories and smiles left on campers’ faces.

Incoming eighth-grader Abbie Watson spoke about her week at the youth volleyball camp.

“It was awesome. I worked a lot on my hitting, and I feel it improved throughout the week,” she said. “The coaches were awesome, and my passing has improved a lot, which is way better than it was beforehand.”

Camper Molly Auffenberg enjoyed her experience this year.

“It was really fun this week,” Auffenberg said. “It was really fast paced, and we learned a lot. Everyone was so patient; I got a lot better.”

Both middle schoolers are looking forward to getting into high school to play volleyball.

“I really want to be a middle-hitter when I get into high school,” Watson said. “One of my goals is to play volleyball in college.”

“I’m looking forward to the experience,” Auffenberg said.

Plenty of Cougar high school volleyball players were helping out throughout each session. Madison Keith, Carson Bowling, Laura Roeder and Addison Darlage were asked about the ‘special relationship’ between high school volleyball players and the campers.

Keith is a huge fan of camp week and enjoys being a part of it.

“I love camp week, I love going and seeing all the kids and making friends with them,” she said. “When the season comes around, those kids are in the stands watching us play. It’s good to make a relationship with them, so they can play with us when they get to this level.

“In high school, you want kids to come in and have the right fundamentals, it really goes a long way.”

Bowling remembers when she was a camper and admired the high school players back then.

“I think it’s a special opportunity that we’re able to do this,” Bowling said. “I remember being in elementary school and in middle school and I thought the high school players were so cool.

“I want that same effect with these kids. It’s super important that we’re making them feel positive and making it fun for them. Volleyball is a positive sport, and they can look up to us when they need anything.

Roeder enjoys giving back to youth, especially in the form of volleyball.

“It’s fun to give back and teach these kids a lot about volleyball,” she said. “It’s really cool to see how they’ve progressed throughout the week, and to see all the smiles on their faces at the end of the day.”

Darlage likes the chance to learn about all the campers.

“I feel like it’s a great opportunity to learn about the kids,” Darlage said. “When they grow up and they can see what we do and become close with them. They come to our games, and they enjoy and see it. It’s nice to meet them and see what they like and what they want to do with their life.”

Roeder and Darlage added to the importance of a good relationship.

“The relationship is super important, so they can watch and learn, but also trust in you,” Roeder said. “They come to our games and learn, and we’re able to help them and have a good relationship with them. They can also see the atmosphere of high school volleyball if they would like to do that.”

“It’s great to have that solid relationship with them,” Darlage said. “It allows us to become closer and help them build on their skills.”

Activities during camp included scrimmages, drills, games, and of course the main goal, which was to have fun.

The younger groups had fun playing ‘tree tag’ across the gymnasium, chasing each other around the court looking for the next person to be ‘it’.

Campers even had plenty of fun with their star jumps. The official jump is called the ‘I’m a Star Jump’ according to coaches. The jump had kids leaping as high as they could, laughing aloud during most of the process.

Emotions are ‘high’ at Trinity Lutheran heading into the 2024-25 volleyball season. The team is motivated to have a successful season and hoping to play the final game of the year in the state final.

All four girls are most excited about the end of the season.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully going back to state, we were there my freshmen year,” Keith said. “We know what it’s like to lose it.”

“Like Madison said, we’re hoping to make it back to state,” Bowling said. “We’re also looking forward to spending time with our teammates and meeting the new freshmen who are coming in.”

“The postseason,” Roeder said.

“Going to state, for sure,” Darlage said. “We all really want to go back, we’ve been there once, so we’ll see.”

Jackson County should have another interesting year of volleyball lined up for the upcoming fall.