By Jordan Richart

For The Tribune

It’s never too early to be introduced to the fundamentals of a sport.

It’s also a good idea to take each opportunity to hone in new skills and fine-tune the fundamentals for the sport to which you’ve committed.

Local girls in Jackson County, from toddlers to those preparing for high school next year, took advantage of The Crew Volleyball Clinic on Friday to help area youth develop in the sport.

The all-day camp was held at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour and organized by Janet VanLiew, who just completed her first season as coach for Trinity Lutheran High School.

Instruction for the seventh clinic was provided by nine Jackson County natives who are playing or have played college volleyball in various division levels.

Those include Kennedy Hoffman, Otterbein University; Ruthie Bingham, Mount St. Joseph University; Kamzi Gross, Franklin College; Hannah Sabotin, University of Indianapolis; Sammie Pottschmidt, Marshall University; Chandler Clark, Morehead State University; Reagan Nuss, Mount Vernon Nazarene University; Stella Kleffman, Kentucky Wesleyan College; and Cali Cummings, Indiana University Kokomo.

VanLiew said the instruction varied based on ages. For those age 3 to first grade, there was an introduction to the game and fun activities for them. The middle group worked on fundamentals and learning about the game. For the older groups, there was game play, fundamentals, game communication and more.

The clinic ended with a question-and-answer session with the instructors.

“We have been doing some game play and have let the college kids play alongside them,” VanLiew said. “We did a little bit of that last year, and I think that was a highlight for a lot of the kids.”

The clinic had 97 preregistered for the clinic with more showing up at the school Friday for the instruction.

“I am impressed with our numbers,” VanLiew said. “It’s great to have this many girls excited about trying volleyball.”

VanLiew said the clinic was offered to ages 3 to 5 for the first time last year, and it was well received.

“I think it’s our biggest group this year,” she said. “Obviously, at that age, we have to make it fun and have them learn the court, let them learn to catch a ball and hand-eye coordination.”

VanLiew said a popular feature for that age group was an obstacle course featuring volleyballs. The idea is to show the kids volleyball is fun, and it may be something they are interested in when they get to an age when they can play on a team.

“The research we did shows that kids need to understand how to catch and toss and other things,” she said.

For those younger kids, it also shows them a new activity they can do for fun, VanLiew said.

“I think it also shows kids how to be fun and active,” she said. “There are other things for them to do that bring a lot of benefits.”

The clinic started when VanLiew’s daughter, Cortney, who plays professionally in Finland following a successful career at Florida Gulf Coast University, and Jessica Lucas, who had a storied career at Western Kentucky University, decided to give back to volleyball players in Jackson County.

“They wanted to help girls here realize the dream that they were able to have,” VanLiew said.

She said the clinic and inspiration from instructors can go a long way for those who attend the camp. It’s something she has seen firsthand. It’s why she reminds the instructors they’re an example for those who attend the camp and that it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

She pointed to an example from last year’s clinic when one of the girls who attended enjoyed it so much that she wanted to go to a Trinity Lutheran High School volleyball game.

“That’s all she wanted,” VanLiew said, adding she let the girl come into the locker room after the game. “She said it was the best day of her life. I think it’s good for the instructors and high school kids to understand that it may just seem like a camp, but for a lot of them, it’s something special.”

VanLiew said the high school-aged instructors from Trinity Lutheran’s volleyball team also helped throughout the clinic. She said she tells them to remember the impact they can have on youth who look up to them.

“They’re not there to put in time but to be someone for those kids,” she said. “For the high school kids who are helping, they do need to learn to give back because a lot of people gave back to them.”

With the attendance for this clinic and years past, coupled with the number of college volleyball athletes Jackson County has produced, VanLiew said the future for volleyball in Jackson County is bright.

“The interest in the county is at a high level, and I think it’s only going to get better,” she said.