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Volleyball camp new coach's first chance to work with Newberg high
players |
Incoming Newberg
High School volleyball coach MacKenzie Upchurch was absolutely
delighted Monday afternoon. It was the first day of volleyball camp
and 43 girls had showed up for the high school session.
“Some of them I know, some of them not so much,” Upchurch said,
explaining that she had had open gym all summer for the girls to
come and play. Upchurch said she was happy with the turnout,
predicting that she would be able to fill all the spots on her
teams.
Monday, and the rest of the week, will give Upchurch a chance to
give more personal attention to individual players, helping them
improve and prepare for the tryouts. She planned for a lot of team
building and passing exercises. Upchurch said she views this week as
“an opportunity to build on fundamentals,” until the girls hit it
right every time.
The team
building exercises aren’t necessarily easier than passing drills. In
a two-girl drill to carry the ball across the gym and back without
using their hands, Upchurch pointed out that “if they thought about
it, they would come up with the easiest way,” as pair after pair
would drop their ball. The solution? Have the players stand back to
back, and nestle the ball in the small of their backs. They then
hook their arms together and slide step their way across the freshly
waxed floor.
Good humor prevails between the girls and Upchurch shouts words of
encouragement to the girls performing well and words of advise to
those who aren’t quite getting it.
It’s not all fun and games though, as Upchurch incorporates
conditioning in her skills exercises. She views it as important to
work on conditioning so that players will be ready when they play
longer games, the outcome of which might depend on their ability to
keep playing while tired.
Upchurch will hold tryouts from 3 to 8 p.m. every day next week at
the NHS gym for girls interested in playing volleyball for NHS in
the fall. |
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From Aug. 15, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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