Local volleyball players will have an opportunity to spruce up their skills this summer under the tutelage of a local volleyball player who is a member of the University of Saskatchewan Men’s Volleyball team.
Jay Eichorst will be offering weekly sessions alongside his brother Adam at the Humboldt Curling Rink on Tuesday nights from June until August.
Eichorst says that each session will run for 90 minutes, with a session for Grades 7-9 from 6:00-7:30 and then Grade 10-12 from 7:30-9:00. Eichorst says they will be covering the basics of volleyball.
“Your passing, your setting, your hitting and serving, you break them down into small components and then just build on them with cues and feedback for us, the kids and we just worked with the athletes to help tailor what they want from the sessions to grow as a volleyball player.”
There’s a cost of $25 per session and Eichorst says players can customize their schedules and attend as many sessions as they can.
“It's summer, so sometimes they're at the lakes or whatnot and life gets busy, so they can kind of come in and out whenever works best in their schedule and they do kind of go together.”
While Volleyball is a team sport, Eichorst says the goal of the summer sessions is to improve each player’s abilities.
“We kind of work with players individually and then as a group we have group ideas, but then we break it down with the individual athletes. So everyone's kind of at the same process, but with different goals in mind.”
Before he started attending the University of Saskatchewan and playing on the Men’s Volleyball team, Eichorst was on the court with the Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) Mohawks volleyball squad and noted there weren’t many opportunities for summer volleyball camps like the one he will be offering.
“I’ve been doing these for the last two years and there's been a really high demand with lots of athletes coming through our doors and that’s the ones that we can help coach. And so, it's been really good to see.”
With the volleyball season hitting high gear in September, Eichorst adds the camps will be an opportunity for the players to get into mid-season form before the season gets underway.
“It's really to just keep the touches on the ball during the summer because once September hits, it's like your full gas on the pedal for those high school athletes, you kind of the first weekend back from school, you're probably playing in the tournaments.”
He added, “and helps them keep their skills up to a high level and then grow with, especially with the ideas that I can bring from being on the university team and stuff like that that I've been able to learn. I can translate that into my coaching and help them pick up new ideas.”
Eichorst said they averaged 15 athletes per session in the past, and with a growing demand they’ve added a Grade 7-9 group this summer.
Besides Humboldt, Eichorst said they’ve had players from Lanigan, Annaheim, Englefeld, Watson and even some players from Foam Lake attend the sessions.