SUNDRE – With volleyball tryouts getting started during the first week of class, Sundre High School’s athletic director and the team’s coach coordinated to organize the first-ever pre-season camp.
“We’ve never done anything like this before,” said Craig Nelson, coach, who on Aug. 25-26 conducted a series of drills throughout the two-day camp that ultimately wrapped up with some scrimmage games and a parent tournament.
The turnout of nearly two dozen, including a couple players from Olds Koinonia along with one of their coaches, was more than the organizers had expected.
“I would have been happy with 12,” said Nelson.
Dubbed Shake The Dust Off, the camp was not only intended to of course get players back into gear ahead of the coming season, but also to raise funds toward the goal of getting a new game net.
A new setup that would include padding and a referee stand is expected to cost upward of $5,000, and the campaign that started earlier this summer has so far reached approximately $1,000, said McKenzie McElhinney, the school’s athletic director.
There are currently a couple of nets that can both be set up for two smaller courts during practices, but only one gets used for games that take up the entire gym’s available space.
The Sundre Scorpions play in the Chinook’s Edge South Athletic Association AA league.
