Sports360AZ
When you hear the words “Blue Ridge High School,” and if you’re familiar with the school, you immediately think “perennial winners,” and you’d be correct in that assumption.
The institution is so used to winning championships, that for nearly 20 years, the school has hosted a volleyball camp, to allow girls from different schools across the state to come and soak in some of the winning tradition on campus.
It’s a three-day camp, with the girls working and getting instruction from their coaches for six hours each day.
“By that third day, they’re pretty dead,” Blue Ridge volleyball coach Tami Ellsworth said.
It’s back to the basics during the camp according to Ellsworth.
“We start out pretty basic,” Ellsworth said. “Review all their basic skills, get them playing and get them used to each other and letting them have a little bit of fun.”
Tricia Melfy is quite familiar with this camp.
Melfy is the head coach at Campo Verde High School, and has been a guest coach at this camp for the past seven years.
Melfy says the camp is a great way to get the girls back in playing shape before they go up for team tryouts in August.
“We’ve got to cover all things, the fundamentals, the basics and revisit all those things we do in volleyball,” Melfy said.
Perhaps just as important as the game of volleyball, is the life experiences the girls gain as they go through these camps.
“The experience where they have to survive the journey themselves, enjoy the journey themselves, all the ups and all the downs and getting to meet new people,” Melfy said.
