Volleyball players! Are you planning to play on your school team this fall? Are you a club player who would love to learn high performance skills?
Jesse Knight, international/national Level III volleyball coach, returns to the Comox Valley to host a four-day (Aug. 20-23) indoor camp at the 19 Wing Fitness & Community Centre.
Knight is an accomplished coach. In addition to 10 years experience with Canadian Inter-University Sports (UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos), he has coached in the NCAA Div. 1 in California, and assisted with the 2008 Olympic Quad Senior Women’s National Team, the Team Canada Junior and Youth squads, and Team BC in 2010.
In September, Knight has committed to a one-year contract coaching a professional team in Sweden. He is assisted by player/coach Ali Sandholm, who played middle for the University of Calgary Dinos and has club experience with Campbell River Crush Thunder.
Sandholm, a member of the AAA B.C. high school champion Timberline Wolves and provincial tournament MVP was nominated as Dino’s Rookie Athlete of the Year in 2009. Sandholm has also played on Team BC, Team Canada Youth and Junior squads and spent the last two summers coaching at indoor camps across Canada.
There are two options for athletes at this camp. Knight stresses that the daily Skills Camp from noon to 3 p.m. is critical for players of all levels as these fundamental techniques are needed to progress to the tactical demands of the faster high-performance game.
“Theses are skills that even the pros are still perfecting,” said Knight. “Players can expect plenty of skill reps, with lots of constructive feedback and opportunities to achieve skill transfer. We work at performing a skill in a development drill and then using the same skills in a game-like situation. We want to give the athletes the tools to perform the technique successfully and put the control of their development into their own hands: they will facilitate their own warm up reps with coach feedback.”
The Skills Camp will be followed by the High Performance Camp from 3 to 6 p.m. which will benefit all club-level players and is highly recommended for any athletes with desires to eventually play at the college or university level.
The High Performance Camp focuses on individual skill development designed to help each athlete attain their own “next level of play.”
“The high performance sessions are more geared to teaching athletes the ins and outs of their position and how to play that position successfully within a game,” explains Sandholm. “There will be a lot of game play situations, where athletes will learn both the technical and tactical sides to the high-performance game. The off-court portion of these sessions will provide athletes with the tools needed to be an all-around athlete.”
“This includes teaching physical training regiments that are appropriate for the age and stage of the athlete, for example, nutrition – what the athletes should be eating/drinking before, during, after competition,” Knight added.
There will be video sessions to provide players a visual of how the techniques and tactics they learned on the court are executed by athletes at a high level, such as UBC's national championship, NCAA national finals and possibly some Olympic footage.
Mental training will be offered as well, focusing on the importance of recovering from a distraction such as a mistake or stress during a game.
"All in all an exciting opportunity for volleyball players on Vancouver Island who most often need to leave Vancouver Island to get this level of expertise," a camp spokesperson said.
The camp is filling fast. Register early to guarantee a spot. For more information contact the centre at 250-339-8211 Local 6989 or 7173, or e-mail recreation assistant david.buckley-jones@forces.gc.ca.
– 19 Wing Fitness