Bret Harte holds annual youth volleyball camp

Bret Harte volleyball held its volleyball camp June 9-12 at Bob Bach Gym in Angels Camp. Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise

The annual Bret Harte High School volleyball camp was held Monday through Thursday at Bob Bach Gym in Angels Camp. Nearly 70 young volleyball players, ranging in age from incoming fifth to eighth graders, took part in the four-day camp.

The final three days of the camp featured specific themes: Tuesday was USA and crazy hair day; Wednesday was neon and animal print; and Thursday was purple and gold.

For the first time, the camp was expanded to include fifth graders. The fifth and sixth graders attended camp from 1 to 2:30 p.m., while the seventh and eighth graders attended from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

“It’s exciting to continue to see an interest in the sport grow in the community and reach even beyond just our immediate local community, but the greater area,” Bret Harte head volleyball coach Jacey Porovich said. “When we opened it up to fifth graders, we didn’t know what it was going to look like, but we wanted to make as much of an opportunity as we could for any and all campers since we had to shut down registration early the last couple years. We didn’t know what to expect opening it up to the fifth grade, but it’s really exciting to see over 25 kids in the fifth-six and more than 45 in the seventh-eighth.”

Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise

One aspect of the camp that is always gratifying for Porovich is seeing the current high school volleyball players teach the younger attendees, as it was not long ago that those players were attending the camp as elementary school students.

“One of my favorite parts of camp really is the paying it forward aspect,” Porovich said. “The hope is that these campers someday become one of the high school players and they’re teaching the generations behind them. Before camp started this morning, I was kind of thinking in terms of program completers, how many kids we’ve had that have come through camp every year that they could and are also playing in the program each year.”

Bret Harte already held its summer volleyball practice, which, combined with the annual camp, always makes Porovich excited for the upcoming season.

“We practiced last week with the upperclassmen while the incoming freshmen were finishing up graduations,” Porovich said. “But I do feel like once camp week is here, this is kind of the mark of the season to come. It starts creating that excitement with all the girls in the gym and teaching the little ones. And it gives us that opportunity to see what’s coming into the program in the fall. But I definitely enjoy having a summer break, too.”

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