Pat Hennelly remembers the yearly trips from South Slocan to Williams Lake. Along with a bunch of his buddies, he'd be in a van driven by teacher Joe Moirera. The reason for the journey was always the same -- volleyball camp.
Hennelly was just a kid, and those camps introduced him to the sport he grew to love.
He's now a coach and has been running his own camps for years. One is planned for late August in Prince George and he'd like for a new crop of youngsters to experience some of the same joys he did when he was a volleyball newcomer.
"I'm really hoping we can get a lot of the younger kids out, the elementary-aged kids," he said. "You can put your kids in this camp even if they've never played volleyball. This is a great introduction."
Hennelly is head coach of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's volleyball team, which is based in Kamloops. The WolfPack Volleyball Camp, which has become a summertime staple in Prince George, is set for Aug. 27-30 at CNC and UNBC. Players up to Grade 8 will have their court sessions at CNC and the older athletes will play at the Northern Sport Centre on the UNBC campus.
This will be the first time in the five-year history of the Prince George camp that two venues will be used.
"We're trying an expanded day-camp concept for younger kids," Hennelly said. "It's something we've done in the past and then once we got to a certain number it was better to split the camps. We want to get more hours in for the younger kids so we can really go over the fundamentals. We'll slow it down and really focus on technique and try and make the game fun. When they get to see the skills done over and over again by experts, I think it really helps."
And yes, the older players will find the WolfPack workouts valuable too.
"We approach every age group differently, and the coaches know that," Hennelly said. "How we approach them and the skills we emphasize are all different. We're going to give you something that you can walk away with and feel like you've gotten better at volleyball."
Three of the coaches at the camp will be Prince George products Colin Carson, Spencer Reed and Nic Balazs. All suit up for the WolfPack, Carson as a setter, Reed as a libero and Balazs as a middle blocker.
Dan Drezet, who is overseeing registration for the camp, said the junior girls division is almost full but that another session will be added to accommodate more players.
Camp registration forms are available at the Prince George Youth Volleyball Club office, located outside the CNC gym. Forms can also be found online at www.pgyvc.com. Completed forms can be dropped off at the PGYVC office.
