By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay volleyball program recently concluded its annual series of summer camps and clinics, welcoming area students to the Kress Events Center for day camps last week after hosting a sequence of evening clinics in June. Phoenix head coach Debbie Kirch and her players served as instructors for the camps, along with former players who coach volleyball in the area.

"Our camps provide our players a great chance to give back to the sport," Kirch said. "We always tell them, at some point in their lives someone worked with them and made them into the players that they are today and also helped instill in them the love they have for the sport. Now it's their time to do the same for others."

Last week featured day camps from Wednesday through Friday, which included the High Intensity camp for high school juniors and seniors, the Fundamental Skills camp for freshmen and sophomores, and the Junior High camp for grades six through eight. Each of the three-day camps covered all the volleyball skills and included live scrimmaging.

June's evening clinics were skill-specific, with three separate sessions focusing hitting, serving and setting/ball control. About 80 kids attended each of the three clinics. In all, approximately 175 kids participated in Green Bay's summer camps and clinics.

"We've had a big increase in participation in our camps and skill-specific clinics," Kirch said. "Over the past few years we have seen an increased interest in this area not just in the sport of volleyball, but in kids wanting to develop specific skills, specialize in positions and pursue more competitive options like club volleyball."

Green Bay volleyball also runs a winter series of skill-specific clinics and has seen increased participation each year.

The camps and clinics have helped a number of area kids become better players, including Green Bay's incoming freshman libero Becca Mastey (Pulaski, Wis.), who has been attending the Phoenix camps since middle school.

"Becca still has the t-shirts from when she came to our Junior Phoenix programs, and now she's going to be wearing a Green Bay jersey in the fall," Kirch said. "It's very gratifying to see kids at our high school camps who have been coming to our camps and clinics for years, and it's exciting to know that we can help players like Becca develop into Division I talent."

The Phoenix volleyball squad will open its 2012 campaign with its home Green Bay/Country Inn & Suites Tournament Aug. 24-25 at the Kress Center.

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