The Two Harbors High School Volleyball program hosted a free Community Youth Volleyball Clinic on Thursday August 15th and the following Thursday, August 22nd. This is the third time the program has offered this opportunity to any child K-6th grade in the area that was interested in learning a bit more about the sport.
“That’s the goal, to get them excited about it now so they can be really excited about it when they’re older and can play for us in the future,” said Carley Dole, who is co-head coach for the Two Harbors varsity volleyball team along with Ashley Paulson.
Carley and Ashley organized the event with the help of other coaches, volunteers, and the captains of the volleyball team.
“Our captains always play a huge role in that, too, making sure that all of our athletes have enough coverage,” said Carley. The captains enjoy being part of the program and understand the importance of offering this type of clinic, as well.
“The Youth Volleyball Clinic was a great way to get our younger athletes in the community involved. It was fun to see all the kids who wanted to come and spent their time with us, learning the game we love. I enjoyed teaching them the basics of volleyball, but learning more about what our young athletes liked about the game was even better! With their willingness and determination to become better players, I am so excited to see what they’ll bring to our program in the years to come!” said Brooklyn Nelson, one of the Two Harbors High School volleyball program captains.
This year they had 36 kids between the ages of 4-11 attend the clinic and more boys have gotten involved in the sport.
“It was really fun. They’ve had co-ed in the past but we really advertised it as co-ed and so we had a good mix of both boys and girls show up which is really exciting,” said Carley.
The timing of the event is purposeful. According to Carley, “We wanted this to be like a kickoff of our season to get the community involved and get our youth engaged and excited about volleyball.”
The kids are definitely excited about the opening home game of the season, which will be between the Agates and the Mariners on August 29th. This is especially so because they get to be on the court with the players pre-game and stand with them during the National Anthem.
“That’s when we wanted to recognize all our youth participants in our clinic. We’re inviting pretty much any kid that has either participated in our clinic or is just part of Two Harbors in general to come be recognized at our games,” said Carley. “It’s the best part. Just to see this swarm of kids so excited to be on the court is always really cute.”
(Submitted photo above)
