Jaishnavi Dinesh Kumarlin, left, and Jasmine Patrick battle for possession of the ball during last week’s youth volleyball camp at Princeton High School. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Young student-athletes came to Princeton High School last week to receive instruction from high school coaches, players and middle school coaches on football and volleyball while creating fun memories with the other campers they met.
A total of 66 students entering through sixth grade took part in the volleyball camp. The camp was conducted by the Princeton High School volleyball staff, including head coach Yolanda Beasley, coaches from each of the middle school campuses in Princeton ISD and three high school players.
For three hours a day from May 26-29, campers worked on basic skills such as hitting, passing, setting and serving.
To help with side-to-side and back-and-forth movement and communication, the coaching staff did a couple of skills relay games, Ghost Ball, Nukem and Protect the Egg.
“I think that they enjoyed the balloon passing, the skills relays and the use of pickleball rackets and badminton rackets to help with serving and hitting and arm swings,” Beasley said.
An average of 65 students entering the first through eighth graders participated each day in the Future Panthers Football Camp.
Every athlete was put through drills designed to teach and improve game knowledge, decision-making, change of direction, footwork, position-specific technique and speed.
The vision of Daniel Johnson, who was promoted to Princeton head coach on Monday, May 18 after spending the previous three seasons as the Panthers’ offensive coordinator, was to give the campers an experience of what the football program has to offer: structure, organization and discipline, but most importantly, to have fun.
“The most talked about thing I hear from campers, by far, is how much the kids love meeting and spending time with the guys they see play on Friday nights,” said Princeton High special teams coordinator Jerry Young. “The kids are always asking our players for autographs, to play catch, and all kinds of ‘Get-to-know-you’ type questions.
“I think this shows how valuable time and presence is to kids, no matter the age. It’s a great reminder of how truly important the relational aspect is to coaching.”
The Future Panthers Camp was run by the high school coaches. They had a rotation that included all coaches, but their anchors were Luis Pyan, William Yeaser and Scott Davis.
Also, two players from each position group from the Panthers’ high school team showed up and worked with the campers. High school players that were present every day included incoming seniors Austin Aparicio, Braydin Burns, Paxton Bruns and sophomores-to-be Brandon Johnson, Jo Childress and Uriah Yost.
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