Volleyball Camp Provides Opportunities For Campers and Staff

GREELEY – Most college campuses are pretty quiet on a weekend in the middle of July, but that was not the case at Northern Colorado as the UNC volleyball team and head coach Lyndsey Oates hosted its annual team camp.

The camp attracted 164 teams from 93 different schools and seven different states to provide a weekend full of competition, learning and fun. The states represented at the camp were Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana. The teams were split into four different divisions, Elite, Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3; playing on 41 different courts throughout the Greeley area, including 16 on the UNC campus between Bank of Colorado Arena and the university's Campus Recreation Center.

"Part of the reason we are able to have such a big team camp is our facilities. We have 16 courts on campus within a very short distance of a big dining hall and great dorms," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "We are very fortunate to have the facilities that we do."

The 164 teams not only used the gyms in the area, but also resided in some of the dorms on campus, giving the teams a place to stay and a taste of the college experience during the three-day tournament.

"It is extremely important for them (high school players) to learn about college living. Whether they are getting recruited, or just looking at college in the future," LaCueva (N.M.) High School head coach Steven Archibeque said. "It is great to expose them to dorm life and college living and getting them away from mom and pop."

Over the three days there were three rounds of pool play in each division, followed up by a single elimination tournament at the end of it. During that time, both the University of Northern Colorado and its volleyball program are put into showcase.

"The tournament is great exposure for our volleyball program and university," Oates stated. "It shows thousands of high school students what a great university we have. It also helps the community because we fill up the hotels and restaurants during the three-day tournament."

It's not just UNC, the volleyball team and Greeley that benefit from the tournament, but the high school athletes, coaches and teams as well.

"There are so many opportunities when you come to this camp. You get to see so many different styles of play, and get a ton of ball contacts in. Plus if you are going to be competitive in this tournament you have to compete," Billings (Mont.) Senior High School head coach Jeff Carroll said. "It seems like every year especially around this time we want our team to know the season is going to be tough and this is how we need to compete and this is a good opportunity to train for that."

The competition has always been at a high level for the tournament, along with the size since its beginnings.

"As far as I know this is the biggest high school camp in the country," Oates said. "I've been at UNC 12 years and it was big before I go here thanks to previous coaches Linda Delk (1976-2001) and Ron Alexander (2002-03)."

Some of the participating coaches in the camp have been coming since near its beginnings, including Grandview High Schools head coach Patty Childress.

"This tournament originated when Ron Alexander was the coach at Fort Morgan," Childress said. "When he became the coach here he brought it along with him. When I was a coach at Palisade (Colo.) we brought our teams all the way out to Fort Morgan in the 1990s. I have probably been bringing teams to this tournament since about 1992."

For players this is not only a time to get away from family and learn about college life, but also can serve as a way to become noticed by college teams. For UNC player's Kendra Cunningham, Meagan Garcia, Kortney Lockey, and Ryleigh Haynes that proved to be the case. Each player participated in the UNC team camp while and high school and later on became a part of it in another way, whether it be helping run the team store, or helping in administrating the event.

Between the Northern Colorado volleyball staff and players and the participating coaches and players, there are plenty of great opportunities for everyone involved, each year at the team camp.

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Kendra Cunningham

Meagan Garcia

Ryleigh Haynes

Kortney Lockey

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