McKenzie Dowell
McKenzie Dowell
Layton, Utah
Exercise Science
Leadership Track
Beach Volleyball Camp
I have been playing both indoor and outdoor volleyball for the past 7 years and have grown to love the sport so much! The last three years I have had the opportunity to be apart of the SUU women's volleyball team. Since I have been playing at SUU I have developed a strong passion for the game and I was looking for opportunities that I could share my passion with others. I knew that for my EDGE project I wanted to do something that revolved around both kids and volleyball. Putting together a beach volleyball camp for the community seemed like a perfect way to get to share my love for volleyball and work with little kids!
My project consisted of holding a 2-week long summer beach volleyball camp for children ages 6-18. This camp helped to introduce kids to the game of beach volleyball while helping them gain a better understanding of volleyball at the same time! By holding this camp for 8 separate sessions, each an hour and a half, it gave the kids plenty of time to learn and develop new skills. Each day I wrote practice plans that focused on specific skills such as, passing, digging, hitting, and blocking. By the end of this camp the kids made so much progress and had so much fun while doing it!
I was inspired to host a volleyball camp for my EDGE project by my coaches here at SUU. Seeing my coaches get to do what they love every day made me think about possibly wanting to coach in the future. I thought this would be the perfect way to try out coaching and see if it would be something I'd enjoy doing down the road! I was also inspired to do this camp by our community. I love being able to do things that get to introduce others to new and fun physical activity, especially when it involves little kids!
Some challenges that I faced early on in my project was finding beach courts that I would be allowed to use for the camp. However, once I finalized a location, the next setback was talking to different volleyball clubs that would allow me to borrow their volleyballs. I had to talk to a few different Club owners, but I finally got in touch with someone who was on board with letting me use their volleyballs! One of the last challenges I faced during the camp was the heat! Some of the kids really struggled with keeping their energy throughout the camp because the heat took it right out of them! We did the best we could to work around this issue by having the camp in the morning, however unfortunately it was still pretty hot!
Not only did coaching this camp benefit me, but it also benefited the community and the kids who participated. Beach volleyball is not an extremely popular sport yet, but its definitely on the rise! Being able to introduce more kids to this amazing sport was so accomplishing!
This project was a huge benefit to me. Before I completed this project I was strongly considering becoming a coach. However, after finishing this camp I feel like it solidified my thoughts on wanting to become a coach! I now feel like I have a better idea of what it takes to be a good coach. This camp will also be a great experience that I can put on my resume!
"Today was so fun! The kids are really picking up on their skills, and they are already improving so much. It's so nice to be outside and enjoying the sunshine!"
