Summer skills

Suzie Harrison

The squeaking of tennis shoes was echoing, as the players moved

fast and stopped quickly, exacting their position to have the proper

technique and best utilize the skills that they have been learning

and practicing all week at the summer volleyball clinic at Laguna

Beach High School’s Dugger Gym.

The clinic is taught by Laguna Beach High School’s boys’ and

girls’ head coach Shawn Patchell along with some college,

professional and national team players.

The volleyball clinic was designed top help improve individual and

team skills using optimal strength and jumping, and is available to

players ages 8 to 18 from beginning to varsity levels.

“This summer there have been about 65 kids per clinic. We’re

teaching them the fundamentals of volleyball. On Monday we start with

passing, setting and hitting, and by Thursday they understand the

game better. It’s fun to do,” Patchell said.

Skill and age determine how each group is formed and boys and

girls work together on the same team.

“Every once in awhile we’ll have a seventh- or eighth-grader

playing with high school students learning the same fundamentals,”

the coach said.

The coach went step by step with the students as they were engaged

in each lesson.

He showed the players proper foot position as they followed along

practicing.

“Bend your knees and be parallel. You want to face the ball and

angle your arms. When you’re setting you want to face the party you

want to set it to,” he continued.

Players learned how to set the ball from the forehead and did a

drill where three of them would set the ball to each other and they

would rotate positions around the court, hoping to achieve 30 in a

row.

He’d call out some trivia, “How big is the court?”

“That’s right 30 feet by 30. So how many square feet is that?”

“We’ve been learning a lot and are starting to come together as a

team,” said Brittany Field, 15.

“When you really want something you have to work hard for it. You

can’t sit around and expect it to happen,” Kelly Roark, 15, said

about the sport.

After coaching for seven years at the high school, Patchell is

leaving to coach at BYU.

“The kids are great here. I liked the interaction with all the

kids, teaching the honors program and summer school. You get to

interact with kids of all backgrounds and student athletes. I’ll miss

that.”

“This is super fun and it helps because I am going out for the

high school team,” said Sean Koger, 14. “I know how to play

volleyball, but it makes your skills better and really strengthens

them.”

The clinics began on July 8 and the clinic is now on its third

week. The final session runs from Monday to Thursday, from 2:15 to

5:15 p.m. There are spaces available to register through the Laguna

Beach Community Services Department at 515 Forest Ave. Information:

(949) 497-0716.

* SUZIE HARRISON is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. She may be reached at 494-4321.