Girls Volleyball Camp Returns to SUNY Oneonta This Summer
By JAQUELYN CARLO
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA
The SUNY Oneonta women’s volleyball program will host its annual girls youth volleyball camp this July, offering local and regional athletes an opportunity to develop skills, experience college life, and learn directly from collegiate players and coaches.
The multi-day Oneonta All-Skills Volleyball Camp, led by SUNY Oneonta head coach Ashley Coyle and members of the Red Dragons women’s volleyball team, is designed for players ages 13–18. The program focuses on skill development, team concepts and fostering a love for the game.
Coach Coyle said the camp has been a core part of the SUNY Oneonta Athletics program since she arrived in 2017.
“It was and continues to be a goal of ours in the program to make impact in our community and to be able to spread the love of the game to people who are interested,” Coyle said.
While the camp is advertised for athletes ages 13–18, some flexibility is available. Players who are in eighth grade but are competing at a junior varsity level may be eligible with direct communication with Coach Coyle.
Campers of different ages train together while also working at appropriate skill levels.
“We try to make it specific per level, but everybody’s working on that foundational piece of what’s going to make elite and well-trained volleyball players,” Coyle explained.
Student athletes on the SUNY Oneonta women’s volleyball team volunteer their time as instructors and mentors during the camp, guiding campers through drills, game situations, and team-building activities. Players attend from throughout New York State, including areas such as Albany and Syracuse.
Sophomore Shea Landversicht is one of the student athletes helping at the camp. A middle blocker from Greenville, New York, Landversicht has played volleyball since middle school and is majoring in adolescence education with a concentration in chemistry.
She said working with campers allows her to combine her passion for the sport with her future career goals.
“I want to make an impact on someone’s life. At the camp I can come and meet however many athletes [who] are going to come from all ages, from all backgrounds, from all athletic ability and try to help them find this common interest of volleyball,” Landversicht explained.
She feels she can relate to the campers because she was once in their spot.
Participants will train on the SUNY Oneonta campus in the Alumni Field House.
In addition to on-court instruction, campers will get a taste of college life. For the four-day session, resident campers will stay in residence halls and eat meals in campus dining facilities. Commuter options are also available; commuters will eat lunch and dinner in the dining hall with the rest of the group. All campers get to tour SUNY Oneonta’s facilities
Campers also have the chance to watch the women’s volleyball team practice and compete.
“We bring them on a tour and then we play in front of them, so they can see college-level play and see if they can imagine themselves in that spot,” Landversicht explained.
Program organizers say the camp is intended not only to improve volleyball skills, but also to inspire young athletes to continue playing and potentially pursue collegiate athletics in the future.
Registration for the July 23–26 camp is now open, and space is limited. Families interested in signing up can complete the registration form online at SUNY Oneonta’s Youth Camps and Programs website, https://suny.oneonta.edu/info/community-members/youth-camps-and-programs.
This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Lab, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.
