This group of Kern Valley High School volleyball players are practicing on a beach court to get ready for the upcoming season. Photos by Jamie Duran
Sometimes you have to find inventive ways to make training fun. Kern Valley High School varsity volleyball coach Jamie Duran has done just that.
For the past few weeks, Duran has set the stage to improve the quality of the volleyball program. She is using the beach volleyball court at Kern River’s Edge Campground to work out the potential volleyball players for this upcoming season. Duran said, “This summer, John and Rhonda Stallone were generous to our volleyball program in letting us use the Kern River’s Edge Campground sand court as a place to work out.
She has consistently saw 20-24 volleyball players show up each day they train. They training lasts two hours per day, three times a week. She is hoping to bind the players together before the start of the season. In this training program, the girls learn how to communicate on the court, what position to be in at the start and finish of the action. The serving game is also practice to help the athletes learn the ins and out of serving to create potential scoring opportunities.
When it comes to the hard wood court game, the sand court improves the athletes’ ability to get to their spot quicker. And if in the correct spot, they will be able to adjust to whatever is happening on the court. Duran said, “We have put a huge focus on communication, court movement, vertical movements, intentional serving, and fun.”
The players have taken to the new program and training to improve their abilities on the court. It is the athletes hope that they carry over their summer training, when they actually take the court at the start of the upcoming season. According to Duran, “The athletes have been working hard and have shown such a growth in endurance, quick movements reading the other court, and the technical side of passing, serving, and hitting.”
With the new training, the Kern Valley High School volleyball program seems to be “setting” itself up for success. Only time will tell if this summer has given them an edge over their soon to be opponents.
