It was a successful first year for Elite Volley Camp last summer as Gavin Little's rural center based camp aimed at growing the sport of volleyball saw a steady first year turnout of Grade 7-12 volleyball players looking to hone their skills heading into the high school volleyball season. That turnout has Little and his group of former collegiate and international club and National Team players headed back to Yorkton this August to continue their mission of providing a high level volleyball camp alternative to those who don't want to travel to a major urban center.
"When I was growing up I played volleyball in Fairview, Alberta where I grew up which was in Jasper and the cost of the camp was already expensive and it was a long journey just to get there," explains Little. "So when I started Elite Volley Camp it was with the mission in mind to provide small urban centers and rural communities with professional training to show what high level volleyball looks like and how the sport can truly be an alternative to football, basketball, and hockey."
Little has an impressive list of accomplishments for a Canadian volleyball player coming from Fairview.
Little's amateur career saw him win ACAC All-Conference honors as well as the GPRC Mens Volleyball MVP before moving onto the U of S where he was the University of Saskatchewan Mens Volleyball MVP before spending four seasons professionally in Finland, Switzerland, Holland and Germany before returning to Canada to help grow the game.
Joining Little will be an impressive list of Canadian National Team players that will give the camp some of the most qualified coaching instruction out of any camp in Western Canada. Little's wife, Tiffany Dodds a former CIS All-Star and Canadian University Player of the Year rounds out that list. Dodds, from Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan, played for the University of Alberta Golden Bears where she had a career filled with highlights. Dodds was named Female Rookie of the Year, two time Conference All-Star, two time All-Canada, Team MVP, Conference MVP, and University Player of the Year while winning MVP of the National Championship at the U of A before moving on to play four seasons as a pro in Asia, Central America and Europe before playing for Canada at the 2010 World Volleyball Championships.
Joining Dodds will by Tammy Mahon from Holland, Manitoba. A former University of Manitoba Bison, Mahon played nine seasons as a pro including winning a Greece championship with Panathinakos as well as the playoff MVP in addition to being a member of Canada's Womens National Team for 10 seasons.
Julie Young, a former Female Athlete of the Year and All-Canadian with the University of Calgary and Brittney Page, a former NCAA D-I player with Eastern Washington and a Canada National Team player will round out the list of 2013 coaches that will be at the camp that runs from August 6-10.
Little feels that having accomplished collegiate and professional coaches is important for a variety of reasons. "Having professional experienced coaching at our camps is huge because it gives these players an opportunity that is truly Elite because we all know what it takes to get to the next level as well as the types of drills and technique adjustments that will get players of varying ranges of experiences into a much higher level of play and when volleyball is played at a high level it is an extremely fun, fast paced, and entertaining sport and that is what we are trying to show here," says Little who also explains that the players can serve as a role model for aspiring volleyball players from small communities. "All of our coaches come from small communities and have received an education as well as the opportunity to make a living and travel the world through volleyball as well as represent our countries in some cases and that is huge because sometimes people don't think there is much of a post high school route in volleyball as their is in other sports and we all show that volleyball is a huge international sport with post-secondary opportunities just like any other sport you can play."
Little and the Elite Volley Camp attempt to counter the misconception by showing videos and sharing stories of their own personal experiences going from high school volleyball players to the professional and national ranks.
These stories and experiences aim to show athletes and high school volleyball players that post scholastic opportunities exist in volleyball just like other high school sports and that volleyball is something that can be taking further as well if given the focus.
Little's camp philosophy is based around developing the skill of each player that comes into his EVC Camp. Coaches will spend up to seven hours each day in the daily sessions teaching the players various techniques and skills, ensuring that they have time to develop proper habits that will carry over to game situations before bringing in position specific drills tooled to the role each player wants to learn before the camper's are introduced to game play.
Little feels that this brings the campers up to the highest possible level of play in the shortest period of time as the campers go through the drills for the sufficient amount of time to grow proper technique and memory of positioning.
"The most important thing is reps and that is why our camp is ran over five day sessions because it would be wrong to try to just instruct a group of players over one day, especially those at the Grade 7-9 level that are still going to be relatively new to the sport and may need more attention and repetition than others and the extra gym time has proven to be effective as by the end of the week you can really see the growth in all of the players," explains Little. "Seeing that development and helping a player fall in love with the game, or maybe even help them make a team or earn more playing time thanks to the help of my camp is such a great reward.
The time focused on individual training and skill development is taken into game play by the way of controlled scrimmages and eventually a final day of game action where campers get to put the skills they honed at the camp to the test.
The camp has three locations this year focused on smaller centers with camps in Little's hometown of Fairview and one in Grimshaw also on the EVC's 2013 calendar, that focus in smaller communities that don't already have camps is something Little takes pride in. "I don't forsee us ever getting into cities, because we provide a unique service that some places wouldn't otherwise have if we didn't come there for our camp and I feel that is something that is truly special," says Little.
Cost of the Camp is $300 for the five day sessions running from August 6-10 at the Yorkton Regional High School gym. With the timing of the camp being perfect for prospective high school players heading into tryouts at the start of the school year.
You can call to register your spot at the camp open to Grade 7-12 students by calling 1-780-834-7607 or going online at www.elitevolleycamp.com for more details heading into the start of camp.
