Volleyball on the Couer D'Alene
By Dave Taylor, Coach and Technical Skills Instructor

I grew up about 35 miles away from Plummer, Idaho. In fact, I'd even been in that same gym as a high school basketball athlete for my school. I was excited to go back and revisit my high school glory days. I remembered the wooden bench very well. It felt exactly the same as it did 30 years ago. My junior year in high school, I was called into action and got to see some actual court time in a REAL game! No longer was I to be used as a practice dummy for the starters, this time my number would be in the books. My name would be announced. My parents would watch ME in more than just the warmups. I don't remember how much I played that game or what my stats where, but I do remember one play quite vividly. I had just out-jumped all of my teammates and the opponents for a rebound. An opponent who was vying for the same ball, bumped me just enough that I came down on someone's foot. My ankle twisted and that was the end of my remarkable journey to Plummer, ID.

Now, 30 years later, I started a new chapter in Plummer. A volleyball camp on the Couer D'Alene Indian Reservation. We had athletes from 4 high schools in towns of Plummer, Tekoa, Worley, St Maries, Harrison and Medimont. Lakeside High School is proud of it's heritage and culture. I was grateful for the opportunity to show eager athletes willing to learn more about a sport they had embraced. I loved how the school is working to preserve their language by posting their native words along with the English words. Normally fierce high school competitors, the kids came together with a common goal of playing volleyball. And created new friendships instead of common rivals. The high school coaches were amazed. Each day, their comment was "This is so good for the girls. There's no way I thought they would get along. But you guys make it so fun. They have bonded like I never would have expected. We cannot thank you enough."

It's not me. It's the sport of volleyball. All our camps are designed to have SERIOUS FUN. We don't just do skill after skill until boredom sets in. We teach a skill, have a fun drill, then end every session with a game. We want players to learn in a safe environment and play in a fun one.

We still have plenty of volleyball left this summer. See below for the opportunities.

Oh, and THANK YOU, for enjoying the sport we love so much. We couldn't do it without you!