McCook High School holds volleyball training camp headed by former Olympian – Volleyball news
The McCook High School had the honour of hosting a summer camp earlier this month that was conducted by former United States Olympian, Charlene Johnson Whitted.
Whitted was assisted by the head volleyball coach of the school, Krystal Weber. Now that her Olympics days are over, Whitted has indulged herself in providing volleyball training to young and budding athletes. In an effort to siphon off her learning to the
young players, Whitted provides training in about 15 to 20 training camps on an annual basis. As the kids get their summers off and have more time to devote their energies and concentration to the sport, most of Whitted’s training camps are held in the summers.
In order to motivate and inspire the participants of the camp, Whitted relayed her views about training and the mind set needed by saying, "You just need to enjoy being in the gym. The enjoyment comes from working hard, being able to execute on the court.
It's no fun to lose, especially if you haven't tried to get better. So you come in the gym, you get good reps, good contacts, you stay focused and then you find success when you're playing in matches."
The camp that took place in McCook lasted for three days. Out of all the participants, Whitted shortlisted 14 of the best players who would receive further training at the hands of the Olympian.
Whitted has been a part of Brigham Young University volleyball team during 1991-94. Other than that, she has also played for the United States national team as a setter. The national team qualified in the 2000 Summer Olympics Games that were held in Sydney,
Australia. Despite the fact that Whitted’s team could not secure the top position, the U.S. national team still made it to the fourth position.
Most of the players in the camp have had experience playing volleyball but Whitted still feels it is appropriate to start off with the basic skills. Once the old habits that have been ingrained in the young players are flushed out of their systems, Whitted
trains them in the professional techniques involved in executing the fundamental of volleyball. Once the basics are covered, Whitted then moves on to more advanced training.
The advanced part of the training is aimed to further improve and polish the skills of the better players in the camp.
Whitted admitted to the fact that some of the players have failed to grasp the value of having the opportunity of being trained by a former Olympian player and do not understand the advantages they are getting. Despite that fact, Whitted never fails to put
her heart and soul into any training camp that she supervises.
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