A good volleyball player isn’t born overnight.
That was what instructor Jerica Jackson wanted to emphasize to the girls participating in the volleyball camp at the Mexico Area Family YMCA …
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A good volleyball player isn’t born overnight.
That was what instructor Jerica Jackson wanted to emphasize to the girls participating in the volleyball camp at the Mexico Area Family YMCA starting on July 21. The camp is another associated with SWHET — connects collegiate athletes and coaches to kids via camps — and hosted at the YMCA.
Jackson was just hired to be Missouri Valley College head coach Nicole Murphy’s assistant after playing at Pittsburg State University and playing for Murphy earlier in her life in travel ball. Before that, Jackson finished her high school career as the all-time kills leader at Hickman in Columbia.
“I just graduated for my undergrad in May, and I’m getting my master’s at Missouri Valley,” Jackson said. “She coached me when I was 15, and I’ve known her ever since then.”
Murphy, who has led several Missouri schools to district championships, and Jackson also led a SWHET camp at the YMCA in May before spending another two weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the kids. Jackson worked with a range of girls from third to eighth grade, which she has done in other places.
Jackson said she has done many camps with kids of various ages at places like the University of Missouri recently for a week. She said there are varying levels of experience along with the varying ages.
“When they’re this young, they’re learning a lot of things and a lot of them don’t know what they want to do yet,” Jackson said. “The development is really good for them.”
Whether the girls were doing a drill or playing a game, Jackson was encouraging to them and acknowledged any progress they made.
“A lot of them might have a lot of high expectations, especially if they compare themselves to the other age groups,” Jackson said. “Those who are just starting out are probably like, ‘Why can’t I do that if she can?’ Recognizing where they are as a person and a volleyball player helps them recognize what they need to do.”
Jackson emphasized ball control for much of the first day while the girls were bumping and setting. These are the basics of volleyball, but they are important to learn before more advanced techniques. Instead of trying to skip years of progress, she said girls need to take their time to get better.
“I told them you can be a collegiate athlete, even at Division I, and you could still make little mistakes,” Jackson said. “If you remember your basics and fundamentals, that can make a lot of improvement. People forget their basics, and they just want to do all the extra and extreme things. If you don’t have your fundamentals or your basics, it’s hard for you to get there.”
