Local volleyball players will get the chance to practice with the the pros.
From Aug. 20-24, Impact Volleyball Camp will stop in Prince George for court sessions at the College of New Caledonia. The Impact program, for players entering their Grade 7 to Grade 12 school years, will be led by coaches who have played the game professionally in Europe. One of them will be P.G.'s Murray Laidlaw, who spent time in Sweden, Holland and Switzerland and also cranked kill shots in Indonesia.
Other coaches slated to be in Prince George are Ellen Orchard, a Texas product who has been suiting up in Switzerland, and St. Albert's Emmy Blouin, who has divided her pro career between Sweden, Switzerland and Austria.
"All of these players have 'made it.' They've been stars on their university teams and then gone on to play professionally in Europe or have played national team so they've seen everything," said Nathan Bennett, Impact's managing director.
Bennett, a graduate of the University of Alberta Golden Bears program, has spent the past 11 years playing pro volleyball. Armed with his list of contacts, he started up Impact Volleyball Camp in 2004.
"At the grassroots level, volleyball has to be taught properly," he said. "For Canada to become an international force -- which we are starting to become now, actually -- we have to learn volleyball at that young age and learn it properly."
Cost to attend the five-day camp is $400. Instruction will go from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, while Friday will be set aside for tournament play.
The Prince George camp is one of eight on Impact's schedule this summer.
Online registration and additional information can be found at www.impactvolleyballcamp.com.
