Local Youth Serve, Set and Dig at Volleyball Camp

Chip Schulte started Beach Cities Volleyball 10 years ago to train local youth players, build their character and develop their volleyball skills.

Beach Cities runs five volleyball camps during the summer, with the most recent at American Martyrs gym in Manhattan Beach. More than 400 kids have signed up to improve their skills.

"We focus on the fundamentals at this camp," said Kevin Williams, who has been coaching seven years for Beach Cities. "We work on serving, passing, setting, diving and digging. We also work on conditioning and team skills like communication, team work and sportsmanship."

Each coach at camp will have a specialty skill to teach, moving from court to court to keep things moving quickly.

"I want them to have fun and stay positive,'' said Williams, a former All-American at Cal State Long Beach. ''I have a lot of young kids, so I want them to enjoy volleyball for their whole career... We want well-rounded players, because at this point, we don't know what position they will play later on. We want to give them good life skills so where ever they go they will be successful."

About 90 percent of the campers at the Beach Cities camp at the American Martyrs School are from Manhattan Beach.

"I am here to get more experience and improve my skills so I can make the MBMS team,'' said Eva Abramson, who is going into the eighth grade at Manhattan Beach Middle School. ''If you want to play in high school at Mira Costa you have to play on a middle school team. The hardest skill for me is serving but the coaches are really nice and they teach us a lot.''

Wendy Waller is going to Chadwick School next year and she, too, is focused on making the volleyball team.

"I am doing a lot of camps this summer to get better for school tryouts,'' Waller said. ''Some camps only focus on one or two things, but this camp focuses on all of the skills I will need in high school. This camp is the best. You always meet a lot of new friends and it's a lot of fun too."

Another player, Manhattan Beach resident Kate Bottman, is also working on her skills.

"I want to play on my school team," Bottman said. "I think serving is the hardest skill to learn in the beginning. It's fun to learn but it's kind of hard too."

Beach Cities has three weeks of clinics for the more experienced players. These clinics run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The players range in age from 12 to 18 and are playing for local middle schools and high schools.

Beach Cities also has 300 players on their club teams, and one of its Gold teams finished second in the country last year.  Although Beach Cities is based in Manhattan Beach, it draws players from all over the South Bay.

The Beach Cities program has something for everyone, from 7-year-olds that are just starting their volleyball careers, to high school players working for college scholarships.

"We try to have kids from different communities play with each other,'' Schulte said. ''We'll have two or three kids from Manhattan Beach play with two or three kids from Hawthorne and two or three kids from the inner cities. They all play together for seven months. We are trying to break down barriers as part of our program."