Junior beach volleyball recently got a big boost from professional players in the US.
Top-ranked ladies Chara Harris and Megan Wallin staged a youth clinic on Saturday at the Public Beach. The session attracted some 20 youngsters, who honed in on fundamentals like serving, spiking and footwork.
Among the starlets who attended was Ileann Powery. The West Bayer, who is the daughter of Carlon and Cindy Powery, states the session was educational.
“It was a worthwhile experience and we needed it to build us up,” Powery said. “To get to experience what they do, boosts us up. We can be like them, if we try our hardest and put our all into it.
“I just come out once in awhile (to play beach volleyball) though I’ve been playing volleyball awhile. They taught us the basics and the spiking surprised me. I didn’t know it was so much to it. Once I do it over and over I’ll get used to it. It brings way more out of you than you realize and it should reap improvement.”
For the record, Harris and Wallin compete on the Extreme Volleyball Professionals Tour (a pro beach volleyball circuit in the US). Harris, 31, has been ranked as high as 13th in the US while Wallin, 29, is currently 16th in the 2012 pro women’s national rankings. Both ladies, who reside in Sarasota, Florida, were accompanied by their male partners who also play in the US in Scott Harris (Chara’s husband) and Matt Brockway (Megan’s boyfriend).
Wallin states the girls have a tremendous upside.
“There’s a lot of potential here and the girls are very awesome,” Wallin said. “You can tell they’re young but they’re very easy to work with as they have no attitude. Everyone works to improve and they want to get extra repetitions.”
Saturday’s session was aimed at girls aged 10-18. It was sponsored by Life Extension Sports and Fitness (a new Seven Mile Beach fitness facility) in association with the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation. Among those in attendance from the federation was vice president Kennedy McGowan and junior national girls coach Andrea Williams, who stated she was happy with the clinic.
“The coaches did awesome, the girls did awesome and it was a huge success,” Williams said. “I’m very happy.”
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