Learning from the best

Posted by Shine Salt | Jun 11, 2015 | Volleyball |

Mustangs attract 90 campers at annual camp

Retired Mustang coach Lucinda Nash instructs the campers to form a table pose while lifting one leg up. (Special to the Times – Shine Salt)

KAYENTA, Ariz. – The 90 campers listened to Lucinda Nash as she instructed them with yoga positions during the 29th annual Mustang Volleyball Camp.

“You’re going to lift yourself up where you’re on your hands and your feet,” said Nash, who retired as Monument Valley’s head coach five years ago. “Hold the position and lift yourself up. Now tables don’t have heads so put your neck back and lift your left leg up.”

The sixth to twelfth grade campers laughed as they struggled to hold the table position. The four-day camp began June 1 at Monument Valley High School. Most of the kids came individually, but others like Red Valley/Cove High School arrived as a team.

“I brought five girls, so to come as a team it helps them to get along with one another, and (it allows them) to get to know each other,” said Henrietta Haven, head coach for Red Valley. “It’s about that team bonding and they get to see some higher level of volleyball.”

Coach Haven said this will be the Miners’ first year in AIA as a varsity team sport, so she wanted her players to learn new skills during the off-season.

“There’s no pressure to really win-win; it’s about having fun while they’re learning,” said Haven. “The girls are in awe by how all the (campers) are playing. Most of the girls here are not tall, but they can jump. Height really doesn’t matter.”

Players commuted from various areas like Dennehotso, Tuba City and Ramah to practice with an infamous team known for their repetitive state championship titles.

“The objective is for the kids to learn the fundamentals of setting, passing, hitting, serving, rotation and everything else that goes with the game,” said current Mustang head coach, Rennell Gilmore. “We want to be basic. We don’t want to go to the extreme where the little kids will say, ‘I have no idea what she’s talking about.’”