ALTON – The Alton Summer Volleyball League has concluded its eighth season in successfully offering and introducing the sport to the Riverbend’s young people at various venues for younger and older children alike.
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The program offers volleyball to local kids from fourth grade to senior year in high school, and this year had 141 players at all levels in a league that played in both June and July.
The younger players were from various schools, such as St. Mary’s Catholic in Alton, St. Ambrose Catholic in Godfrey, Evangelical Elementary in Godfrey, Meadowbrook, West, and North Elementary Schools in Alton, Alton Middle, Trimpe Middle in Bethalto, and both Roxana and East Alton-Wood River Middle Schools. High schools who were represented were Alton, Marquette Catholic, Piasa Southwestern, Hardin Calhoun, and Edwardsville.
In addition, the league was able to rent spaces at MaxSports and the YWCA in Alton, along with the new Wood River Recreation Center. It was a big boom to the league and its players.
“The Rec Center recently opened,” said league coordinator Phil Hamilton, “and gives us the ability to run two courts at the same time. On Wednesday nights, the whole league has a session. We divide groups of about 20-25 players, we use an open gym format, and adjust the activities, based on the age and number of players. Studies have shown that the proficiency in volleyball comes from repetition. All drills and games are designed around getting the most hits as possible within the time allotted.”
The total cost to players is divided among the total number of players involved, with a total of 86 hours booked at the venues this season.
“The Summer Volleyball League has given my daughter an opportunity to work on volleyball skills at an affordable price during the off season,” said St. Ambrose coach Michelle Pulaski. “It has created a network for both players and coaches of all area schools.”
St. Mary’s head coach Jill Woodward also sang the praises of the league.
“We would like to see the summer league program continue to expand and develop,” Woodward said. “Currently, there are no similar leagues in the area. Many students do not have an opportunity to play any volleyball until middle school.”
Woodward currently has three of her children playing in the league, and it’s been a big benefit to them, along with the seven kids of another St. Mary’s coach, Jen Cowan.
“This is my fifth year of involvement with the Summer Volleyball League,” Cowan said. “My oldest daughter started attending in fourth grade, and that grew into me becoming a coach at the fifth grade level. We enjoy the laid back, open gym style during the summer. There’s no pressure to perform, but plenty of potential to learn new skills and develop current ones.”
The league concludes the season with a round robin tournament, with all age groups playing teams from their own groups. And the main emphasis, of course, is fun, as well as player safety.
“Our philosophy is that although safety is first, fun is second,” Hamilton said. “Our motto is: Keep Swingin’!”
More more info about the league and its goals, please log onto the organization’s Facebook page, Summer Volleyball League 2024.
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