“What I did in my Easter Holidays – Two weeks in the life of a volleyball player”
Ellie Stewart – Volleyball Athlete (S2)
In the Easter holidays I went to the SVA residential Easter Camp at Kilgraston, then volunteered as a courtside assistant for the CEV European Championships, played LBVA District League, did a 3 day beach camp at Portobello, trained at the SVA Regional Development Day and competed in the U16 Super Cup!
SVA Easter Camp Kilgraston:
I chose to do this because I felt it would improve my technique and would be really fun! The Camp ran from 28th-31st March and began very early each day – a good breakfast was followed by different types of training each day:
Monday 28th March:
The first session was ‘Ball Control’ where we learned how to angle our passes to the setter. After lunch we had some free time where we got to know players from other Clubs. Then it was ‘Individual Attacking Skills’ training. This helped us to learn how to aim our hits and find spaces – this was one of my favourite sessions as it helped me to improve my hitting. After dinner it was our first 6v6 Tournament where we put the training skills into practice – I really enjoyed the matches.
Tuesday 29th March:
‘Side Out Linkage – the Pass and the Setter’ training was first then onto a talk from a PHD student on Nutrition – this made me think about eating healthily and to keep well hydrated during matches. Then ‘Side Out Linkage between the Setter and Hitter’ training and after dinner, another tournament.
Wednesday 30th March:
I could hardly keep my eyes open this morning at breakfast – I was so tired!!
Onto ‘Side Out Unit Linkage – the ‘Passer, Setter and Hitter Together’ training then Lynne Beattie gave a talk called ‘Believe and Achieve’, which was really inspiring, showing that if you set a goal and work hard, you can achieve it!
Next was ‘Individual Spiking’ training where we were shown that to get a good hit, you must use your left hand to angle! Then it was another tournament!
Thursday 31st March:
Today was ‘Side out Problem Solving’ training – a great, fun session to end the Camp!
When I left the residential camp, I felt the training would help me to become a stronger player with much improved technique! Meeting new people was a great experience too.
CEV European Championships 1st April -3rd April:
The day after I got back I volunteered for 3 days as a Courtside Assistant (CA) at the Scottish Volleyball U19 Women’s European Championships in Edinburgh!
I volunteered as a CA and got to witness some amazing teams from different European countries. The teams showed great skill and commitment to volleyball. It was also really exciting to carry onto Court the different countries national flags.
Being a CA gave me a great opportunity to closely watch athletes playing at a very high standard.
Sunday 3rd April
On the Sunday I went off to play in the District League with the City of Edinburgh girl’s team and also played with the boy’s team (we won all our games)! After this, I went straight on to Edinburgh Uni to watch the U19 Final – Scotland v Cyprus in the Europeans. It was a great energetic match to see!
S.H.A.P.E Beach Volleyball camp 5th – 7th April:
I had Monday off to see my friends then Tuesday -Thursday I attended the S.H.A.P.E. Beach Volleyball Camp at Portobello beach with Mel Coutts as our coach. I really enjoyed the beach camp because I learned that you need to be more aware of the influence of the weather conditions, especially the wind. It was physically hard work playing on the sand!!!!
SVA Regional Development Day – Saturday 9th April:
I managed to fit in a trip to Kenmore with my family then back to volleyball with a SVA Regional Development day on Saturday at Queensferry High School and then onto the U16 Super Cup in Edinburgh on Sunday!
SVA Super Cup U16 – Sunday 10th April:
We played really well at the start of the Super Cup at Edinburgh University, and then won our second game, which put us into the finals next week! It is my first national final it will be amazing!
Back to School
I have had a wonderful, volleyball packed, two-week break. Thanks to all those who organised the camps and training sessions, I have learned loads.
Finally, I would like to thank all the parents who give their time to run us all to and from camps, training and matches. Without you none of this would be possible.
And breathe!!!!!!
Ellie Stewart
Volleyball Athlete