Fundamentals, fun focus of Real’s Youth Volleyball Camp
BURBANK — Prior to the third session this year of his annual summer camp at Burroughs High, Edwin Real sat down nearly 40 youngsters to give them some instructions.
Along with going over some rules, explaining some of the things the players would experience during the camp and getting the boys and girls organized into groups, Real also made something perfectly clear.
“The main goal for all of you is to have fun,” said Real, a longtime Burroughs girls’ volleyball coach. “If you’re not having fun, come talk to me.”
The edict has become standard at all of Real’s camps over the course of the past seven years.
“We want them to have fun, as well as learn to play volleyball the right way,” Real said. “We want them to enjoy the game and be able to put what they’ve learned to good use. For us, we like to teach them and give them the tools they need to play better, but also to have fun.”
Real brings a wealth of success and decades of coaching experience to the camps. He will be entering his 14th year as the Indians girls’ coach after spending 13 years as a Burroughs assistant to former U.S. Olympian Linda Murphy. His teams have captured three league titles, including going undefeated and winning the Pacific League championship last season.
The last installment of this summer’s camp began Monday and concluded Thursday. The athletes started each day with stretching that led into warmups. The campers were then broken up into two groups according to ability and spent a large portion of the camp working on basics like footwork, serving, passing and hitting. The groups also took part in simulated games.
“I think in the week session that we provide, it gives the athletes a good base,” Real said. “For some, they get to see what volleyball is like and that might push them on to club teams or to high school and, for others, they are able to work on the fundamentals and hopefully get better.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports
“The great thing here at Burroughs is that we have the luxury of having two gyms and essentially four courts to work with. We have them play in some game situations, so they can put what they’ve learned to good use.”
Real was assisted at the camps by a dedicated group of former and current Burroughs athletes. One of those assistants was Robbie Rutecki. After helping to usher in the league dominance of the Indians boys’ team, Rutecki, a 2012 graduate, played at Los Angeles Pierce College and is now at California Lutheran University. He was a member of Cal Lu’s first-ever men’s volleyball team for the 2015 season.
“It’s cool giving back to these young athletes, because I was there when the Burroughs High program first began,” he said. “So, it’s nice to be a part of what may be the next generation of players to play in that program.
“Just seeing the players’ development from one year to another is amazing. You can really see how much they want to learn and how much fun they have out there.”
One of those athletes at the final session who was looking to improve his skills was 13-year-old Kade McGovern.
“I just want to learn all the different tips they give us that make us better players,” he said. “Whether it’s hitting, passing or serving, if you already know it, the tips they give you kind of help you perfect everything. I have come here for years and I’ve really improved pretty much every part of my game.”
During one drill, Scout Perdy, 8, and Ian Duffield, 9, both of Burbank, were among a group of players who took part in a hitting exercise.
“It’s very fun here,” Duffield said. “Setting is my favorite out of all of them, but I also really like spiking the ball. I get to learn all of that here. I’m really good at serving and that makes it really fun, too. ...The best part of the camp is having fun.”
Said Perdy: “I really like hitting and I like passing. I really think the coaches are fun to spend time with, because they are really nice and they teach us a lot of things.
“I pretty much know everyone here and that’s fun, too.”