NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion volleyball is gearing up for its first season in the Sun Belt Conference, but before making the dive into its 2022 campaign, the Monarchs are passing some skills down to some potential future ODU stars.
Head coach Fred Chao and his squad hosted their high school skills camp on Wednesday and Thursday, working with players as they look to improve their games.
"We try to implement moving and thinking philosophy," Chao said. "All sport involves both, moving and thinking. We try to stay away from giving them real specific technical information. We want them to understand how to move and think and if they can do that, they can play any sport."
Chao has been hosting camps for quite some time. It's good for not only the campers, but his staff and players as well, who get the chance to serve as mentors and help others improve. The head coach wants to see the staff approach the process with energy and enthusiasm.
"You can see how engaged the campers are when you are engaged," he noted. "I really stress on my players and my staff to say 'you're here for a purpose. Give them meaningful feedback and be enthusiastic about it,' because that's what we want from them."
One of the things Chao enjoys most about the camp is seeing the younger players interested in learning and improving. He feels its his job to reach them and help them understand and improve.
"If I can get them to engage in the learning process then we've won," the head coach pointed out. "If they can stop for a second and re-think what they've been doing and make a change, that's success. That's what our camp is for."
ODU will wrap up its week with it's serving and passing camp on Friday. It will host one more week of camp sessions the last week of July.
Chao is the first women's volleyball coach in program history and is entering his third season with the Monarchs. Old Dominion is coming off a 13-13 season in 2021 and faces a challenging campaign this fall. Three ACC teams, a Big Ten squad and a new conference slate all grace the schedule.
