The Statesboro volleyball team has been in existence for less than 10 years, but they have already become a state wide contender advancing the GHSA quarterfinals the past two seasons.

Head coach Bob Massee started the program in 2016 and is hosting a volleyball camp this week to try and continue the excitement within his program, as well as giving youngsters the chance to improve and become players in the future.

Massee breaks his camp into three different segments in order to try and put the girls in similar skill levels. They have an early session for ages six to sixth grade. The second session is for beginning players from middle school through high school, and the afternoon session is reserved for seventh and eighth graders as well as members of junior varsity and varsity volleyball teams.

“The key to the camp is to keep it fun by making sure players are not in over their heads in their particular sessions,” Massee said. “We do many of the same drills as well as games with every group, the biggest difference is the higher the skill level the faster the pace gets. We also get into strategy with the older kids who have played for a while.”

Not only is Massee trying to build excitement and skill levels within his program, but he also opens his camp to those who play on other volleyball teams in the county.

“It has been really fun to see the comradery between the kids from Statesboro, Southeast Bulloch and Trinity,” Massee said. “We also have Langston Chapel and William James here and everyone gets along and pulls for one another. We have a few kids who play club year-round and a few who play primarily when the season starts because they may play multiple sports.”

Among those who have been coming since 2016 is current junior Abby Flattich who plays volleyball at Trinity Christian and looks forward to the summer sessions at Statesboro High to improve her game as well as a few teammates who attend as well.

“This is my favorite opportunity to practice for the season,” Flattich said. “It’s a great environment and everyone is super sweet. There are lots of drills as well as getting the chance to play games with people you don’t normally play with. I get a chance to bounce things off of other players and get some tips on how to improve my game. I feel very prepared for volleyball season after this.”

The summer is also very important for Massee to get an idea of what his team will look like this year as they lost quite a few seniors off of last year’s squad.

“We have been blessed at Statesboro High to have some really talented kids who really love volleyball,” Massee said. “We will be playing quite a few underclassmen this upcoming season which will be a challenge. The good thing is we have most of them here this summer working on their games and seeing how they may do at certain positions. They are eager to learn and hardworking, so I feel good about the upcoming season.”