Noozhawk’s ParentNooz Camp Guide is officially here and we made sure to make things easy when planning your child’s summer!
To give parents the tools to help make informed decisions about Summer Camps for their kids in Santa Barbara, Noozhawk has conducted a series of interviews with representatives of local programs for this year’s Summer Camp Guide.
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Dillan Bennett, Camp Administrator at Bishop Diego High School to learn more about their summer camps here in Santa Barbara.
Bishop Diego High School
Question: What is the name of your Summer Camp or Program and what is its mission?
Answer: Cardinal Volleyball Camps – Our mission is to offer opportunities for youth in Santa Barbara and neighboring communities to improve their volleyball skills at any experience level.
Q: Describe the activities involved in your camp or program.
A: Depending on the level, activities range from introductory skill acquisition to advanced 6-on-6 gameplay and tactics. For every level, there will be an opportunity to improve their game.
Q: What is the age range for children in your camp or program?
A: Our Advanced Camp is focused on High School and Club-level players who are trying to improve their game leading up to high school and club tryouts. Our All-Skills Camp is focused on meeting the needs of the players based on their skills. Players will be divided into groups based on their ability and will progress through the week with skill-building exercises, with Friday being a day focused on competition. Teams will be selected at random, and a winning team will be recognized at the end of the session.
Q: How many years has the camp been running? Do you get a lot of return campers?
A: This will be our first year! With that said, our staff has an enormous amount of worldwide coaching experience. We have a staff that has played and coached at the National Team, Collegiate, and High School level. The staff has an abundance of local camp experience, as well, and will be recognized by many of the players attending.
Q: What protocols does your camp have in place due to COVID-19? What is different about your camp this year?
A: We plan to follow the industry guidance offered by CADPH related to Youth Sports. We have followed that very closely this entire year on our campus, and we plan to continue that high standard of compliance this summer.
Q: What goals do you have for kids participating in your camp or program?
A: We hope to offer all participants the opportunity to get out of the house and get active playing the sport they love! Ideally, they would leave every session with a new skill or piece of knowledge they can use in their playing career as they develop into better volleyball players.
Q: What makes your camp or program unique?
A: We can offer high-level volleyball coaching to every level of player in attendance. If you are an aspiring college player, we have college-level coaches that can help you with your game. If you are hoping to make your 8th grade team at school, we have coaches with years worth of experience working at that level.
Q: How do you hire staff for your camp and when hired, is there a training that they have to complete before the camp begins?
A: All staff are hand-selected and vetted by me. They will be trained in all COVID-19 related procedures before our first session. All coaches will be given a curriculum to guide them through our sessions with their groups.
Q: What is the best part, in your opinion, about your camp or program?.
A: With this being the first year, I can’t compare our camp to any other camp yet. Within a year, I believe our camp will be one of the most popular volleyball camps in the area, and will set the standard for all volleyball camps in our community. We have some of the best facilities available, most coaching staff experience at a high level, and our blend of skill-building, learning, and fun will be second to none.
Q: In what ways is your camp or program educational?
A: Through any team sport, participants learn how to problem-solve, work together with others, and align team goals in order to earn the expected outcome. Our Volleyball camp will take advantage of all the opportunities team sports offer to develop our youth participants as players, teammates, and young men and women.
Q: What is the price range of your camp and do you offer scholarships?
A: Our Advanced Camp will be $175 per week, and our All-Skills Camp is $150 per week. Scholarships will be available.
Click here to learn more about Bishop Diego High School summer volleyball camps!