By Justin Fedich
The Selma Times-Journal

Two days could make a whole season of difference for the Selma girls’ volleyball team.

The Lady Saints finished a two-day summer camp hosted by the University of West Alabama on Thursday.

The Selma volleyball team is the youngest it’s been in three-year tenure of head coach Melissa White, but she said she is prepared for the challenge.

Since much of the team hasn’t played volleyball as long as players on other teams, White said it helped to be around and learn from other teams during the camp.

“They’ve seen other young ladies and they hear other coaches preaching the same sermon, the techniques that I’ve been teaching them, so hopefully it’s kind of like the aha moment,” White said.

Although the camp emphasized improving individual skills, White said building a team mentality was an important goal the past two days.

“With the girls, we want to bring about a sense of cohesiveness among just the team, letting them know you can rely on your teammates,” White said.

The youth and relative inexperience of the Lady Saints will present challenges for the team as it prepares for the start of the season.

White said the lack of experience is a result of girls’ volleyball not being as popular in Selma as in surrounding areas.

Many girls from other schools played on a club team before playing for their high school.

The Lady Saints don’t have the same luxury.

“That’s something we suffer from because we don’t have local club teams,” White said.

White is working toward giving girls in Selma a chance to learn volleyball at an earlier age.

She hopes that soon Selma will offer clubs for young girls to get into volleyball in fourth or fifth grade instead of picking up volleyball for the first time in high school.

“Volleyball is evolving. We’re trying to make it more of a big sport within the Black Belt area,” White said.

While White works to build a brighter future for volleyball in Selma, she’s optimistic about the team she coaches now. She said the University of West Alabama volleyball camp will help the young team mature quickly for the start of the season.

“It’s going to help them be a lot more alert, a lot more aware and a lot more studious of the game,” White said.

The Lady Saints’ first practice of the season is Monday. White hopes the lessons learned from the volleyball camp carry over into practice.

“I hope that they will continue to bring the energy.” White said.