June 17, 2005
Cindy Fredrick was hired a year ago to make a major change in the direction of the University of Iowa volleyball program.
Make no mistake, Fredrick and her staff are on task.
Before running into a series of injuries and other untimely setbacks last fall, Fredrick had the Hawkeyes’ fortunes on the court pointed northward. The signal got stronger this spring when the UI volleyball staff snared one of the best recruiting classes in the country.
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“The camp is much more than just a recruiting tool. Some of these girls will never play college volleyball, but we still give them their first experience at the University of Iowa. Hopefully, it’s a very, very positive one so that when they’re faced with making the choice of which college to attend, the University of Iowa is high on their list.”
UI Volleyball Coach Cindy Fredrick
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This week, Fredrick is attacking – successfully – the very source of her future success by staging the first of three instructional camps designed to increase the abilities of student-athletes at a wide variety of ages and skill levels while simultaneously making them more aware of the volleyball program at the University of Iowa and the UI itself.
Sunday through Wednesday, more than 100 girls dug, bumped and spiked at the UI’s “Individual Open Volleyball Camps” at the UI Fieldhouse – a three-fold increase in the number who participated just a year ago.
Thursday and today, it was the middle school-aged girls’ opportunity to learn from Fredrick and the Hawkeyes inside award-winning Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Next week it’s two days of opportunities for elementary school-aged girls in two three-hour “Day Camps.”
“It’s very exciting to see the camp have this kind of growth. It is concrete evidence that we have a positive, energized program that only is going to get stronger,” said Fredrick.
The camp is run by Fredrick, her staff, high school coaches from the area and beyond, and counselors who play for the Iowa Hawkeyes. They’re seeing a lot of highly skilled volleyball, a fact that is not lost on Iowa’s head coach.
“It’s great to see that there’s so much in-state talent. In the perfect world, the nucleus of the University of Iowa volleyball program is homegrown talent. So it’s really encouraging to me to see what I’ve seen,” said Fredrick.
“However, camp is not all about us. It’s really about them. So, my favorite part of camp is getting to know the kids and watching them work hard and get better. That’s pretty cool.”
Fredrick said one can’t underestimate the importance of the camp experience in the recruiting process. “The camp offers a lot of good, positive teaching and experiences. It’s also a great way to get the word out that Iowa is the right place to play volleyball,” she said.
“The camp has been very good,” said one participant. “We’ve been busy and it’s very challenging. I’ve really enjoyed it.”
“The coaching staff is very good at teaching technique. They’ve really helped me to improve the way I was doing things on the volleyball court,” offered another camper.
“The facilities are very nice. There’s so much space to move around compared to high school,” said a third.
In the end, Fredrick believes that the volleyball camp experience is a positive tool for the University has a whole.
“The camp is much more than just a recruiting tool. Some of these girls will never play college volleyball, but we still give them their first experience at the University of Iowa. Hopefully, it’s a very, very positive one so that when they’re faced with making the choice of which college to attend, the University of Iowa is high on their list.”