The Middle School Volleyball Camp, held at NYA Sports and Fitness for an hour and a half each morning August 3-6, provided improving players with a chance to build and develop basic skills such as serving, hitting, and passing, while discovering or further developing passion for the game.

This camp was led by Newtown High School Coach Tom Czaplinski and current college players, along with other area coaches.

"It's great. It's always fun to see new kids starting to enjoy volleyball and have fun," said Diana Kalman, a coach in the camp who played at East Haven High as well as at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, and who currently coaches in the Connecticut Juniors travel program and will be the junior varsity coach with Notre Dame-West Haven's new team.

Gianna Galassi, who played under the direction of Czaplinski before graduating from Newtown High in 2025, was among the coaches. She plays club volleyball for Florida Atlantic University and enjoys both being back at the court with her high school coach and imparting game knowledge to the middle school players.

"I love it. It's fun to be with him again and have that same feeling I had in high school," said Galassi, adding that her biggest objective in camp is for the participants "to have fun and enjoy the sport as much as I did. I want them to experience the time I had."

Czaplinski said it is rewarding to have former players come back and get involved in summer camps.

"That's one of my favorite things is kids I've coached coming back and want to be a part of volleyball and have an interest in coaching," he said.

From the standpoint of the high school program, these camps are beneficial as players come into the program as freshmen with some or more experience than they otherwise would have.

There are more camps offered; Incoming Freshman Camp is August 17-20 at NYA from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, and JV & Varsity Camp is also August 17-20 at NYA from 9 to 11 am. For information, sign up through Newtown Parks and Recreation.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.