Cowgirls camping for fun and a cause

Richard Anderson photo

Cowgirl volleyball players, from left, Lauren Curtis, Jenna Arneson and JennaRae Jester huddle up with some young players during the Christmas Holiday Volleyball Clinic Thursday night at the UniWyo Sports Complex. At bottom left, Sekota Romero passes the ball during a drill, while at right, Lexi Pulley tries for a kill.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The season is officially over for the Wyoming volleyball team. The commitment to their young fans and the community, though, is ongoing for the Cowgirls.

The Cowgirls have been hosting about 40 young campers in a three-day Christmas Holiday Volleyball Clinic at the UniWyo Sports Complex that began Wednesday night and will conclude Friday night. The event helps introduce the sport of volleyball to some eager youngsters, as well as continue to teach the game to some more veteran youth players.

Yet, there’s more than just fun and games in the gym. All of the proceeds of the clinic are going to help a needy local family for the holidays.

“The volleyball team wanted to adopt a family for Christmas and they wanted to find a way to pay for it and make a Christmas nice for somebody else,” Wyoming head coach Carrie Yerty said. “It’s a really neat thing. We’ve had a good time running it.”

The clinic is primarily focused on a lot of the younger kids, although they do have a handful of high school players who have come out to improve their game as of well.

Olivia Crum, 14, and a ninth grader at Laramie Junior High School, said the clinic has been a lot of fun.

“It’s been really great to see all of the college girls helping us out,” Crum said.

Yerty, along with assistant coach Jill Stucky and several of the Cowgirls, work with the youngsters in drills before dividing the players up and actually scrimmaging with the team.

“It’s really cool because you really can challenge yourself to be better and work hard when they are serving at you or hitting at you,” Crum said. “You have to work really hard.”

Cowgirl sophomore middle blocker JennaRae Jester said it is important for college athletes to get out in the community, because “nobody is ever too big for everything.”

And not only that, she said the clinic takes her back a few years when she was just learning the game of volleyball.

“We all started at this age, too, and we all looked up to the college athletes. We loved being there and we want to do the same for them,” Jester said. “It’s really fun to play with the younger kids. It’s awesome to be able to teach them the fundamentals of volleyball, but it is also kind of fun right before Christmas getting together. It’s also great to help the family that we have adopted with this volunteer project.”

Community service is nothing new to the Wyoming athletic department and the Cowgirl volleyball program is right up there pitching in.

“Part of my responsibility as a coach is to help provide an avenue for these young ladies to develop for the rest of their life,” Yerty said. “Part of being a good citizen is giving back to the community. We talk to the girls about what kinds of community service projects they were interested in. Believe it or not, they have done so many already. They’ve done highway pickup, they’ve done reading in the classroom and they’re planning on doing a Valentine’s Day thing with an elderly group.”

There’s also the Saddle Championship, which is presented to the UW athletic group that does the most community service. A saddle is presented to the team at either a home football game or men’s basketball contest.

“That is a big deal to them because they are pretty competitive,” Yerty said. “It’s pretty exciting.”

The clinic is not only for girls, as there are three young boys who are enjoying the game of volleyball. One of them is 9-year-old Wes Yerty, the son of the Cowgirl head coach.

“It’s really fun and I like it a lot,” Wes Yerty said. “I like the events, I like doing the drills. Volleyball is really fun for me.”

Young Wes can be seen at all of his mother’s home matches, although much of his time is playing football in the hallway with his brother Jace and their friends.

“I don’t always pay attention, but I like to play instead of watching,” Wes Yerty said.

Of course, participating in this tournament also has a few extra perks -- three boys and about 37 girls.

Wes, however, adamantly says he is not there for the girls.

“No, no, no,” he said with a bit of panic in his eyes.

For the young campers, though, it’s a chance to have fun, learn and become Cowgirl volleyball fans, if they weren’t already.

“It’s really fun to meet them and become friends with them,” Crum said. “I’m a big fan.”

For Carrie Yerty and her Cowgirls, it’s an opportunity to get out in the community, embrace some youngsters and keep building the fan base.

“Hopefully, we’re building to the future and you never know, one of these girls might grow up to be a Cowgirl,” Yerty said. “That’s our hope.”