Gold Medal Squared continues to be one of the top volleyball camps in the country, and it continues to prove itself year after year. Just ask the Sedona Red Rock High School volleyball team.
Since 1995, Head Coach John Parks has instituted Gold Medal Squared, an elite volleyball camp which brings its winning formula to high schools for half the price of a normal volleyball camp that any player would travel to.
Having brought the camp to Sedona at least 10 times in the last 16 years, Parks swears by its effectiveness.
“They go over the fundamental skills of volleyball and the reason I like it is because it’s exactly what we teach here at Sedona,” Parks said Wednesday, Aug. 3, in an interview.
Parks and his varsity Scorpion volleyball program have won over 300 matches during his tenure, making it the most successful athletic program at Sedona.
Parks added he likes the length of the camp, stating a week of this camp and its activity gets these kids in shape.
Players attending the camp start at 8:30 a.m. every day and get a break at 11:30 a.m. for lunch. The group comes back at 1 p.m. and works until almost 5 p.m.
“The activity gets them in shape and then when we begin practice next week, we go over all of it again by teaching the techniques. It’s repetition that they need,” Parks said.
Chris Gorry, a 29-year-old assistant volleyball coach at Northern Arizona University, was the camp director this week for Gold Medal Squared and as many youth volleyball players as could squeeze in the gym.
When asked what his style of coaching is at a camp like Gold Medal Squared, Gorry had no problem answering.
“I think that I don’t let things slide as much as others,” Gorry said with a smile. “If they don’t perform up to my expectations we’ll just do it again. They’ll learn discipline and hard work and they will learn not to accept anything less from themselves.”
Gorry said NAU runs this particular system, with some minor changes, but added the Lumberjacks have had success.
Learning the fundamentals may not be the easiest part of the game in any sport. Sometimes, it can get flat-out boring. But incoming sophomore volleyball player Morgan Hawes said Wednesday it’s the best thing for them.
“The camp is great just to learn the fundamentals and really improve individually,” Hawes said. “This camp has taught me that you have to be willing to run through a wall for the ball.”
The official first day of practice for the Scorpions is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 8, and the players are excited for their opportunity to begin a new season.
In 2009, the Scorpions won more than 25 matches and made it to the 3A conference state semifinals before losing to three-time defending champion Monument Valley High School.
In 2010, Sedona found a way to win a school record 30 matches, but lost to No. 12- ranked Snowflake High School in the first round of the state playoffs, 3-2.
