This is Why Kearney Top 10 is the Best Team Camp in Nebraska
July is a crazy busy volleyball month full of team camps, individual camps and all kinds of development camps. But, for my money, the upcoming Kearney Top 10 Camp is hands down the best camp of the summer. Starting this…
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Continue ReadingJuly is a crazy busy volleyball month full of team camps, individual camps and all kinds of development camps. But, for my money, the upcoming Kearney Top 10 Camp is hands down the best camp of the summer.
Starting this Sunday and running through Wednesday, the Kearney Top 10 Camp will shuffle through 54 of the top teams in the state at Kearney Catholic High School. While there are not traditionally a lot of Class A powerhouses or future Division I recruits at this camp, what it does ALWAYS have are a vast majority of the title contenders in Classes D2, D1, C2, C1 and some of the best in B.
Every year there are teams left out of the camp because there simply isn’t enough room for all the teams that want to come and compete. So, what makes the Kearney Top 10 the best team camp in Nebraska? I’m glad you asked! Here are my top 5 reasons why Top 10 is the best.
1.) Let’s be honest. Is there anything in the world better than a home made meal from Grandma? No, no there isn’t. And at Kearney Top 10 Camp, Grandma Bubbles makes sure the hospitality room is constantly full of kitchen-fresh good stuff. How good is it? Well, check Twitter and you will see Grandma Bubbles’ “Gain 10” menu – which consists of a taco bar, baked potato bar, pulled pork, sloppy joes, banana muffins, cake and cookies. Not going to lie – you go for Grandma Bubbles’ food and stay for the volleyball.
2.) If you want a lesson in how to run a team camp that is really designed to promote kids, follow the blueprint set out by Kris Conner – the Kearney Catholic coach – for the Top 10. Since it isn’t a college camp, college coaches from all over and all levels are welcome to come and watch. That’s something you rarely get an opportunity to do and the condensed scheduling allows college coaches to see A LOT of kids in just a couple days. Plus, and this is the big part, Conner puts together three-ring binders for the college coaches that has all the schedules and all the rosters of the teams. Plus, for a small charge, players can have all their vital statistics and contact information included, which makes it SUPER easy for college coaches to reach out to the athletes. Conner really goes out of her way to help get kids exposure and make life simple for the college coaches.
3.) Selfishly, I love that there are always a ton of college coaches at Top 10 because it gives me a chance to annoy the heck out of them with questions and to pick their brains about who and what they like. Every year there are somewhere between 15-20 colleges that show up over the four days and many scholarship offers have originated from Top 10. This year Bellevue University, Central CC, Concordia, Hastings, Midland, Augustana, Nebraska Wesleyan, Southeast CC, Omaha, Wayne State, Western Nebraska CC and Colby College have already committed to being there. When Matt Buttermore was at Hastings College, he always spent multiple days there. Even now that he’s at Omaha, he’s coming back because he understands the value of the camp.
4.) Yes it’s just a summer team camp, but it gets REALLY competitive at the Kearney Top 10 Camp. Some of the early team camps are a good chance to work on some things and to try people in different spots, but we are now under two weeks to go before practices officially start, so the competitive juices are flowing. And when you bring together a large majority of title contenders in each class, teams are eager to send a message that they are the team to beat. As an example, last year Stanton won the C2 division at Top 10 Camp. Hartington Cedar Catholic, Humphrey-Lindsay Family and Thayer Central tied for second. Hartington CC (C2) and Humphrey-Lindsay HF (D1) were each state runners-up last year and Stanton (C2) finished third. Last year at Top 10 Camp, BDS won the D1/D2 division and Ewing was second. Four months later, BDS defeating Ewing for the Class D-2 title.
5.) As competitive as the matches are on the court, wait until you see what the teams do for the lip sync competition videos. Be sure to follow along on Twitter for all the action, either at @NebHSvolleyball or @NebraskaTop10.