Wisconsin Team Camp – A Weekend Review From a Coaching Lens

I have attended plenty of team camps, I've been to the Wisconsin Team Camp as an assistant coach, and I've been there for coverage for Prep Dig.  This was my first time attending as a head coach with my high school team in Notre Dame Academy out of Green Bay.  What an experience for athletes and coaches.  Here is a peek behind the curtain of what a team camp is like at one of the top programs in the country. 

**Sidenote

Before I get into the details of the camp, some might wonder how can I coach a high school team and be part of Prep Dig as well.  Is there a conflict of interest? That was something I did not want to put the athletes I coach in a really weird position. My role at Prep Dig has always evolved where I was all Prep Dig Wisconsin, but as we expanded I have been writing nationally as well as other Midwest states (Mostly Iowa and Illinois).  After coaching the JV program the past three seasons, the head coaching job opened up and I was very excited at the opportunity of leading a program.  Once I got the head coaching job, I told the athletes on the team to avoid conflict of interest I will not be writing about them.  I am now on the other side camera, a different sideline, and I couldn't be more excited. 

The Setup

Every team that comes to the Wisconsin team camp gets the opportunity to work with a coach the entire weekend.  My squad was very fortunate to work with Matt Girouard, Assistant Coach at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida where his program was recently in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA D2 tournament in 2022.  He was also a volunteer assistant on Wisconsin's 2014 Big Ten Championship team that went 31-3.  I was able to work with Coach Girouard with what I was looking for out of my team, what we need to work on, and what he could do to make the team better over the course of two days. 

The first two days consisted of  practices as a team, combined practices with other teams, and the final day being a camp tournament.  The champion would receive the “Bucky Trophy”, a traveling trophy that would go into the trophy case of the school that would win the camp title.  Current Badger players Izzy Ashburn (Champlin Park HS) and Saige Damrow (Howards Grove HS) won the title as high school players.  

The current Wisconsin players are extremely involved with the campers.  Our team was able to have multiple sessions where we had Junior right side/middle blocker Anna Smrek.  They were able to receive instruction and feedback from her throughout these sessions.  When we started practicing and competing against other teams, she was part of our huddle, everyone looked up to her - pun intended. I was so impressed with how she talked with our athletes.  We were struggling in a particular scrimmage and she said, “Remember there's six on a court, teammates on the sideline, and we can all rely on each other.”  She also reassured the girls, “This is a game of errors and part of being aggressive is that errors will happen and its all part of this beautiful game.” There were multiple times where she would give little tid bits here and there and was so positive with the athletes.  We are all huge fans of our favorite Canadian, #14. 

The Off-Court Sessions

Coaches and athletes have off court sessions built into their schedule.  As much as these athletes would love a 12 hour day of volleyball, half of the morning and afternoon sessions are split into an on court session and an off court session. 

The opening night, coaches were able to attend a session led by Head Coach Kelly Sheffield.  We were able to watch one of their practices in the spring where they are doing a lot of specific training.  He talked about the progression of their drills and some are not always pretty, especially when they are new to the athletes.  We watched video on two different practices and were able to see the improvement from one practice to the next, and seeing what it looked like two months later with one of their practices before they traveled as a team to Europe.  Watching these amazing athletes on the likes of ESPN and the Big Ten Network, you see the highlights, the big celebrations.  However, practice isn't always a highlight.  They are working on really specific details, they are working through their weaknesses.  We saw them make errors, but also saw them make adjustments to fix those errors.  Coach Sheffield also emphasized how he watches practices with a lens of what he is doing as a coach.  What is his body language saying to the athletes?  Is he in a position where he can see what he needs to in order to give his athletes the best feedback? 

Athletes have two off court sessions where the first session was with Coach Sheffield where there was a heavy emphasis on culture.  There was video footage from the 2021 national championship where athletes were able to see the plays and then listen to the media after the national title game where the media was asking the likes of Lauren Barnes and Dana Rettke about those key moments in the game.  How powerful for a high school athlete to see what their mindset was during these major moments.  Coach Sheffield also emphasized big moments don't just happen when you're playing for a national title in front of 18,000 people, sometimes those big moments happen in practice when things aren't going well.  How can your culture carry your team through these high pressure situations? 

The second off court session was a Q and A with the Badger players.  Coach Gary White leads the panel where the Badgers are on a small stage, starting with Coach White asking a series of questions.  Once again, a huge emphasis on culture.  “Culture is always, not just sometimes - and maintaining a strong team culture is hard, it doesn't just happen”.   Senior setter MJ Hammill talked about how they handle hard days, tough losses, conflict with teammates, and the importance of their culture.  Campers were able to ask questions which were scattered across the board with how they balance their studies, why they picked Wisconsin, and an athlete from Omaha Westside asked who their biggest rival was (which was met with a smile and chuckle coming from a Nebraska resident).  The answer was Minnesota, Nebraska, and Penn State.  

The Camp Tournament 

The last day is the camp tournament where everyone starts out in pool of five teams with matches of one set going to 25 (or a time limit).  For our pool we faced Dike-New Hartford (IA), West Liberty (IA), Arrowhead (WI), and Monona Grove (WI).  I had the scouting report on Dike-New Hartford and West Liberty from watching them at the Iowa State Tournament for multiple years, but I held my cards.  This is the time for kids just to go out and compete and have fun. 

From the morning pool play results, teams are placed in a bracket based on how they finished.  Dike-New Hartford, the small school Iowa powerhouse took home the title over Manitowoc Lincoln (WI) who will be a top ten team in Wisconsin's largest class.  Maryn Bixby Maryn Bixby 6'1" | MB Dike-New Hartford | 2024 State IA and Jadyn Petersen Jadyn Petersen 5'9" | OH Dike-New Hartford | 2024 State #195 Nation IA , the UNI commits and recent Six Pack 17-1 USAV National Division champions were once again key in their run to another trophy - the traveling Bucky Camp Trophy, larger than the NCAA and Big Ten Championship Trophy. 

The Lessons and Stories of Team Camp Beyond The Court

Everyone is coming into camp with a different situation with their team.  I was bringing a group of 10 that consisted of five sophomores who have never touched a varsity court.  For all of these athletes, this would be their first time at a team camp with two overnight stays.  There was a little bit of nerves to start.  Everyone kind of stayed with their original groups of friends, but throughout the week I could see a bond starting to form where those initial nerves turned into laughs and smiles. 

We were able to have some off court sessions as a team where we made a trip to Lake Mendota along the Memorial Union to take some pictures and chat, some time on the turf at Camp Randall, and getting to see the Badger Locker Room.  

I'm sure most teams have some sort of fun stories over the course of the weekend that definitely happen off the court, the down time, the small moments that make a big impact.  I know our team played charades of each other (and I believe they included their coach) and we committed to downloading Pokemon Go which opened up a whole new can of worms (myself included).  We had to bus to some of the practice facilities and one team made it a point to bark at every dog the bus drove by.  At the end of a long, but fun two days we were at the point where everything was kind of funny. 

Thank you Wisconsin Team Camp!  Thank you for hosting 28 teams from six states and providing a platform for programs to improve not only as athletes, but human beings as well.  Good luck this 2023 season!