Sandpoint volleyball camp draws Arizona, Eastern Washington head coaches

Arizona, EWU and NIC coaches on hand for camp

By ERIC PLUMMER

Sports editor

SANDPOINT — Imagine Washington State head coach Mike Leach and former EWU football coach Beau Baldwin coming to Sandpoint for a three-day football camp?

Or UCLA coach Steve Alford and Eastern Washington coach Jim Hayford holding a three-day basketball camp at Les Rogers Court?

That’s essentially what happened for a host of Sandpoint volleyball players, as well as players from around the Inland Northwest, when longtime University of Arizona head volleyball coach David Rubio and current EWU volleyball coach Michael King helped run a three-day camp recently at Sandpoint High School.

The Sandpoint Volleyball All-Skills Camp was made possible by local longtime club volleyball coach Jack Dyck, who was joined by his daughter Amy Dyck, currently the head coach at Hermiston High School in Oregon, and son Matt Dyck, currently an assistant volleyball coach at EWU. North Idaho College head coach Kelsey Stanley was also on hand to help coach.

It all added up to three fun days of some of the most expert tutelage available in the sport, and a chance for top girls in the region to get noticed by college coaches.

“It’s a recruiting network for these kids,” said Dyck, who brought in and hosted the coaches for the camp. “It’s good for our kids to get exposure.”

The high school portion of the camp drew more than 60 top players from Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Western Montana, including 20 from Sandpoint. They learned new techniques and skills, and also had the chance to ask coaches questions and learn about the process of playing at the next level.

While Rubio, who just finished his 25th season at the helm for the Wildcats, recruits mostly high school All-Americans, the camp marked a chance for King, entering his third year guiding the Eagles, to get a first hand look at top regional talent that can play at the Big Sky level.

“There is great talent in Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene,” said King, who was asked what the highlight was. “Having connections and building relationships, and hanging out with good people.”

The hanging out aspect is part of the allure for the coaches, as Dyck and current Sandpoint head coach Erin Roos helped host the coaches in what could best be described as a working vacation. When they weren’t running drills and instilling confidence in the young talent, the coaches got to enjoy some R and R and time on Lake Pend Oreille.

It was a chance for regional athletes to learn from Rubio, whose decorated 25 year career as head coach of Arizona includes 19 NCAA appearances, as well as a Pac-10 Coach of the Year honor in 2000. After inheriting a winless team in 1991, Rubio had the Wildcats in the West Regionals two years later and has been a fixture there since.

Roos was simply thrilled for her team to learn from top echelon coaches.

“The latest and greatest college coaching. They spent a lot of time on defense, the finer details of the basics,” described Roos, who loved seeing players from different teams coming together for a good time. “They learned what it takes to be a college athlete besides the court, and the recruiting process.”

Jack and Amy also helped run the morning camp for kids ages kindergarten through 7th grade, which drew more than 20 campers. They learned the basics, but mostly had fun playing an assortment of games and left with a great taste for volleyball..

Jack played basketball and volleyball at Cal State Northridge, and has known Rubio, who also graduated from Northridge, since the two were young. Dyck has also been an assistant coach under Rubio at Arizona, where Amy starred after a standout prep career in Sandpoint, and with Matt currently coaching in Cheney the ties were there to bring the coaches to Sandpoint.

Also on hand at the camp was former Bulldog and current Gonzaga junior outside hitter Hailey Dunn, who played in four matches as a sophomore last year and tallied three blocks against Montana State. She’s hoping for bigger things in the future.

“I’m training with Jack this summer,” said Dunn, who can also play setter. “So I can get some skills to hopefully play in the fall.”