Success Starts Early for Wilson Jr. High Volleyball

In order to build a successful program at the high school level, the training starts at the Jr. high. Wilson Jr. High in Dayton ended a great volleyball season where all teams, 7th grade A and B teams along with the 8th grade A and B teams combined for a win-loss record of 32-10. Separately the teams finished as follows; 7th-grade A-Team 9-2, 7th-grade B-team 9-1, 8th-grade A-Team 8-3, 8th-grade B-team 6-4.

The teaching of fundamentals begins with good coaches. Coaches Patricia Wilson, Melissa Espinoza, Shawna Ward, and Rachel Smith have done a great job of establishing those fundamentals and teaching the young volleyball players how to play the game the right way. There is so much more to it than just getting the ball over the net and these coaches work countless hours teaching the finer techniques and strategies to these young players to help get them prepared for the opportunity to play at the high school level and maybe even beyond.

Athletic Director Jeff Nations talked about these players and coaches, “It is always fun to watch as young players begin their career in Jr. High. They come in with big eyes and soak up everything that coaches try and teach them. Some of them have immediate success while others may be a little behind in their skill sets. Our coaches have to work with each athlete and learn how to help each one of them be successful. Being a jr. high coach is tough because of the different skill sets that players bring in as beginning players, and taking those skill sets and developing a plan that makes each play better is tough.”

Dayton is very fortunate to have a jr. high staff that is very diverse in experience and in the skills that they bring to coaching. “Our jr high coaching staff is led by Coach Patricia Wilson who has spent over 20 years with Dayton ISD coaching various levels of sports down to Coach Rachel Smith who just joined our staff during this season. All of our coaches do a great job and I could not be more proud of them”, Nations said.

With volleyball season ending last night with a sweep of the Crosby Cougars on the court, the coaches and athletes will transition today into basketball. There is no rest for the weary and no time to gloat over accomplishments, it’s time to go to work and get ready for the challenge. Congratulations to these young volleyball players and their coaches for an outstanding season, and good luck as they start basketball.