Photogravure |
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... beginners get a dose of how it's done ...
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Anticipation. Wonderment. Encouragement ... am I good enough to make the team ... The four-day volleyball camp at the new Middle School gym provided the impetus for some 110 girls who want to learn the game -- and besides the three faculty-coaches, the mentors are experienced players from the MHS varsity, JV and freshman teams. Volleyball camp at the Melrose Middle School is a gas. There's just nothing like it going on around town -- oh, maybe a few baseball games, some independent basketball on a homemade court, or maybe a swim at the Lloyd pool on Tremont Street. But for 110 young women -- um, some still learning their ABCs -- there's nothing better than becoming a part of the Melrose dynasty that has dominated the Middlesex Volleyball League for ten years. The program is produced by head Coach Scott Celli, but there are some thirty young women who take part as instructors, councillors and maybe as comforters after some tyke gets a faceful of a volleyball -- accidents do happen. Assistant Coach Steve Wall takes part, as does the freshman coach, Andrea Basteri. It is well-organized, runs for three hours daily for four days -- two sessions -- and is (overheard on the court) 'a real blast'. The Melrose season begins on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Bedford High School, which is a non-league game that still counts when it comes to picking who gets to play in post-season competition. The Middlesex League has changed this season, adding Arlington and Wilmington to the list. Further, competition has been modified to two classes within the league -- determined by school population. Reading and Arlington are large-school entries, which Melrose will play only once during the season; while all the rest -- considered small-schools -- on the schedule will meet twice. The MIAA -- Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association -- permits team practice (in volleyball) beginning on August 25, which provides only two weeks to prepare teams. Many of the advanced players, however, have been anticipating in non-school competition -- such as Yankee Volleyball Association -- throughout the summer. Coach Celli puts up four nets in the new Middle School gymnasium -- a huge, beautiful modern place where Melrose's youth learn they have both muscles and the ability to become better -- athletically. He divides his crew (drawn from all three squads, varsity, JVs and freshmen) into a teaching staff, passing along the knowledge they have picked up over their three years of competition. At the left is head coach Scott Celli, who was recently inducted into the Massachusetts' Coaches Hall of Fame; Coach Steve Wall, freshman Coach Andrea Basteri (in orange) and MHS Alum Athena Ziavras, Boston Globe all-star hitter. The coach's philosophy is, "Get 'em while they're still young." August 5, 2011
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