Elementary volleyball program fosters early love for the sport

Shanda Crosby
Apr 24
2 min read

Updated: Apr 25

Greatness begins early and our new elementary volleyball skills league is sure to reap benefits.

Started by CCPS employees Christy Bush and Abby McCormick and taught by GRC volleyball coach Kainan Hudson, the program ran once a week for three months with more than two dozen 3rd and 4th graders.

With help from assistant coach Molly Robertson and a few GRC players, the girls learned the basics of volleyball along with developing confidence and teamwork skills.

“The reaction to us starting this program has been better than I could’ve imagined,” said Coach Hudson. “It was truly just a lot of fun and it was great to get to know our youth student athletes as we went through sessions.”

GRC’s volleyball program has seen unprecedented success since Hudson became the head coach in 2021. He is excited to see this new elementary league growing enthusiasm for the sport early.

“The early experience definitely makes for better players and teams for all our programs as the players mature,” Hudson said. Connecting programs and schools with the community leads to a clearer path for those younger student athletes who want to really pursue the sport of volleyball with youth league first then junior high and eventually our high school program.”

Hudson said since volleyball “can be a very difficult fundamental team sport,” early experience helps develop player skills and enjoyment.

“The players who were able to attend really had a blast and really improved on volleyball skills,” he said. “I know when we had our last session many of the kids were sad it had to end but that encourages the excitement that they all will want to return and continue when we do this again next year.”