Photo by Sam Thiel A camper follows through on a hit while coach Tyler Boddy looks on during Day 2 of the SMSU boys volleyball camp on Tuesday. The camp is the first boys volleyball camp SMSU has run.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball program is wrapping up its summer camps this week, and it started with some history.

SMSU held its first-ever boys volleyball camp at the R/A Facility on Monday and Tuesday, with 12 campers in grades 6-12 participating.

Mustangs assistant volleyball coach Tyler Boddy, who helps run the camp, said they weren’t sure what to expect before the start but was glad to have a good turnout for their inaugural camp.

“We didn’t really know what we were going to expect to have walk through the door, but we’re excited about how many kids we had come. It’s just a curiosity thing between our staff and Michael (Dalager) and trying to see how many kids we can get to come out,” Boddy said. “Like I said to the kids, when we were growing up, we wished that this would’ve been an opportunity for us as boys in the area. We’re just trying to provide an opportunity for them to get to play a little bit.”

Campers were taught various skills such as passing, hitting and serving as well as footwork, blocking and communication during the two-day camp.

Boddy said there’s a slight difference between boys and girls volleyball in the higher levels, but at the youth stage, the fundamentals being taught are completely interchangeable.

“It’s very much the same skills that we do at every one of our camps,” Boddy said. “To be honest, none of the skills are very different; the boys/men’s game, the higher you go there’s a little difference, but the fundamentals like passing, setting and hitting are all the same. It’s very much teaching the exact same skills.”

Boddy said growing up, there weren’t really any boys playing volleyball but when he got to college, it was almost commonplace. He hopes that the stereotypes surrounding volleyball will continue to break and the sport will grow even more in the near future.

“I grew up in New Ulm and there was no boys playing volleyball in the area. I played with my parents a lot and I think there are stereotypes out there in this area or in Minnesota in general that are breaking now because of the game of boys volleyball that is expanding and people are starting to figure out that it’s not just ‘a girls sport’,” Boddy said. “I went to college in Wisconsin and there’s a lot of high school programs and it’s just kind of second nature for them. I think it’s about being able to continue to grow the game and it won’t be such a faux pas about it being boys playing volleyball, so I think that’s a big part of it.”

Boddy hopes they can continue to run future boys volleyball camps as well as potentially start up a club team or have open gyms so that boys around the area can continue to play volleyball and get better at their skills.

“I think it would be cool to be able to do that. It’s always a matter of who’s going to do it and who’s going to coach it. Michael and I coach in a club but we’ve talked about potentially opening a boys tryout or have a boys team or practice squad,” Boddy said. “I think this is a start of it, being able to have 12 kids at a camp to start is really good, in my opinion, and getting it to grow to maybe a practice squad or maybe have some open gyms. I don’t think it’s going to happen in the snap of your figures, but I hope this is the start of it hopefully and we’re excited to be a part of the start of it.”