Susan Holm is upfront about the fact that this will be her only season as head coach of the Camp Verde Middle School volleyball program.
“I’m only doing it when my kid’s involved,” said Holm, mother of eighth-grade setter Bennett Holm and a former Camp Verde High School head volleyball coach 20 years ago. “I know that’s selfish, but next year, she’ll be playing in high school. I’d be torn between here and there.”
Whether the position will pass to her assistant, B Team coach Karen Crownoble, or another candidate is not a focus for Holm when she has 33 girls, including a recreational C team, to play Wednesday, Sept. 16, against Clarkdale-Jerome School.
“We decided to not cut any girls,” Holm said. “[I’m] excited how this addition will change the success of future seasons. This is in an effort to allow girls to build on their skills and feel confident about coming out next year too.”
While the C team cannot travel with the A or B teams to away games, every C player, she added, has made “tremendous improvement every time they touch the volleyball” so far in Wednesday scrimmages.
“Girls just need to become more familiar with this sport before they get to seventh grade,” Holm added. “The disadvantage is that there is not a natural feeder program to this sport.”
For the full story and season schedule, please see the Wednesday, Sept. 16, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
