It's the middle of summer and the last thing on one's mind may be the upcoming volleyball season this fall, but for St. Regis Coach Janelle Pruitt spiking diving and hitting balls is at the forefront of her mind. Next week, July 5 through the 8, she's conducting a volleyball camp for girls aged fifth through eighth grade that attend and will play for St. Regis in the fall.

Pruitt said that this will be the first camp she held for the girls at the schools as she is the new coach that will be guiding the team this fall. She said the camp is a time for girls to build on their skills.

"The regular volleyball season is only one month, two months man, and so that's ten months where they are just sitting around doing nothing," Pruitt said.

Pruitt said the camp will focus on basic skills, developing a skill set and then honing them. She said that the intention of the camp is to get the girls ready for the upcoming regular season.

"We want to try and build their skills," Pruitt said. "I want to get the girls to ready for regular season and this also gives young players a head start."

Pruitt is also hoping that the camp will expose the younger girls to sport thus getting them involved in the school's sport activities.

"It gets the players more involved with the sports program here and it brings them in. I want them to enjoy it so they'll continue playing through high school," Pruitt said.

The camp will focus on all things volleyball: blocking, hitting, spiking and passing among other things. Prior to the summer camp, Pruitt said that they are also raffling off a 32 gigabyte iPod touch. The funds raised from tickets purchased will go to help players with fees and will also provide snacks and drinks during the camp as it will run each day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Pruitt said that those interested in purchasing a raffle ticket can do so by contacting her at 406-546-0901. The drawing will be held on July 3 in the St. Regis Community Park at 8:10 a.m. Pruitt said that a individual does not need to be present to win as she said in that case the iPod would simply be mailed to the winner.