The average student’s age on the CSUN campus drops during summer.

The  age drop is caused by students who are on campus temporarily for summer classes, tours, and others for the summer youth sports camps.

CSUN’s athletic department is offering five youth camps in tennis, soccer, basketball, softball, and for the first time, volleyball.

Head Coach Jeff Stork spoke enthusiastically about being able to pass on his many years of volleyball experience to the 72 young athletes who will be attending the camp in mid July.

“The purpose of our camp is two-fold,” said Stork. “We hope to kindle an interest in volleyball to a player who has had some exposure but haven’t really tried yet.”

Other camps are having a difficulty filling their camp slots. Softball Assistant Coach Caitlin Benyi said their camp, scheduled for June 20-22, may have to be cancelled if it does not fill-up soon. However, the lure of being mentored by two-time Olympian athlete and Head Coach Tairia Flowers may prove irresistible to campers. Flowers was recently named assistant coach for Team USA Softball.

The softball field, tennis courts, and other athletic grounds are empty now and with the June gloom above seem abandoned.

Stork said the camps will fill the grounds not only with prospective NCAA athletes but with kids who will benefit from the lessons learned to enjoy volleyball all their life.

The camp, Stork said, will include girls and boys in fifth through eighth grade. It will take place July 18-21 at CSUN’s Matadome and Activity Center. The young athletes will not be segregated by sex or age, but by skill level. Stork, a three-time Olympian, believes the benefits of the camp go beyond the skills learned.

“My coaching is base on science and experience,” he said. But because this is the first volleyball camp he said it was “a learning and a teaching camp.”

“Volleyball gets the most amount of people in the least amount of space,” Stork said. Additionally, he pointed out that among the many benefits of volleyball there is also a minimal amount of equipment required to play the sport.

The volleyball camp will consist of 10 hours over four days during which Stork and volunteers from the Matadors team will assist in coaching. No matter what the level of the camp goers Stork said “they will absolutely be better volleyball players.”