Signs of Life: Taylorsville Campus

Parts of Salt Lake Community College are slowly beginning to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, ushering in a "new normal" in a community that normally thrives on unfettered access to the environment and resources that make SLCC one of the top community colleges in the nation. Signs of Life is a series that shines a light on stops along the long road back to normal operations.

SLCC volleyball player Kenadee Christensen

The thud of volleyballs being hit echoed through the big gym. That sounded normal. But there were no high fives. No hugs for great plays. Smiles from coaches were hidden behind masks.

 

This was the look and feel during a pandemic of the annual camps in June that the Salt Lake Community College volleyball team holds for area eighth grade and freshman players. Parents and participants benefit during these camps from seasoned veterans at the collegiate level, and the SLCC team is able to raise money to help pay for its operations costs.

 

SLCC player and sophomore Kenadee Christensen, along with other teammates, chased down stray volleyballs and offered advice as the girls worked out. “I decided to help out with the camp because it’s important to help our team raise funds, and we couldn’t do it unless players came and helped,” Kenadee said.

Kenadee was an All-American player at Skyridge High School in Lehi, where her team won state her senior year. One of six children, she comes from an athletic family – Dad played college basketball and each sibling competitively plays either volleyball or basketball. She loves everything about SLCC – the “pretty” Taylorsville Redwood Campus, the academics, its diverse student population and, of course, the volleyball program. She was part of what would have been the inaugural beach volleyball team at SLCC when the pandemic cancelled the season just before it started. So, the camps were a way to reconnect with friends she had not seen since March. “It’s fun to see some of the girls again and be in a volleyball environment,” Kenadee said. “Being able to have these camps helps bring normalcy and hope for the future.”

 

Volleyballs were sanitized after each use. Hand sanitizer was as ubiquitous as water bottles. Each morning players had to fill out a COVID-19 symptom checklist. Their temperatures were taken each day at the start. They also had to wash their hands before touching any volleyballs. Water stations were off limits. Parents and spectators were not allowed to watch.

 

“We eliminated as many factors as we could so we could hold a camp,” said Sue Dulaney, head coach of SLCC’s volleyball and beach volleyball teams. Division 1 universities, she noted, were told they could not host camps this summer. “So, it put a little more pressure on us to help out the volleyball world as we were the only option.”

 

The numbers of courts for the individual and team camps were reduced, as well as the number of players allowed on them. For Dulaney and others, it was complicated, but worth it. “By the last day of camp, every coach was so thankful to be back in the gym again,” she said. “Players expressed how much fun it was, and they were grateful to have this opportunity. We all know what lies ahead is uncertain, but at least we gave our players, coaches and their teams a little breath of hope.”