HILO, Hawai`i—One of the first orders of business when Gene Krieger became the new head volleyball coach at Hawai`i Hilo was to establish a summer camp for local kids, of which there wasn't one previously.

"I hoped to have 40 or more local kids at our first camp, and the plan would be to add more each year and expand our boundaries," Krieger said.

Mission accomplished, and then some.

92 campers are on hand this week in the UH Hilo Gymnasium, ranging from seven-years of age through high school. There are 50 elementary and middle school students and 42 high school players.

Of the younger group, 40 are from the Big Island and ten hail from Maui. The high school section has 15 from the Big Island and ten from the other Hawaiian Islands. The rest of the group traveled to Hilo from Alaska, California, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Colorado and Wisconsin.

"That was probably the biggest surprise," Krieger admitted. "I didn't expect to get a dozen kids from the mainland."

The players are getting their monies worth. Rotating the two age groups, camp begins at 8 a.m. and continues to approximately 7 p.m., with the last couple hours featuring scrimmages with the high school group. Those players mix with UH Hilo players for some lively competition.

Coaches helping Krieger with the camp include Chris Leonard, Eddie Kalima, Marley Strand-Nicolaisen, Sienna Davis, Poli Olevao-Kahapea, Desiree Olavaro, Duke Josiah and Shelly Blunck.

"This is an amazing turnout," Krieger added. "I am overwhelmed by the number of people we have and great quality of players. I believe this is another important part of the UH Hilo volleyball program making big strides forward."

The camp, which began on Wednesday (July 19), continues through Friday.