COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech volleyball team held it's final youth clinic of the year on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles held four free clinics on every Tuesday in February, open to anyone grade 7 and up, giving the participants a great opportunity to learn the game of volleyball and advance their skill set.

"We decided to host a free clinic as a way to give back to the community," said head coach Dave Zelenock. "It also was a way for our coaching staff to get to know the kids in the area. Cookeville and the surrounding towns are really starting to focus on volleyball and we want to be part of the building process. There are a lot of really good athletes around here and in the past they stuck to basketball and now some of those kids are starting to enjoy volleyball. The more we can do to help the area grow in talent the better it is for everyone."

It also provided an opportunity for the Golden Eagle players to give back to the community and interact with the youth from the community and get campers interested in a sport they love.

"I love getting to be in the gym and interacting with these girls who came to clinic," said freshman setter Sharon Anderson. "It's been fun to see them grow and learn new things over the last four weeks." 

Interacting with the girls from the community also provided a way for the Golden Eagles to grow their fan base.

"Honestly, I hit it off with some of the girls and they said they really wanted to come see us play this fall," said sophomore middle blocker Cody Dodd. "I'm glad we had the chance to teach these girls more about the game and I'm happy we could impact them to want to come see us play!"

The Golden Eagles will soon have summer camp information available for those interested. They then will start camp of their own on August 7 to begin the 2014 season.