By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–Eighteen campers interested in learning the game of softball headed to the Helena High School softball field July 12-13 for a two-day camp to learn fundamentals, participate in numerous drills, get one-on-one coaching and more.

Helena softball head coach Heidi Kouveras helped lead the Lady Huskies to a runner-up finish in the 5A Softball State Championship game and girls from the team came out to help and volunteer with the camp.

“My biggest thing with camps is making kids feel like they’re part of the team and showing them ‘hey this is how we practice’ so as they get older they see what it’s like when they get up in high school,” said Kouveras. “I like having the older high school girls up here helping because they all know them pretty much and they kind of look up to them.”

Most of the drills included how to correctly field a ground ball, catching a pop fly and other fundamentals until the drills got progressively harder.

“The biggest thing we did is I just went through drills we do in practice,” said Kouveras. “It’s almost like spending a whole defensive practice with the team. We started from the basics of throwing properly, fielding a ground ball or a pop fly properly and then we started with simpler drills and broke them down fundamentally. Then we gave them harder drills after that that required drops and cutbacks and things like that.”

This was the first summer that Helena softball held a youth camp and Kouveras said she believes it’s good for the community as a whole.

“My favorite part is just interacting with the younger kids and I love coaching so when I get a chance to work with kids who are younger it’s good for the community,” said Kouveras. “You just hope the girls remember some of this stuff as they start practicing with other coaches and teams.”

The camp concluded on Wednesday, July 13, with hitting drills and learning how to properly slide using a tarp to make a Slip ‘n’ Slide.