Travis and Drew Hudson put on second annual boys volleyball clinic at WKU
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU volleyball head coach Travis Hudson held Western’s second annual boys volleyball clinic.
The sport is one of the fastest growing across the nation in both high school and college, and events like this play a huge role in its growth.
But what makes this day all the more meaningful to coach Hudson is sharing the experience with his son.
“What a joy it is to be able to share this passion with him,” Travis said. “When I told those young men in the camp today that this is Drew Hudson and he’s the starting libero at Ohio State, their eyes lit up. To me, he’s still my son that grew up learning the game in our gym, but for those young men, he’s certainly someone to aspire to.”
Drew Hudson is heading into his third year as a collegiate men’s volleyball player, and coaching alongside his first-ever coach helps him grow in the game just as much as these kids.
“It’s just kind of added another depth of knowledge to me and it’s helped me as a player a lot too,” Drew said. “Just to be beside him and understand the ‘why’ behind things as I’ve gotten older, and to get to have those experiences with him now.”
But as much as Drew feels grateful, he’s also realizing that the more time he coaches alongside his dad, the more he turns into him.
“Stuff would come out of my mouth to those kids, and I would be like, ‘Oh my God, my dad would say that.’ I don’t wanna be that, but I guess with his track record, maybe I do wanna be that, so not the worst thing,” Drew said.
On the flip side, for Travis, the more time spent coaching together, the more his son might be teaching him, although he would probably deny it.
“If we can not let him know that….” Travis said. “But no question, I think there’s things that he has broadened my view on and that’s a really kind of a cool thing for me to do as well.”
At the end of the day, the father-son duo’s love of giving back to the sport that shaped them drives them to put on this clinic, and they hope it influences these young athletes in the best way.
“What these kids need more than anything else is to find places where they can gain knowledge because they work hard, but they need to know how it’s supposed to be done, and hopefully we provide one of those opportunities,” Travis said.
