Granite Bay High School

Basketball camps next week at Granite Bay, Woodcreek

Granite Bay High School has scheduled its 15th annual basketball camps for the weeks of June 13-16 and July 5-8. The camps are open to boys and girls in kindergarten through eighth grades. Camp hours are 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. for grades K-2 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for grades 3-8.

The camp includes instruction, games and contests, guest speakers and daily prizes and awards for attitude and hustle. Members of the Granite Bay boys and girls staffs will run the camp.

Fees are $75 for grades K-2 and $125 for grades 3-8. The cost is $200 for two family members and $280 for three family members.

For information, contact boys varsity coach Jason Sitterud at jsitterud@rjuhsd.us.

Woodcreek to hold basketball camp
Woodcreek High School is planning its Lady Timberwolves Fundamental Basketball Camp from June 13-16.

The camp is open to girls who will be in grades 1-10 next fall. The cost for pre-registration is $50 for girls in first through sixth grades and $100 for girls in grades 7-10.

The camp lasts from 8:30-11:30 a.m. each day for grades 1-6 and from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for grades 7-10.

A brochure may be obtained by visiting whs.rjuhsd.us, or e-mail Woodcreek varsity girls basketball coach Raymond Beck at rbeck@rjuhsd.us.

Roseville volleyball camp
Roseville High School will hold a volleyball camp for girls entering grades 7-9 the week of July 11-15 at Moeller Gym on campus. Camp hours are 9 a.m. to noon each day. Camp fees are $75 by July 5 and $80 after July 5 and included a camp T-shirt. Fliers are available at rosevilletigers.org. For information, contact varsity coach Ron Grove at rgrove@rjuhsd.us.

Boys volleyball camp at Granite Bay
Granite Bay High School will hold a boys volleyball camp from July 11-15 for players in grades 7-12. Run by varsity coach Bruce Honberger with assistance from graduating Grizzlies players, the camp runs from 9 a.m. to noon each day and includes drills, instruction, daily contests and prizes. The player/coach ratio is 6 to 1.

The $100 fee includes a camp T-shirt, and there is a $10 discount for a second family member. The camp is limited to 36 players.

Contact Honberger at (916) 521-1084 or bhonberger@rjuhsd.k12.ca.us for information.

Dancer will find her feet in London - Granite Bay

Dacia Biletnikoff is fond of a particular catch phrase: “Training is the opposite of hoping.”

The mantra drives the 18-year-old, who spends about 20 hours a week practicing dance. While at Granite Bay High School — she graduated in May — this meant four or five hours of training after school every day.

She has lived this strenuous schedule for the past five years, attending rehearsals at the prestigious Northern California Dance Conservatory in Roseville.

“I don’t really complain,” Biletnikoff says. “I love dance. I’m obsessed. I think you have to be obsessed to get to this level. Sometimes, I get tired. But it’s never that I don’t want to go dance.”

When Biletnikoff — a pretty woman with long blond hair and big green eyes — talks about her fondness for dance and choreography, and her plans for the future, she smiles widely. Those plans include summer performances in Austria and New York, and college at the London Contemporary Dance School this fall.

When she reflects on the death of her older sister, Tracey Biletnikoff, who was murdered in 1999, her smiles fade and she strings together articulate thoughts in one, long breathless sentence. But she always stays positive.

“What I got out of it, is when you have something you want, really go for it,” Dacia Biletnikoff says.

That’s exactly what she has done.

As a 5-year-old, Dacia’s Biletnikoff’s best friend took dance lessons, so she asked her parents, Angela and NFL Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff, if she could, too. Growing up, she also played soccer, violin and piano. But at 13 years old, the daughter of the Oakland Raiders’ wide receiver and Super Bowl MVP chose to focus on the delicate art form of dance.

For the past eight years, Dacia Biletnikoff has trained at the Northern California Dance Conservatory under the tutelage of renowned instructors, including ballet master Theodore Constant, who has toured all over the world.

She studies jazz with Kelly Archer, and practices contemporary and modern dance with the studio’s artistic director Jen Bradford.

“(Dacia) has a unique style,” Bradford says. “She has an innate ability to take moves the choreographer gives her and internalize it and produce in her body what the choreographer is looking for.”

Part of that style may come from Dacia’s disdain for “sloppy dancers” and her skill at technicalities.

“She has a deep passion for dance that comes through,” Bradford says. “Each dancer expresses themselves through movement. Her style is very intricate. Although she has a strong technical base, she has passionate and fluid movements.

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