Volleyball Coaching Jobs

Even after all of my 'reality' of being a coach, folks still want to do this for a living!

Hey Coach

I am a sophomore in college. I play men's club volleyball. I am also the head coach of the women's club team and I just became an assistant for the women's DIII team at my college. I want to become a collegiate coach when I graduate. I was wondering what else I should do to build my resume so I can become a head coach at the collegiate level?

Thank You

Ivan


Well, Ivan, you are well on your way. The biggest item that you listed, in terms of your future, is that you are currently an assistant for a NCAA Womens Volleyball team. The other things that you are doing are good, but they will not get you noticed.

Here are some suggestions borne of experience in becoming a NCAA Head Volleyball coach:

1. Get your undergraduate degree - Does not matter what your degree is in, but you must get a degree.

2. Become older - Most NCAA college coaches are getting their first head coaching position just before 30. You need a few years of experience on your resume as a NCAA coach, and you need to have some separation in years from those individuals which you will be leading. Of course, we all hear of coaches being 25 or so and getting a head position, but this is the SCARY exception, not the rule.

3. As soon as you graduate, try to move up to a NCAA Division I assistant coach. This assistant level of pay will allow you to pay your bills and build up your resume. The trick is to get up to the NCAA Division I level (in any paid capacity) as quickly as possible. Professionally speaking, it is easier to go down a level, than up.

4. Be aggressive about developing your knowledge of coaching. Division III is an interesting classification because some programs are very serious about volleyball, while others understand their role as an adjunct to the experience of being a student. To expand your knowledge, attend coaching clinics that are presented by USA Volleyball, the AVCA or Division I programs. If you have an off day or two, go watch other teams practice - you learn 1o times as much watching practice than matches. You need to keep your eyes open to new ideas and philosophies that may be contrary to what you are using now.

5. Be a head coach of a Club Volleyball team, with an older age group. I know you are a college club coach, but learning how to interact with parents, to be involved in the recruiting process from a player point of view, to get the opportunity to watch hundreds of other teams play and also develop contact among the many college coaches in attendance is a good thing.

6. Be in the right place at the right time and have a bit of luck - It is crazy to say, but it is true!

Again, since you are already a NCAA assistant coach and you are young; you are potentially on a very good path to attain your goals. Now, just enjoy being a coach and not getting laid off by a Fortune 500 company!

Good luck!

Switching Positions in Club Volleyball

One of our readers asked a good question about his daughter possibly switching positions and I think many parents/players may be faced with a similar situation:

My apologies if you have answered this already somewhere else, but changing positions is an issue that has recently come up for my daughter. A junior in high school who has been playing MB for her entire career (who is also agile enough to play back row most of the time) has been identified by her new club team as someone with “beautiful hands” and who could and should play at the setter and right side position to maximize her possible college options. She is 6’0” tall and can jump well.
While the change may be the best in the long run, the timing is not great in light of college recruiting timelines and how she may or may not get noticed learning this new position this coming club season.
So what kind of things should be considered?

1. Is there some preferred time when a change like this should be made, i.e. in terms of what year of high school – I assume it would have been better for this to be noticed in her freshman year(?); and what time of the calendar year – is it better after club is over? or do you “just do it” and hope that some college coach will see the potential and assess her skills the same as the club coaches have.
2. Is there a preferred way to transition to the new position – maybe alternate her position and play every second game as MB and the other as setter/RS? That way she can ease into it, and still get “noticed” in the MB position.

I have heard college players sometimes still switch positions – even at top level programs – so maybe this is not as thorny an issue as I am making out of it. Thanks! Eric

Eric has quite the dilemma - a 6' setter with nice hands will receive plenty of attention just because of height alone. A 6' middle does not stand out as much as a 6' setter to college coaches, and I would think this is part of the rationale of the new club team.

What would concern me is that the setting position is not an easy one to learn. Anyone can set, but becoming a setter takes time and experience, especially if trying to reach the Division I level. A few years ago, college volleyball coaches were in love with height in the setting position - the thought process was that they could take a tall person who sets and make them into a setter. I think there has been a bit of a backlash, because the result was a slew of tall setters who were not very mobile and made game time setting choices which were incorrect.

If we look at the setters today, they really are not as proportionately tall as the hitters are becoming. Was Stanford's setter in 2008 tall? How about the UCLA setter? Even the Silver Medal USA Olympic setter was not a tall player. Of course there are many examples of taller setters playing with quality teams, but I do feel the setting position is 'smaller' than most folks anticipate.

When we step back to examine the logic behind using slightly smaller than anticipated setters in some top flight programs, it is the result of wanting to make sure the big time hitters are getting quality sets and attacking against solo blockers. College coaches instantly know when a setter has made a bad choice and understand how this poor choice placed the team into a poor position to be successful. If you were to sit in on a college team's practice when they are training a freshman setter for the season, you would notice a lot of strategy evaluation and feedback. Coaches are asking the setters why they made a certain choice in a certain situation and then providing feedback about the results.

Successful college setting is making the correct choice and providing a quality set to the hitter. Many players that set can make a quality set, but is it to the correct hitter? A setter making the incorrect choice will drive a coach nuts. Hitters getting blocked we can understand, a libero shanking a serve we can accept, but coaches are not very lenient when it comes to a setter not making the right decision.

In terms of switching positions, the switch from middle blocker to setter is possibly the most demanding. The easiest switch is middle to right side attacker. Middle blockers have defined their worlds within a triangle that goes from just inside each antennae to just past the 10 foot line in the middle of the court. Everything thing middles do happen within this triangle - attack, block, cover, transition, slide, etc. As a setter, the whole court is important because of all the responsibilities of fulfilling the demands of the position.

The earlier a player switches position the better. For a middle to setter transition, I would expect this to happen no later than the 16's year of club and if possible, the 15's year would be better. This new setter needs as much time as possible to make the physical and mental switch - this includes the high school season, summer camps, invite teams, club teams, etc.

As for the actual transition, it has to be 'all in' for it to work, especially doing it in the 17's club season. The 17's club season is the deciding year for college volleyball coaches as they assemble their recruiting classes. Remember, 16's club is when we identify talent, 17's is when we commit talent, and 18's is when we babysit talent. If a player is going to switch, they need to be playing full time in the position and the club team/coach needs to be 100 percent supportive of this commitment.

It can't be a set one game and then play middle the next situation. Yes, you can play two positions and maybe look attractive in both, but college coaches are not going to have you do this at their schools. We want to see what you can play in college, and then see you develop this ability so when you arrive on campus, your skills are as far along as possible.

Eric, what I suggest is that you sit down with your daughter and try to determine exactly what her goals are about college volleyball. Does she want to play for a Top 25 team? Does she want to stay close to family and you are located in an area dominated by Division II teams? Does she enjoy the physical challenge of the middle blocker position? Does she want the mental pressure of running an offense and telling the hitters exactly what to do? Is she going to be comfortable playing right back defense? Does she want to play immediately or is she willing to sit for a few years while she fine tunes her abilities? What is most enjoyable for her to play?

After you have had a chance to work through these, and many other questions, then you can make a better decision about switching from the middle to setter position. If she wants to play right away, then stay in the middle. If she wants to play at a high DI level and does not mind honing her skills for a few years, then make the switch to setter and aggressively promote her to the appropriate elite Division I schools.

Good luck!

Men's College Volleyball Playing Opportunities

I had a reader make a valid point about Men's Volleyball that is worth sharing:

I ran across your blog this evening and read a few of the limited number of questions regarding Mens Volleyball. You correctly stated that there are very few "scholarship" opportunities at the DI/DII level, and referred people towards DIII as a potential "back-up" opportunity.

I was curious that you did not mention a much more obvious solution for top quality volleyball, "club" volleyball. Most universities sponsor a mens Club volleyball program. Many of the top level club teams in California and the midwest are superior to their DIII counterparts back on the East Coast. Club teams are a great option for quality high school players who are lack the skill or "name" to earn a scholarship, yet want to attend a large university and continue their career. Club teams operate at many different levels, some have budgets as large as their NCAA counterparts, others are glorified intramural teams, so make sure you contact and research to find the right fit.

Good Luck! ML

ML is absolutely correct and I am grateful for his reminder about College Club Volleyball; I have known quite a few men's players that opted for this avenue to continue their careers.

While I would not wish to disparage the East coast NCAA DIII programs, there are some very strong College Club programs on the West coast and Mid-west that would do very well on the eastside. I have heard that many of these College Club programs do offer financial support, but they don't necessarily call it an athletic scholarship. But, a scholarship is free money no matter how you want to title it.

Much like Division II women's volleyball with the huge variances in funding, an interested player should spend some time doing his research about teams, as ML suggested. While this may be less simple because the College Club teams do not have the structure of the NCAA behind them, a player can find out support by asking about number of competitions, equipment support, per diem, national tournaments, etc.

My recollection of College Club volleyball is that teams will predominantly compete against other clubs from the same region, with an occasional out of region road trip (much like USA Volleyball adult men's teams). There is a College Club nationals, and I believe teams qualify through their regional championship.

ML was also nice enough to share that "NIRSA sponsors the National Championship which includes over 200 teams." I honestly don't know exactly what the initials stand for, but I am sure Google does!

NCAA Men's Volleyball is in a tough position - the scholarship funding is poor, there are a limited number of teams, the operating budgets and salaries pale compared to Women's Volleyball and with the current economy, no programs will be added and I am sure a few are a bit nervous about continuation.

College Club volleyball presents a great option for many, many talented male players that want to play the sport they love while going to school!

Thanks to ML for all of the help!

Volleyball Recruiting Travel Plans

A question from a reader that I am also asking myself:

Given the dynamic changes in venues, what are your recruiting event plans this year--AAU-Nationals in Florida, JVDA Nationals, USAV Nationals, a collection of USAV Qualifiers, some big club showcases, etc? I know our club will be sending teams to AAU in Orlando, JVDA in Louisville, and a couple large regional events.

Thanks so much! I look forward to your next update. Hopefully, your spring season goes great.

Nathan


I am still trying to figure out exactly where to recruit this year. As Nathan has illustrated there are a bunch of events to pick from and added to this dilemma is the pending budget cuts. All universities are having budgets 'adjusted' and athletic departments will shoulder a large portion of these cuts because many of our dollars may not be spent yet. I am still awaiting a meeting with my athletic director to learn just how much of my remaining budget will go bye-bye.

Most college coaches try to get a mix of local, regional and Qualifiers each recruiting season. Fortunately or not, the year ending events like USA Junior Nationals, JDVA Nationals and AAU's will occur after the budget year has rolled. I suspect we will be faced with the same dilemma in July which we are facing this spring.

I am not familiar enough with the complaints/concerns about USA Volleyball, but something must have occurred for the formation of the viable JDVA competitions and the increased popularity of AAU's. I know my last trip to the USAV Junior Nationals was disappointing and got me thinking about other 'championships' to attend. If the timing is work-able, I could see coaches doing AAU's and USAV since they are both in Florida, but I have not confirmed dates.

I do know that all of us will have less money vis a vis last year and recruiting is the one area that will be hit hardest. Miami is not cheap to get to or stay at (unless you are in Florida) and I will be very focused about trying to get as much recruiting bang for my recruiting buck.

A thought is to skip the various 'championships' all together. You figure by the time the July tournaments roll around, college coaches have already seen all there is to see with regards to prospective student athletes. While many coaches may be 'baby-sitting' kids that have committed, it is a bit early for most programs to be pressing younger PSA's for commitments. Even if a team has already locked up their recruiting classes for the next 10 years via unofficial visits, the PSA's will still likely wish to take an Official Visit and these are not cheap trips.

By and large, I believe the budget situation will force the majority of programs to be focused on attending tournaments which yield the best opportunities to successfully recruit attainable PSA's. For example, Cal Poly is not going to attend a small tournament in Bakersfield to just see if there is a player or two with talent. Conversely, Middle North Dakota Poly is not travelling to the Finals of the Tour of Texas. When budgets were better, you might see a few college programs visiting local tournaments which were a long ways from campus to see new PSA's, but I think those days are over. The big boys (I will use a gender mis-reference because the Final Four teams are still exclusively male, all respects to Mary Wise) can still recruit where and when they need to recruit.

I guess to answer Nathan's question, I will be attending local/regional tournaments where I know there are players open to the thought of attending my school, along with one USAV National Qualifier and I have not decided about any July championships. As for other programs, it depends on how badly they get hit with budget cuts, but I would think the immediate impact would be an elimination of a National Qualifier attendance since out of region Qualifiers are expensive to attend.

Club Volleyball Thoughts

Well, I hope you made it healthy and happy through the onslaught of college volleyball coaches just aching to get back on the recruiting trail!!! In my younger coaching days, I was not for the increased length of the Quiet and Dead Periods because I wanted the ability to recruit when I wished to recruit. But now, I actually want longer down periods because it provides an excuse not to recruit and thus have a bit more balance between work and play.

From my first weekend back on the road and watching a few different age ranges of Club Volleyball, a few things caught my attention:

- I do not agree with club tournaments charging admission. As a college coach, I rarely get asked to pay and if I do, my school will cover the cost. My issue with club tournaments charging an entrance fee relates to double taxation. Club Volleyball tournaments are attended by the families of the players; rarely are there non-relatives in attendance. The family has already paid the tournament entrance fee for their daughter to play, and now they are being charged again to come watch. It is a double volleyball tax.

If club volleyball events were attended by non-related volleyball fans and/or casual sports fans, then I could financially understand the rationale of capturing some extra revenue for the host site. But to charge a fee for families to watch their own children play, when they are already out of pocket hundreds of dollars a month just reeks of greed. And people hypocritically wonder why club volleyball is game for upper middle class families.

Should host club teams be under financial stress because a site demands too much of a fee, then add money to the team entrance fee while stating that admission will not be charged for the event. Or, charge .50 cents more for a bottle of water. Or, charge another two dollars for a t-shirt. Or, hold a raffle for a volleyball bag or bag of potato chips. Find a way to capture that needed additional revenue without asking Grandma and Grandpa to pay to see their grandchild play the sport of volleyball.

I cannot relate the charging of admission to high school events to the charging of Club Volleyball. High school events are attended by many non-relatives and with shrinking budgets, an entrance fee can help an athletic department at the end of the fiscal year. In addition, income/property/sales taxes will be paid by all folks and those moneys will be allocated to many different needs throughout the community. A family will pay taxes no matter if their child plays sports or plays the lead in Romeo and Juliet.

I was stunned to see USA Volleyball charge a ticket fee to watch the National Qualifiers a few years ago (charge the college coaches a larger fee - but not families) and now this formula has made its way down to the most local of events. For all too many families, the cost of club volleyball is a burden and squeezing an extra dollar out of them is poor.

- By the age of 16's club, players should know the game and how to play it properly. Not as an expert, not all the nuances that a player understands when they retire but how to play the game. Some mistakes that I routinely witnessed with 16's and up:

Sending free balls high and soft to the opponent in the center of the court. All free balls should be put into area 1 or 2 (right back or right front) - Why you ask? Because it forces the setter to turn their head and torso away from parallel to the net, it may catch the defense being slow on a free ball position shift and most players will pass the ball straight ahead (as opposed to the setting area), thus making the space available to run a slide smaller and the set to the left side hitter much longer.

Setting the back row on any broken play ball. I see this happen way too much; the mass majority of club volleyball players will not be effective attacking back row, so there is no statistical reason to set back row. All players, just not the setter, should set any broken play ball front row (unless of course it is the front row hitter who is broken) to be attacked. The odds are much better of getting a kill by a front row attacker, not to mention reducing the opportunity of the defense to re attack with success. Setting back row is mentally undisciplined and the easy way out.

Poor footwork in serve receive. Serving on the small Sport Courts employed by many sites makes the serve slow and weak. Because of the facility limitations (and little sister walking by, being chased by Grandma (Grandma is in this post a lot!)), servers are not cranking the ball - it is soft and easy to pass. The passers have no excuse for not moving their feet and getting their full torso behind the ball to pass. If your body is behind the ball and your passing platform pushes towards the net, then the ball should get somewhere near the net for the setter to manage. I shake my head when I see players being very lazy and only taking one step, then reaching to pass balls that the server could easily shout "FREE" before tossing.

If passers (the OH's and Liberos, since seeing a Middle Blocker pass is like seeing my youth) cannot handle serves in club volleyball, then the serves in college volleyball will be a rude awakening. One of the reasons that freshman passers tend to struggle is because they were raised on a diet of easy club serves.

- It is disheartening to see the same referee working a club event that also referees my college volleyball matches make the same mistakes. If an official will not overrule a 16 year old lines person on a ball that was clearly called incorrectly, then something is wrong. The speed of the club game alone should make touches and in/out calls easy to determine (I understand using sound to help make calls it not an option at club events). I am not sure if there tends to be a bit more leeway with double hit calls, since club volleyball is developmental in nature, but lots of garbage is allowed.

It troubles me when I see the same errors in judgement being made by these officials at the college level - and contrary to what any official says, questioning judgement is always allowed. Funny idea which officials try to push upon coaches is that we cannot question judgement - What are we supposed to question, hair style? All officiating is judgement.

I would hope that after refereeing college volleyball, blowing the whistle on a club match would be very easy. End the end, it just teaches me to not get upset because if officials can't get it right for two teams that barely can touch the top of the net, how are they going to get it right for college players. This is probably what referees would wish for anyways, me being mellow.

Hope everyone enjoyed the Holiday weekend!

Volleyball Recruiting Question

Who is qualified to assess my daughter for statistical purposes? Where can I get the numbers for reach and approach? She is a high school junior playing on a regional club team. She would like to play on a DIII team.

I do not have gym time available to me, where can I find someone to make a recruiting video?

JM


I am, but my per hour evaluation rate is not cheap! Honestly, it is my belief that too many folks get tied up about statistics at the club level (and high school level). I don't look at club hitting/serving/passing statistics at all when they are presented in recruiting information and I would be surprised if any college coach does. College coaches understand the level of competition can vary drastically from match to match. We (the college coaches of this world) are more interested in the 'trust-able' statistics of height, approach jump and block jump when they are presented to us via e-mail or letter. As for successful hitting, we can gather quickly from watching a Prospective Student Athlete if they will be a good fit for our program.

Obtaining the number for the reach is simple, but there are two ways to measure. Have the player stand with her toes touching a wall (and her nose will probably touch also) and then reach up as far as possible with both hands, then mark the top of her fingers and break out the handy tape measure. In effect, this would be the 'block' touch reach because blocking is with two hands.

Another way to measure reach is by having the player stand sideways to the wall with her attack shoulder touching the wall and then reach up with her attack hand as high as possible. Once again, mark the top of the reach and measure. This would be her 'attack' reach for obvious reasons (I hope).

I don't know how many clubs or coaches use the two handed method to establish reach, but I think most use the one handed reach. I good trick used by players is to not quite stretch out on the reach, so your jump touch is a bit higher!

To find out the block touch/approach touch depends on the resources available. Many high school athletic departments will have a Vertic (that device which has the plastic horizontal slats you whack when you jump), along with fitness centers and maybe the YMCA's. I have seen some schools design their own type of measuring tool by hanging athletic tape at different lengths down from a basketball backboard. We know the rim is 10' and if you hang a piece of tape 8 inches down and the player touches it, the math is simple.

Worst case scenario, you can just have a player approach a basketball goal and guesstimate - Again, 10 feet is the rim and make your best observation about how far away her hand was from the rim.

Block touch is determined without taking a step and do not pre-bounce. It is literally down-up as high as you can jump with both hands even at the apex. Approach jump is usually a three step approach and most tests allow for three attempts.

Videos can be cheap, expensive, simple or complicated. The simplest and least expensive way to make a recruiting video is to film practice or a match and mail it off to the coach. If you have the ability to hook the camera into a DVD player/recorder, then you can do a bit of editing to remove any down time in the match/practice.

There must be a way to load video into YouTube or set up a video link because I get these all the time via e-mail, but I do not know how this is done (maybe my assistant does?).

It is my understanding that there are a number of business that provide athletic video services for various sports. If the club does not know of a specific company, do an Internet search and you could well have luck. These will be more expensive than the at home version, but it will look more polished and allow coaches to focus exclusively on your daughter.

A couple of things to remember about videos; 1) They can be edited or completely re shot, so please do not stress out; just edit or re shoot until you are happy with the result, 2) A video is not the end all. The video is just a resource that allows the coach to make the determination about seeing the PSA play in person. Seldom is a roster spot or scholarship awarded solely on a video.

Too many times parents get freaked out about the video and try to make it too perfect. College coaches are not looking for something by Pixar, we just want to see what the player looks like on the court before we travel.

Good luck!

NCAA Volleyball Recruiting Period - Checklist.

The NCAA Division I Volleyball Quiet Period will come to a close on Friday the 16th of January. On the 17th of January, the Contact/Evaluation Period will begin and NCAA Division I Volleyball coaches are allowed to leave campus to evaluate players and to have face to face contact with prospects (provided they are in their senior year and not during an event).

In general terms, the 2009 recruiting year begins on Saturday, takes a few days off for the Spring Signing Date (short Dead Period) and an approximate 1 month holiday in May, before heading into summer recruiting.

I hope you have taken the time to read the Recruiting Plan posts which might provide somewhat of a game plan to handle this craziness of recruiting. In preparation for this weekend's first serve, here are some class by class reminders-tips.


Unsigned or Uncommitted Seniors - Now is the time of the year that college coaches will try to fill the open spots on their 2009 anticipated roster. Some upper level programs may have had a scholarship open up post-season (homesick, academics, unhappy about playing time, etc.), while many lower level programs may not have committed their available scholarships last summer/fall. It is important that you are focused and prepared to move forward with your recruiting efforts. Now is not the time to sit back and wait for things to happen.

* Make sure you have a recruiting flyer available at the tournament (the coach's hospitality room, available tables at the event or to directly hand to college coaches). This flyer should list your pertinent information quickly - Name, graduation year, position played, club team, e-mail and phone number, along with height, weight, approach touch, block touch, uniform number, GPA/test scores and if possible, make sure your picture is also on the flyer.

* Your club coach needs to be up to speed about where you are in the process so she/he can communicate effectively with college coaches which may ask about you. Your coach should be aware of your academic interests, size of school you want, willingness to travel, desired NCAA division, etc. Almost all college coaches work through the club coach to obtain information.

* Be prepared and available to visit with colleges coaches on-site after the tournament has come to a conclusion. Again, your club coach needs to be aware that you are available after the tournament to visit and help arrange or discourage (if you don't want to visit with a certain school for whatever reason) meetings.

* Make sure you are focused, rested and ready to have a great tournament every weekend. If playing college volleyball is what you want, then this must take priority. Eat correctly, drink plenty of water before the event, get good sleep the night before and stay focused on volleyball during the tournament.


Uncommitted Juniors - Don't Panic!!!!! Okay, now that we have that out of the way, we can move forward with recruiting. Seriously, there is plenty of time left in the 2010 recruiting cycle. I know that Mary from Club Super Duper just committed and Nancy from Team Neoprene has 3 offers from the greatest schools ever, but this is the exception, not the rule. The majority of the programs will begin their evaluations and start to make the tough decisions about offering out scholarships in the coming weeks to months.

1. If you are entering the game of recruiting this year (1st year in club volleyball), then you would do well to have a recruiting flyer as illustrated above.

2. Your club coach should be aware of your desires academically, type and location of school, along with what level you hope to compete at. Again, colleges coaches will make inquiries about you via the club coach.

3. DO NOT try to conquer the volleyball recruiting world of 17's club in one tournament. If you play your absolute best ever - good for you. If you play your absolute worst ever - it is not as bad as you think.

4. DO NOT be aware of who is watching or not watching you (and that means your parents also) - Just play good volleyball. It can be exciting for families when they see a bunch of coaches around a court, but the reality is most of these coaches are not really pursuing the players on the court; good match to watch, they are talking to another coach, they are letting court traffic pass by while they figure out where to walk to next, etc.


Sophomores - Unless you are the next Logan Tom and know exactly what and where you wish to study, you should not be worrying about anything at the tournaments. Any work you do in the recruiting process should simply be to get information out to potential schools before you ever go to an event.

* If you get some letters as a result of your play, then feel good about yourself. If you don't get letters, it is nothing to be concerned with because there is so much time left in the cycle. Just play volleyball.


Freshman - The only thing I am going to say to the 2012 class is that if you see college coaches scouting your court, immediately send Grandma (and grandma's are good at these things) over to the coaches to shoo them away. The 15's age group should be played on courts that are walled off from the upper age groups - Just play volleyball, you are a freshman in high school!


My biggest suggestion for the upperclassmen is to be prepared. The underclassmen should just be having fun with no other concerns than playing volleyball.

Television Broadcasts of Volleyball

Coach, I am a father of the 12 year old club volleyball player and have enjoyed reading your blog.

A common theme on your blog is the lack of popularity of college game a compared to other collegiate sports. I have often felt that the broadcasters don't do a good enough job of showing the athleticism required to pay the game. The camera angles are too broad and rarely, if ever, do the networks show a replay of an outstanding play. In comparison, watching a football or men's or women's basketball game, the viewer will get 2, 3, or more camera angles on an outstanding catch, dunk, or 3-point shot. It seems as though the networks need a technical adviser to help them cover the game more effectively. What are your thoughts? JG


I would absolutely agree with JG's assessment of the television broadcast for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship matches. Volleyball is a dynamic sport that is played by a large number of people in a rather small area. Using just a couple of cameras does not do justice to our sport. If you think about it, tennis is played on approximately the same size court, with two players predominantly on the end line, yet 4 or more cameras are in use.

It was just by happenstance that before receiving JG's question, I read a small snippet on the NCAA.org website about more camera angles and equipment which will be used in the the next NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. This article referenced a person from the NCAA who had the title, "NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball and Business". Wow!!! If that does not illustrate the chasm between Volleyball and Basketball, nothing will.

As I have written previously, this would be an excellent topic for an AVCA devoted to NCAA Volleyball to pursue upon behalf of NCAA Division I Volleyball. NCAA Division I Head Coaches already pay a 'Media Fee', in addition to the appropriate membership fee to the AVCA to promote the broadcasting of volleyball matches, so I would hope this money includes some type adviser for television entities. I try to read the various releases by the NCAA Volleyball Committee and the AVCA Division I releases (I don't know the technical term because it gets lost with the information being sent out for the assistant coach of the Grand Canyon Junior High co-ed volleyball team), yet it is tough to discern what is being proactively done with regards to televised volleyball.

Not too long ago, ESPN had requested the NCAA Volleyball Committee switch the location of the Up and Down officials, so the cameras would have a better shot of the action along the net. Most volleyball playing facilities that have the electrical and technological abilities to televise volleyball are also the playing facilities for basketball. As such, the television camera locations are pre-wired to be directly across from the Official Scorer's Table; we never see basketball televised from behind the scorer's table, always facing it. ESPN's request is logical given the parameters of the equipment, while trying to create a better viewing environment.

What did the Volleyball Committee do? They indirectly said no. When I think about this situation, I still get as upset today as the day I read it. ESPN tells us they want a simple change that will allow for a better broadcast and portrayal of NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball and we tell the number one network in the world for sports no. I need a painkiller.

Back to JG's question - Yes, the NCAA Volleyball Committee and/or the AVCA should have someone working with ESPN to constantly improve the quality and variety of the telecast. Let me say that there may well be someone employed in this capacity, but I agree that the National Championship match does not reflect the athleticism of Women's Volleyball.

Probably the best set up for televising a volleyball match that I have seen was at the University of Hawaii. For that telecast, the local station used one camera across from the scorers table at mid-court, a camera (or two) at the end lines and then two shoulder held cameras located at approximately each 10 foot line on rolling stools. This set up allowed for side, end and low angle views. Volleyball is a game of geometry and having multiple cameras and multiple angles helps project a more accurate display of the athleticism.

Of course, there is room for additional camera views. I know the NCAA uses a 'boom arm' camera, but I don't feel it does much for the telecast. If they put the boom on the side line and the fans could see how much a hitter broad jumps and the transfer of power from approach to attack, that would be unique. A camera located directly above the net (under the score board) would show the offensive play sets and how quickly the defense moves into transition attack. Cameras located behind the team benches would show exactly the angles that the coaches see when coaching. Lots of possibilities.

For me, this is a perfect illustration of how we can 'improve' our game without having to change our game. Changing our game has not improved it, as per the reasons for the change which were put forth, it has only changed the game. There are any number of improvements we can make to the sport of NCAA Women's Volleyball without having to change the game of volleyball.

Our focus is in the wrong area - It needs to be in those areas that can have a recognizable positive effect. Creative marketing and promotion efforts, rattling the Title IX saber to increase the salaries of assistant coaches to attract more female student-athletes into collegiate coaching (Pop Quiz - Why do college volleyball players become high school volleyball coaches as opposed to college volleyball coaches? The pay is better and the time commitment is less), the AVCA demanding a voice when conferences negotiate television packages, etc.

There is no shame in demanding better. Other sports demand and receive. We just seem to change and hope for the best.

NCAA Volleyball Student-Athlete Transfer Rules

I have been receiving a number of e-mail questions with regards to current student-athletes wishing to transfer schools. Since these are current players and I do not have documentation from the player's institution granting my school Permission to Contact, aka a Release, I have not been able to answer the questions - NCAA rules.

This is the time of year when college transfers happen and transferring is becoming much more common than just a few years ago; I would go far as to say the Holidays can also be known as the Transfer Season.

There tends to be three reasons that a transfer situation comes about:

1. There was a coaching change and the fit is not good for either the player or for the program.

2. The player made a commitment too early to the school/program, and now after being there for a year or two, realizes that this is not the place for her.

3. The player wants to play - Sometimes a player will not break into the starting line up no matter how hard they train.

While most people will gravitate towards the coaching change as the spark for players transferring, it tends to be the other two. Yes, coaching changes do happen and cause transfers, but usually these staff transitions work out fine with the returning players accepting the change.

Whatever the motivation, more and more student-athletes are transferring and it is important that the rules be understood. A few things to know:

1. It is against NCAA rules for coaches to have contact (in person, over the phone, e-mail) with any player or family of a player that is currently competing at another NCAA institution (and to be safe, most Compliance Directors will want a release from NAIA schools), without having a copy of the Permission to Contact or Release documentation from the player's athletic department.

This means that you can e-mail, call or write another institution, but they are not allowed to respond or even discuss the matter if you reach them. Some families will use the player's former high school or club coach to initiate contact, but this is a gray area that most upstanding programs will shy away from.

2. The Permission to Contact letter comes from the athletic department's Compliance Director, not from the volleyball coach. No Compliance Director will issue a Release without first visiting with the volleyball coach, so do not try an end run around the coach.

3. There are two types of Releases - Blanket Release and Specific School Release. A Blanket Release means you can contact any other NCAA institution (with the exception of conference or league members; this is usually the known standard), while a Specific School Release will usually have the schools that may be contacted or the schools that may not be contacted (usually other high ranked or in-state/regional programs) written into the body of the document.

4. After you have a Release (either in hard copy or attachment form), you are welcome to initiate contact for those schools as directed by the Release. But, the college coaches must now revert back to the recruiting restrictions of your Senior year in high school - One call per week, unlimited e-mails, one Official Visit, etc.

5. If an institution does not grant a request for a Release, the student athlete can receive a review/hearing from a non-athletics department committee to consider the release request.

By and large, these are the parameters of the whole Permission to Contact or Release protocol.

What is almost as important as the rules of a transfer is how to go about handling the transfer situation with your current school and other programs. A few suggestions:

1. The sooner you make a decision about transferring the better. Make a decision - You are either all in or all out; being undecided is not going to be a healthy experience for you or for your team mates.

2. If you decide that you no longer wish to remain at your current institution, then start the mental process to decide where you would like to go - Don't jump schools just to jump; be specific about what you are looking for (academic major, more playing time, different coaching style, closer to home, etc.).

3. As soon as possible schedule a meeting with your Head Coach. Be direct, honest and non-judgemental (remember that coaches have feelings and remember that coaches can get severe criticism from their AD's when players transfer). Make sure your coach understands you have made your decision. Be prepared to list the other schools, conferences or regions you would consider transferring to - Also be prepared to explain exactly why you wish to transfer.

4. Schedule an appointment with your Compliance Director to physically obtain the release. A Blanket Release is usually the easiest for all parties, but be prepared to list all the schools/conferences you would like to contact. Do not expect this Permission to Contact letter to be available immediately; there may be certain departmental protocols which the Compliance Director must follow which will delay the document.

5. Once you have the Release, immediately contact potential programs by e-mail and telephone. Remember that other programs are currently recruiting and may be making scholarship offers right now.

6. When you contact other programs, have a current volleyball resume, college transcript and video available. This information will be wanted by potential schools so they can evaluate your athletic and academic abilities. Also be ready to explain exactly why you wish to leave your current institution.

7. Be prepared to accept an Official or Unofficial Visit offer of an interested school; in terms of recruiting timetables, as a college transfer, you are out of time to take things slowly - be smart, but be quick.


Transfer situations can be tough on all parties involved; players, families, coaches. In the end, things usually work out for the best for everyone - especially when the rules are followed!

Hope this helps anyone pondering a transfer.

Happy New Year!

2008 is gone. I have never been one to lament the past or get too caught up in what happened or could have happened. I had read something to the effect that each of us makes the best decision possible, in the moment of the decision and then we move forward. We could easily drive ourselves crazy by living in the could have and should have of the past, especially volleyball coaches and players.

In the spirit of 2009, which I believe will be an outstanding year on and off the court, these are some of my Volleyball New Year Wishes:

• That there are no more rule changes to college volleyball. It is at the point that college volleyball coaches cringe at any NCAA letterhead coming in the mail slot. Just leave it alone - Note to who ever is making these changes (and the majority of us don't know these folks), they are not really helping things, just making them more puzzling.

• The American Volleyball Coaches Association will develop an adjunct association to specifically serve the needs of College Volleyball coaches. As much as the AVCA can do, it cannot support me and the coach of Westview Junior High school the same. This is why the college basketball coaches have their own associations, so their needs are addressed.

• Change the ball handling rules to what they were many years ago - Double hits are NEVER allowed and lifts are called (lifts should be called but are not because officials are too concerned with legal double contacts). Touches on the ball have just become sloppy; we used to have a game that demanded dexterity and finesse.

• Allow the NCAA Championship to be played at the same site or a few rotating cities. It looks great when the stands are packed and it looks embarrassing when they are half full. Change the regional sites each year to satisfy the development of volleyball, but let's narrow down the Championship site to ensure full stands and a great television picture.

• The head coaches of the top 6 programs all need to resign and get hired for another top 6 program! Crazy, but crazy like a fox. Coaching changes drive up salaries in every sport. This is most evident in football and basketball where the compensation packages should be embarrassing to any university, but they are going up each year. I know, not very realistic, but these are my wishes.

• Move volleyball forward out of the Twilight Zone of NCAA athletics (help me AVCA, your my only hope) - either pay us more and provide more support, or leave us alone. My belief is Time or Money. If we are a Flagship sport, then we will all get more money (coaches, assistant coaches, players) or if we are not, then we will get more time. This 'tweener status is not a good thing.

• That the basketball coaches at my school stay here. I have worked at schools where the basketball coaches were so full of themselves that it was a continuous bad dream of arrogance, Title IX violations and backstabbing your own gender. Luckily this year I have fellow coaches that are supportive and understand some of the nuances of volleyball.

• That I continue to develop patience - As I become more experienced (a nice way of saying older) I have learned to not force things, but to allow situations to develop and find a solution.

• An Outside Hitter. Sounds simple, but my program really needs one complete outside. Passing, attacking, blocking, defense and understanding - She does not need to be great at all skills or 6'3", just be able to do everything at the NCAA Division I level.

• That Stanford stop being in the Final Four. Let's mix it up a little! Note to upcoming top recruits - Palo Alto rains a bunch and the degree is very over rated (well, it does rain a lot!).

• Warm weather. Sound strange, but volleyball coaches get out of the gym when the fall is over and old man winter is just coming around the corner. Spring comes to town and we are back into the gym again (this employment thing is a bear!).

• The impending mid-fiscal year budget cut is not too painful. The reduction is coming and I would think it is coming for every volleyball program. I hope I am left with enough to have a beneficial spring season and continue recruiting.

• That my team makes good grades this spring. Our fall grades were rather good, better than I expected, and I like having smart volleyball teams. With a bit of luck, we can qualify as an Academic All American team, which is good for all and having a smart team allows me to just smile during Head Coach's meetings when the Athletic Director is admonishing us to support academics.

• A physically and mentally healthy team. Injuries and drama are the killers of any potentially good season. I hope my players relish the Honor of being called an NCAA Division I Volleyball athlete, while taking care of their responsibilities in an adult manner on and off the court.

Well, enough with the wishes - Time to get to work on 2009!

Volleyball Coaching Instruction Resources

A good question from a reader about how to improve one's coaching abilities:

Coach - I am new to your site, but did spend a few hours combing through the blog archives. I spend a great deal of time researching the game of volleyball...whether it be watching college/international play or reading. I do seem to have trouble finding technical information on the sport. I am a member of the AVCA and read the articles put out by them, but have had little success finding other technical information resources. Most of the books that are published on the subject seem to be for the laymen or inexperienced coach. I am a high-school varsity and club coach and aspire to one day become a college coach. I am extremely hungry for knowledge and was wondering if there are any books, journals, websites, etc...that have highly technical information available?

I am especially interested in information regarding movement training or footwork related to volleyball. I believe in simplicity and economy of movement. I don't want to learn and teach techniques to kids so I can say "hey look what I'm teaching". I want to learn techniques that work and make my players better.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Adrian


This question illustrates a good point - it can be tough to garner information about how to become a better elite level coach. Adrian is correct in the statement that most of the readily available information on coaching volleyball is geared for the beginner coach.

Part of the challenge of finding pertinent elite level or advanced coaching information is the difficulty of putting a multi-dimensional sport on paper. I understand that videos (DVD's) are available, but Barnes and Noble is more readily going to carry an instructional book about volleyball before an instructional video. How do you effectively diagram a sprawl and roll or differentiate between a shoulder roll or barrel roll on paper? Putting players into rotational positions or diagramming a middle back base defense is relatively easy, but trying to describe all the geometric angles created in the relationship between attacker's approach and blocker's penetration and how the defense should adjust is not so easy.

A few suggestions for those folks that wish to increase their volleyball knowledge, but it is not in the written form:

1) Go see it live - If a picture is worth a thousand words, then watching elite level training live must move the decimal point a bit more to the right!! Go to a college volleyball practice in the preseason, go to a college volleyball practice in the spring season. These two time frames are when the most instructional level drills are being conducted. Middle or late in the Traditional Season (NCAA speak for the fall season) is not the best time to watch practice, as it is more geared towards maintenance drills. If you are lucky enough to live in a part of the country with a few NCAA schools in driving distance, go see the practices - By the way, don't worry if it is Division I, II or III; there are many outstanding coaches that are not DI (or for that matter, even NCAA membership college coaches) - Just try to see these programs in August or in the spring season. The mass majority of coaches will be more than happy to have you sit and watch, just be sure to drop them an e-mail or call them to ask if you can swing by to watch.

2) Attend a coaching clinic conducted by college coaches. Sometimes these clinics are conducted by the AVCA at the National Championship, sometimes they are done at the state high school tournament, a number of private companies organize coaching clinics and have multiple speakers, and many college programs will conduct coaching clinics as a means to reach out to the local community of high school and club volleyball coaches. The cost of these type of coaching clinics can range from free to over a $100.00.

3) Go watch an elite level college volleyball camp; you can find such camps by visiting the web pages of the schools. Again, as long as you ask, most college coaches will be happy to have you watch.

4) In terms of videos, there are many to choose from. I get a mailing that has a bunch of available videos from numerous successful college coaches. The funny thing for me, is that I have either played for or with many of the coaches that have videos. I do not have a video because I am too good looking and would just distract from the presentation of techniques!

By your question, you would want to pick the titles that focus on movement training or motor memory training. These type of instructional videos emphasize proper footwork, movement and body position in improving skills.

To generalize, there are two dominant styles of volleyball training right now (I am talking Women's Volleyball) - the Asian style which the USA Women's National team has followed the last two Olympics with the influence of the Japanese and Chinese nationality head coaches of USA Volleyball, and the Latin style of volleyball which Brazil and Cuba have employed successfully for many years and which men's college volleyball tends to emulate.

Your question leads me to believe you would wish to explore the Asian style of volleyball training and I would suggest three avenues:

1) Do a Google search for Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Chicago and/or the Great Lakes Center. This nationally known and very successful volleyball club completely builds its training systems and philosophies around the Asian style of volleyball. They have produced a number of instructional videos using their club players to demonstrate and splicing in international training video examples from Japan and China. These videos are very expensive but are a wealth of knowledge for elite level training techniques and drills.

2) Arie Selenger was perhaps the first coach in the United States to employ the Asian style of volleyball at the most elite level - the USA Women's National team. Coach Selenger was the long time Head Coach of USA Women's Volleyball when they were considered on the best teams in the world in the early to mid 1980's. I know he has a couple of books that are a bit dated, but you may be able to find them in a larger university library or on Amazon - To my knowledge, he does not have a video, but I heard he was working on one. The books are very technical, but may be hard to digest because on paper to visual is difficult.

3) Go visit these specific college volleyball programs - Long Beach State, Minnesota and Nebraska. Long Beach State really follows the Asian style of training.

Hope this helps and good luck in your search - I compliment your efforts because this is how we improve as coaches.