Gateway Region Stresses Importance of Coach Education

Maura Gladys
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6886
E-Mail: maura.gladys@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 30, 2009) - Donna Mayer has seen volleyball in the Gateway Region come full circle. When her son was in fourth grade, Mayer took on the responsibility of coaching his volleyball team, with little knowledge of the game but a strong desire to help.

The team didn't have enough players, so she encouraged several of her son's friends to join. One of those friends was Scott Touzinsky. Touzinsky played for Mayer, then went on to play collegiately, and at the national level, where he was a member of the 2008 National Team that won a gold medal in Beijing. Now, he regularly returns home to St. Louis to run player camps and coaching clinics in an effort to provide volleyball players from the region with the opportunity to achieve the success that he has.

"It is exciting that it is almost like a full circle kind of thing," Mayer said. "You target these parents and you educate them. They get the information to the kids, and now you have an Olympian from the St. Louis area that will come back through some of these coaching clinics all over again."

The Gateway Region, which encompasses the Eastern part of Missouri (including St. Louis) and the southern part of Illinois and has about 7,000 members,  is diligently working to foster an effective coaching and recruiting environment in the region, with the hope that it will help its players compete with players from volleyball hotbeds like Southern California and Florida.

Shannon Loso,  education and administration manager for the Gateway Region, has developed a  comprehensive regional coaching program that offers education and training for everyone from first-timers to seasoned veterans, and focuses on more than X's and O's.

The first level focuses on beginners like Mayer.

"Our beginner program is about learning the skills, and how to teach the skills," Loso said. "Even though they are beginning coaches, they are getting these kids when it is most critical for them to learn the skills. If the kids can get a solid base, they have much more potential when they get older."

Mayer added: "If you bring the coaches in you can get the info out there to more kids, you can get more kids involved in the sport."

The region offers more in-depth coaching education for more experienced coaches. It recently began a "Coaching Symposium," which features presentations and discussions on topics including asthma and athletics, jumping biomechanics, arm swing and shoulder girdle biomechanics, dynamic stretching  vs. passive stretching, hydration, meal planning and sports psychology.

"They are truly getting into the nitty-gritty of understanding their athletes, the strategy of the game and how to tailor the game to your athletes," Loso said.

Having an Olympic gold medalist that comes back to help out is also a good way to foster interest and build the program.

"My best friend's mom (Mayer) started the team... Now I always tell Donna that if she needs anything from me, I'll help out," Touzinsky said.

Touzinsky, who helps at coaching clinics and runs a volleyball camp for kids with his brother, understands the challenge of trying to get noticed in the Gateway Region. He broke into the USA Volleyball High Performance pipeline after he was noticed by an HP coach at Boys' Junior Olympics. A player who had been invited to the HP camp had broken his arm and Scott took his place.

"I don't think I would have been seen if it weren't for that," Scott said. "You don't have colleges scouting high school matches in Missouri."

To combat with this lack of exposure, the region presents a yearly recruiting seminar that aims to help players learn more about the recruiting process. The seminar includes a presentation on how the recruiting process works, and features speakers from NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, and Junior College programs.

"We want people to understand that you don't have to be a Division I player to get a scholarship."  Loso said.

The region's efforts have been paying off. This year the Gateway Region sent 17 boys' teams and 29 girls' teams to the Junior Olympics. If the region's coaching and recruiting programs have done their job, the next Scott Touzinsky might have been on one of those teams.

Tags: Gateway, grassroots, region, Scott Touzinsky