Coming of Age: Youth Volleyball

Coming of Age: Youth Volleyball
by Steven Antes (Easley, S.C./SRA Volleyball)

Several years ago, I had an opportunity to coach a girls' volleyball team for a city recreational program. The age level I was assigned to coach consisted of fifth through seventh grade girls. The teams were organized through a draft that was run by the recreation department. The coaches were allowed to draft players that had registered with the recreation department to fill out their rosters of the previous year’s team. Once the girls were assigned a team, they were allowed to stay with that team until they hit the next age/grade bracket. At that time, they would have to go back into the draft to be reassigned to new teams.

In the past, most teams had been made up of a mix of ages spread across the three grades in the division. With only three returning players for the team (one seventh grader and two sixth graders), I was slotted to draft six new players. The draft was predominately made up of fifth graders rising from the younger age groups, but any newly registered players were also added to the draft.

My strategy for the draft was to select all fifth graders to add to the three returning players that I already had. The logic behind this decision was the concept that I would be able to potentially keep these six players together for the next three years. Keeping them together for all three years, would allow the team to build confidence in themselves, their skills and their teammates, as well as their overall training.

While working with such a young age group, I wanted to emphasize the fundamental aspects of the game at the first practice. This involved explaining some of the basic concepts of the game and working on teaching the essential skills necessary to play. For many of these girls, this was an introduction on how to pass the ball, how to serve and the concept of passing to a setter. The practice plan also involved working on calling the ball, how to rotate, general exposure to a 4-2 offense, and basic serve-receive positions.

Many of the teams within this age group were taught that the only way to win the game was to pass the ball back over the net on one hit. Quite often, this made for boring games if you understood how volleyball is intended to be played. During these games my players and parents could see how the other teams didn’t have the opportunity to learn the necessary skills needed for playing in junior high or high school. I made it a point to teach them that there was a greater goal in mind by attempting to pass to a setter (three hits on a side) than in winning the game by “one-hitting” it over the net!

As a coach, I got more excited about the success of the girls' skills and the development of the team than the final score. I re-enforce this by telling the team that it was my job to watch the score and make adjustments to win. It was their job to sharpen their skills, run an offense and to have fun.

As the season progressed, the players and their parents realized that the emphasis was on learning and execution of the game. With the limited practice time, the games became the field where they learned to use the fundamental skills and focus on trusting their teammates in an offensive system. The scoreboard successes were far and few between, but when the execution was there, everyone could see the difference between how our team was playing and what they were learning this season compared to the other teams. In the end, the team finished with a 4-8 record.

Once the season was over, many of the parents had asked for opportunities for more coaching and playing time for their girls to work on skills and gain additional playing experience. I was able to provide opportunities for individual or group training, camps and clinics, as well as pickup play and open gyms for any player who was interested in working on their skills. As it turned out, all six of the 5th graders attended many of the opportunities that were offered to them all summer long.

With the start of the second season, the team roster was made up of seven returning players. It consisted of one sixth grader, as well as all six of the fifth graders. Per the league rules, the team added two new players to fill out the roster. The overall make up of the roster now consisted of two fifth graders, six sixth graders and one seventh grader.

The season began with the focus on serving consistency, serve-receive and transition from defense to offense with basic coverage. The team now had a full lineup of players that understood the foundation of a rotation and the objectives involved in passing, setting and hitting. This team, consisting primarily of sixth graders, was running an offense and a defense.

The team did very well throughout the season with an overall record of 8-4. Win or lose, they continued to place a high value on working together, trusting each other to perform and execute the “pass, set and hit offense." More importantly, they were gaining confidence in their skills and knowledge of the game.

During this off-season, the coaching opportunities were boundless. I was able to coach club, several Junior High team camps and a few adult tournaments. I also continued to provide opportunities for individual or group training, camps and clinics, as well as pickup play for any players who were interested in working on their skills or just playing a competitive game of volleyball. With these opportunities available, I kept an open invitation to the players of my rec team to come and play. Many times they joined in and gained valuable experience at all levels of play.

Of these six players, four made the teams of their respective Junior Highs and one had a very successful club season. The playing time was dramatically increased due to the experience and successes of their participation in the recreation program. The additional steps the girls took throughout the year to develop their skills helped them to become starting players on their respective teams.

The third and final season for these six players was about to begin. However, one of the players had decided to go a different direction in the off-season. She had decided to pursue soccer instead of volleyball. As a volleyball coach, of course I was disappointed, but I wished both her and her parents the best with soccer. They had been a great part of the team and would be sadly missed.

With five seventh graders returning for the final season of this age group, the roster needed to be filled. As always, the draft would fill out the roster. The plan was to draft all new fifth graders again. The team now consists of a roster made of five seventh graders and five fifth graders.

One of this season’s unexpected challenges facing the team was the split in ages. The intimidation factor for the fifth graders was not even considered on my part. After several practices, I found myself working more on team chemistry than on skills.

The first game was more than they could bear. The expectations of the seventh graders to win and the intimidation factor of the fifth graders playing with seventh graders for the very first time, proved to be too much. The whole team froze on the court and we lost to a much less experienced team. It was a valuable lesson to me as a coach, and to the players as a team.

Now that the first game jitters were gone, the team began to settle back into the focus of just playing the game. The fundamentals kicked in and I was able to get a good line up started. You could just see the confidence build with each point. The fifth graders looked to the seventh graders and fed off of the confidence that they had as experienced players. Soon, my fifth graders were trying to spike the ball when it was set to them instead of shying away and letting the more experience players take the ball. The seventh graders became the team leaders, by helping and encouraging the younger girls.

The payoff for the dedication and commitment of the five remaining seventh graders and their parents was now here. With new fifth graders filling out the roster, the experienced seventh graders did not lose another match. I was able to change the line up to allow the fifth graders to play with the experience and knowledge of the seventh graders and still successfully defeat the other teams.

The team finished the season with a 12-1 record. Much to my surprise, the recreation department decided to have a season-ending tournament as a bonus play date for all the teams. The result was a tournament championship.

This had a special moment that I would like to take the time to mention involving team concepts. Going into the semifinals, there was a moment in a set that the team began to struggle. Serving consistency was gone and the other team was getting the ball back over, which allowed us to make the mistakes.

Due to the rec league rules, all players had to play equally. The line up could not be stacked with the seventh graders. During a side out, a substitution was made for one of the more consistent fifth graders to serve. Even though she could only serve under hand at her age, she was consistent. The fifth grader served out the game and the team won on her ability to get the ball over the net and keep it in play.

The team learned to come together. The seventh graders mentored and embraced the fifth graders and the fifth graders overcame the intimidation to compete with more experienced players. Each team member found a role to play on the team and which created a stronger team!

The overall experience and the coaching lessons that I learned during these three years were fantastic. These six players who stuck with me for three years, have made such an impact on why I coach and the way I coach, that it was difficult to put into words. It was nice that they won like they did, but the relationships and the gratification of watching these players grow into the sport is beyond comprehension. The successes that these players have had outside of this team continue to bear fruit. Developing the fundamentals from the beginning and not focusing on wins, set a strong foundation for their individual successes down the road.

I would like to give special thanks to the parents of these players. They trusted me to the end with their kids. Never once did they question my motives, decisions or methods. I enjoyed the relationships that I developed with them, as well as with their girls. They should be proud of these strong, talented young ladies and all that they have accomplished. I wish both them and their children many days of fun playing volleyball, a sport that I love to play and coach.

It is not just about the wins and losses. At the end of the battle the work ethic, dedication, commitment, honor and loyalty to ones teammates is the true measure of one’s own success.