NTDP FAQ

The NTDP was successfully established in 2021 with major success and a positive reception from the athletes, coaches and staff. Quarterly NTDP Training Series will continue to be held for athletes identified by the NTDP Scouting Network.

The NTDP Scouting Network was established in 2021, and NTDP staff aims to contact and invite identified athletes leading up to each NTDP Training Series.

For the next Training Series, athletes will be notified in early spring.

We will have national and zonal programs.

Through our NTDP Training Series, we plan to host zonal programs in the fall and spring, and national programs in the summer and winter. To keep costs lower, we want to be closer to the athletes by providing zonal options throughout the year. The four zones are based on our 40 regions: Border, Pacific, Central and Atlantic.

Specific locations and dates may be viewed on the USAV calendar or on the Training Series webpages (indoor/beach). We will update location information in those locations on our website as we are able. 

Hawaii and Alaska are part of the Pacific Zone, and we will be looking for the best locations with dense athlete populations within each zone to run our Training Series.

We understand that Hawaii and Alaska present a unique challenge for some athletes if programs are not held in their state. We are prepared to work with our athletes on an individual basis if they aren’t able to make it to a given training series. It will not be required that athletes attend all programs to which they are selected.

High Performance did not maintain or regularly update a national player database. It didn’t systematically solicit or otherwise capture recommendations from coaches or club directors about high potential young players in their areas.

As a result, the only way we knew about players was through the tryout process (because this was the only mechanism by which players would be initially evaluated). The tryout process was inefficient and inconsistent as evaluators were not the same from tryout to tryout, and there was not a consistent evaluation rubric that was applied nationwide. So, a kid who was rated a “4” in one tryout might have been a “2” or “3” in another. While well intentioned, the HP tryout mechanism was not executed to an appropriate standard. That’s ineffective, inefficient, and sometimes unfair.

In the new system, USA  Volleyball will develop discipline-and gender-specific evaluation rubrics and hold educational sessions for any scout in our program. These will be accompanied by calibration videos and scorings so that all scouts in the system understand and can easily discern between a “5” and a “3” and can more often discern between a “5” and a “4.”

Once identified, top youth athletes will be invited by USA Volleyball to attend one or more of our National Team Development Program Training Series. The NTDP Training Series (indoor/beach)will provide opportunities for the best young athletes to be challenged and to learn about the tactical, technical, physical and mental aspects our national team coaches are looking for in our senior national team athletes.

We know that these will be exceptional development experiences: best with best and best against best under the guidance of our country’s top youth coaches. Participation in the NTDP Training Series will provide evaluation, feedback and individual development plans that will be accompanied by online learning experiences to support athletes in a healthy and holistic way. Everything will be age-appropriate and aligned with the expectations of our senior national team coaching and performance staff.

We know we can’t bring in every athlete who might have potential at once. We know our scouting network may not see everyone who might someday develop into one of our senior national team players. So, we’ve designed layers of evaluation and opportunity. Beyond the NTDP Training Series will be NTDP Accelerators.

It will not be required for selected athletes to attend all training programs. We understand that our athletes are busy, and the academic and sport calendar may fill up quickly. We will work individually with selected athletes to create a pathway that works for them to allow for the best development possible.

We will do our best to ensure that NTDP Training Series events for indoor and beach do not overlap. With more programs happening throughout the year, athletes that participate in beach and indoor will have more opportunities to compete in both disciplines. For example, a selected athlete could attend a summer Beach NTDP Training Series and a fall Indoor NTDP Training Series. We value multi-discipline athletes and want to align our programs to allow for as much flexible participation as possible.

NTDP Accelerators will provide opportunities for clubs and regional HP programs to nominate promising players to receive an invitation to local best vs. best training sessions.

These sessions will be organized by USA Volleyball and run in a manner similar to competitive sessions within the National Team Development Program Training Series. The purpose is to provide opportunities for “next level” athletes to play with and be challenged against the best athletes in a more localized setting. We plan to rollout our first NTDP Accelerators in 2022 and will have more information posted to the NTDP Accelerator webpages.

Yes, the National Team Development Academy is available on a subscription basis (free to NTDP Training Series and national team athletes).

The NTDP Academy has content for athletes, coaches and parents taught directly by National Team athletes, staff and support staff.

The online platform is open to anyone to register and subscribe, and is provided free of charge to athletes identified for NTDP Training Series and national teams.

The NTDP Academy serves as an educational bridge for athletes who are selected for our national teams and the NTDP Training Series.

Rosters for the NTDP Training Series and age-group national teams are determined by a close collaboration with our NTDP Scouting Network (indoor/beach).

The nationwide NTDP Scouting Network consists of collegiate coaches who are experience in identifying talent. Athletes do not need to do anything special or different to be seen.

The NTDP Scouting Network primarily communicates with NTDP staff through University Athlete. The majority of athletes are represented here whether they have created an account or not; however, we do encourage athletes to fill out their free profile.

Athletes not identified or invited to programming this season are encouraged to continue training and enjoying the game while honing their craft on and off the court. Talent identification by the Scouting Network and our invitation process is fluid, meaning we re-evaluate the entirety of athletes eligible for programming prior to each invitation series.