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USA Volleyball Education is focused on improving developmental and educational opportunities across the sport of volleyball from grassroots to the national team level. Our goal is to provide the opportunity to access, complete and apply high-quality information and methods in the technical, tactical, physical and emotional aspects of the game for athletes and coaches while providing training, support and resources for other key stakeholders including officials, parents and clubs.
For years, the focus of volleyball in many areas and across various levels shifted to a mindset of winning at all costs.
What we now know is that the most successful teams in the world have developed a model of training and a culture that supports a holistic approach to athlete development which not only sets them up for competitive success on the court, but values and emphasizes the important of athlete health, well-being and long-term involvement in the sport.
The USA Volleyball Development Model was created based on the idea that volleyball in the U.S. could be taught differently, resulting in long-lasting positive outcomes across all measures of performance while keeping kids involved and loving the game longer.
The five pillars of the USA Volleyball Development model provide the basis for a holistic approach to the core elements that are vital to supporting development at every level and across age groups.
USA Volleyball Education is committed to providing support for the volleyball community with a role-based approach to education and training. Whether you’re planning practices, cheering from the stands or making the right call, we provide the tools and resources to help you succeed.
USA Volleyball partner Sports Imports has provided USA Volleyball coaches with drills for use with their Trainer+ and The Vertec.
This month, I journeyed for the second time in a year above to our neighbor north of the 48 states, to work with ACE Volleyball club as part of their Make-A-Wish project. The athletes had fundraised over $24,000 beyond their club costs, for the second year in a row.
There is a small market pro baseball team working hard to get their players “Ready at 7.” This is the time of most single, regular-season games, and the maximum number of games in the World Series. They are also challenging their sport’s traditions in the areas of learning.
That is something my friend and mentor for over 40 years once told me; add that Carl McGown also often said “There is no magic,” and you will start to have an idea of his mind and his work. Each coach brings his or her own magic to the court but there is only hard work and the science
The coach you choose can determine whether a child will continue to play or can have a negative impact on their skill development
Lost a friend last month, who impacted so many, without being a coach – just by being damn good at what he did, officiate. Players around the world held a moment of silence. We had set up skiing plans for this season, and enjoyed a great Rio Paralympics together – after he was done being a great Rio Beach Olympic referee.
Sometimes, a little reminder is the push you need to keep trying.
For more than 40 years, one of the first things I say to new teams and summer camp players is just that: “I want to see mistakes out here on the court.”
Consequences and punishment are so prevalent in our sport and this blog explores why. It also talks about how outcome, winning and losing, is "punishment" enough to continue to drive the desire to get better.
Learning about volleyball in school does not have to involve waiting in line to get one chance to pass the ball. Find out about the news STEM kit created by USAV and the Huddle Group.
Years ago, having played some myself, it was easy to say “yes” to coaching my daughter’s 7th grade recreational volleyball team. My twisted logic told me, “I’ve played for years. These are young kids. How hard can this be?” So began my coaching career.
USAV Director of Development John Kessel looks at the use of physical punishment in volleyball.
In today's Youth sports world parents are starting to fear free things are not as good or adequate and are opting to continue to spend more and more rather than just letting kids play.
Pat Madia, USAV Western Empire Region’s Coaches Education Committee Chair, shares eleven core tips for a new coach. Remember and share this, plus other great information for any new coach in the I’m a New Coach section of the USAV Grassroots section.
Volleyball bingo is a great way to help players focus on things they needed to work on in practice
Allowing kids to learn and teach themselves is difficult, especially when you consider that the best learning happens during failure. Coaches must foster education by allowing that failure, not preventing it.
Learning to play this new instrument and letting others figure it out helps to drive home the lesson that doing the activity is the most important than other things outside of it.
Most coaches who have taken IMPACT learned that a coach's feedback/feed-forward is the most important form of changing an athlete's skill set.
IMPACT training provides a long list scrimmage scoring options. Some coaches mistakenly read this as “all you do is play games” with supposedly no focus on technical skills. The assumption is, since it is not a coach controlled training environment, it must not be technical.
You spend most of your time active. Wouldn’t you rather play a sport where you get to sit around most of the time like baseball, cricket or wrestling? While you get to rest a bit between points, volleyball makes all 12 people on the court move all over the place and that is just tiring!
We’ve become so ingrained with how indoor volleyball should be: nice gym floors made of wood or tile with shiny red or blue poles surrounded by thick padding and pristine black and white game nets in use because the practice nets might have a small tear in them or seem dingy.
