Coach’s Note
Wrapping up Year 2!
Good luck to our 14- David team who is competing this week at the AAU National Championships in Orlando! It is one of the largest youth volleyball tournaments in the world with usually around 60,000 participants over about one month in Orlando, Florida. The other 15, 16, and 17 National teams will be competing there in the coming weeks as well.
As I know everyone is wrapping up school now and getting into summer, I wanted to provide a quick recap of some key priorities for us at VVA and some key developments for next year…
1. We want to be an organization you can count on to help athletes go from level to level. That you can stay with one club for 8 plus years to have consistency, loyalty, friendships, etc. We think it’s really rewarding for the athletes, families and coaches to see the development from Roots all the way to College. We were able to retain our coaches and keep them at consistent levels. And we have been able to offer the Spring Roots and Juniors programs to continue to develop the younger players and create spaces for everyone to keep learning and playing the game.
2. Part of that was also the addition of a dedicated Recruiting Coordinator in Kelsee. She’s been able to get ahead and have conversations and education with our younger players as well as help with the older players. This year was awesome to see all the players on our 18s team move on to pursue their sport in college.
3. The development of the facility was a major project. It’s increasingly challenging to compete at a National level, which we hope to be doing on a regular basis, without a dedicated facility. So we are really excited to have that available next season and then many years to come after that.
4. We invested in film for our National level teams. I know most if not all the girls and coaches who used Hudl benefitted from the ease of being able to see themselves and other teams play to keep growing and developing.
5. We wanted to be more holistic in our approach. Making clear the importance positive friendships within teams. Through the BRAVE HEART (Have Empathy and Respect Teammates) honors, team bonding funds, and clarity with coaches we hope that there was growth and understanding in this area. We know things are never perfect, but we will continue to invest in the total athlete. We know that talent will come and go, but the character of the individuals matters a ton both for long term success, team success, and personal success.
6. Lastly we invested in an improved team selection process, tryouts, and coach development. To be honest, I think this was hit and miss. It’s an area we will keep working on to make things clear. For instance, I know we need to be better about providing clear feedback on role clarity and “progress reports” of the athletes as the season goes. No teams are ever perfect, it’s always about working together towards a common goal. So we will be working to create a better process for our coaches to support them in these efforts throughout the season. And be more clear in the team selection process of what the expectations of the team will be.
I greatly appreciate all the feedback in the surveys we received. It is greatly insightful and helps to keep working to be better and provide the best club volleyball experience in the Valley. And to assist our teams to succeed at a National level where they get to represent the entire Central Valley.
While our final teams finish up this season, I encourage you to sign up for the Summer clinics because I get to coach everyone there!!! Summer Camp Sign Up. It won’t be the same each day and I’m going to be organizing some new activities and teaching strategies that I’m learning as well to keep developing the athletes.
In the coming weeks we will also share with you the coaches for the upcoming season, the teams, the schedule, and the priorities for us to keep developing as an organization in year 3. I am certainly getting fired up as this continues to grow and we are able to offer more robust training environments, increased training opportunities, top level coaches, and elite facilities.
Go VVA!
Jonathan