Part I
Getting Started Coaching Volleyball
In this part . . .
Before stepping onto the court with your team, you need to do a little preparation to get your season off to a great start. Crafting your coaching philosophy, understanding the basic rules of volleyball, knowing whether your league has modified any of those rules, and planning and conducting a preseason parents meeting are all important items on your preseason agenda. Each task plays a big role in what type of experience both you and your players have during the season. You can find valuable information on how to execute these tasks and much more in this part.
Chapter 1
Teaching Volleyball to Children
In This Chapter
Preparing for the volleyball season
Stepping on the court with your players
Coaching your own child
Dealing with problems on and off the court
Congratulations on making the decision to coach a youth volleyball team this season. Regardless of whether you stepped forward because of your love for the game and kids, or because the friendly woman at the registration desk persuaded you when you went to sign your child up for the program, youâre about to begin something truly special. Few experiences are more rewarding than coaching a group of children in the exciting and action-packed sport of volleyball. Youâll see what I mean as you help them not only learn and develop skills but also grow as individuals.
Before you take the court with your team, please be aware of the important role youâve assumed. How you approach your position and how you interact with your players during practices and matches will have life-shaping implications for all your players. How you choose to address the lengthy list of responsibilities that come with your job as coach can help your players become passionate about the sport and also ignite their interest in playing it for years to come, or it can push them away from ever participating again.
We know youâre capable of doing an outstanding job â all you need is some quality information to help you get started. In this chapter, we give you a quick overview of what you need to do to navigate your team to a safe, fun, and memorable season that your players will remember for the right reasons. Use this chapter as a jumping-off point to the world of coaching youth volleyball.
Recognizing Your Behind-the-Scenes Responsibilities
Before you drape that whistle around your neck and your players slide on their knee pads to take the court, you need to tend to several behind-the-scenes tasks to get the season headed in the right direction. Whether you volunteered to coach because your son or daughter is playing on the team or you simply love the game and want to share that passion with others doesnât matter. What does matter is that youâre fully aware of the huge responsibility youâve accepted â a responsibility you canât afford to take lightly. This section delves into two important aspects of coaching youth volleyball that you need to grasp before stepping on the court.
Working with children and parents
Whenever you volunteer to coach a youth volleyball team, or any organized childrenâs sport for that matter, not only do you have to work closely with all different types of children, but you have to communicate effectively with their parents, too. Most of the parents you come in contact with are wonderful, supportive, caring people who naturally want the best for their kids; they may even turn out to be great assets to you as assistant coaches. (Check out Chapter 4 for details on how to choose assistant coaches.) However, some of the parents you meet may not be as pleasant to work with. For example, they may demand that their children deserve more playing time, or they may disrupt matches with their inappropriate behaviors.
Anytime you bring a group of parents together in an organized sports setting, some may become sources of aggravation for you and the kids when they misbehave during matches or cause other distractions throughout the season. If youâre not prepared to handle these situations quickly and efficiently, they can take away from the kidsâ enjoyment. Plus, if you donât address the problems at the outset, they can snowball into something much more serious and maybe even ruin the season for everyone. For tips on dealing with problem parents, head to Chapter 18.
You can avoid a lot of problems â and save yourself a lot of grief â by meeting with all the parents before you take the floor with their kids. This initial parents meeting is crucial for laying the ground rules on what you expect in terms of behavior during matches, as well as outlining what the parentsâ responsibilities are to their children and their childrenâs teammates. Check out Chapter 4 for all the details on how to conduct a preseason parents meeting.
Parents play important roles in youth volleyball programs, and they can be real assets to providing a fun-filled season when everyone â the parents, the players, and you â works together. Keep the following tips in mind to help make the season go smoothly for both you and the parents:
Explain expectations. Prior to your first practice session, let parents know what you expect â of both them and their kids. Go over your coaching methods and your plans for handling those all-important issues of distributing playing time and positioning players. Chapter 2 helps you craft your coaching philosophy and develop an understanding of your leagueâs policies and rules so that you can clearly communicate this information to parents. Providing a clear picture of whatâs in store for everyone leaves little room for those dreaded misunderstandings that can derail a season and squash the fun.
Involve parents. Parents invest a lot of time in your season by getting their kids to practice on time (hopefully), spending money on league registration fees, and often even springing for postmatch treats and drinks for all the players. They will find the season much more satisfying if you find ways to include them in the teamâs season-long journey. Get parents involved at practices, for example, and recruit the right ones to assist with your matches. See Chapter 6 for some fun ways to get your parents involved.
Communicate constantly. Although conducting a preseason parents meeting is the first step toward establishing a strong foundation with your playersâ parents, you have to make sure you keep those communication lines open all season long. Find time at different junctures during the season to talk to the parents about their childrenâs progress. Parents enjoy hearing about the areas of the game in which their children are really excelling and appreciate your efforts to keep them fully informed.
You should make a habit of checking in with parents from time to time by having a quick casual chat before or after practice just to make sure that everything is going well and that their children are having fun playing for you. Including parents in all facets of the season is one of the smartest coaching moves you can make, and doing so can also be one of the most effective tools for ensuring that children have a positive experience playing for you. If the parent has an important issue to discuss with you, make arrangements to speak in private â perhaps over the phone later that day or in private prior to your next practice.
Understanding rules and terms
The more you know and understand about the sport of volleyball, including all the rules, terms, and â at the advanced levels â strategies, and the better you can explain these concepts to your team, the more enjoyable the experience will be for everyone involved. Although getting a firm grasp on everything isnât too difficult, it does require some time and effort on your part. So be ready to put some energy into learning all the rules of the game and then teaching them to your players. In Chapter 3, we dive into the rule book and describe everything from common volleyball terms to what officials whistle as violations during matches.
Many programs adjust the rules based on the age and experience levels of the kids, so make sure you check out your leagueâs rule book and alert your players to any differences between your leagueâs rules and general volleyball rules. Everything from the size of the court to which rules the officials enforce changes from league to league. Knowing these rules â and sharing them with your team â makes a tremendous difference in whether you and your players enjoy the season.
Taking the Court
Being on the court with the kids during practices and watching them have fun and excel during matches make all the time and energy you put into coaching worthwhile. To make everyoneâs experience an enjoyable one, spend some time before practices and matches preparing for them. Be aware that everything you say to your players â and how you say it â significantly impacts their experience. How much thought you put into your practice planning and how prepared you are for juggling all your responsibilities during matches set the tone for your season. This section gives you some pointers on how to start off on the right foot.
Planning and executing practices
One of the qualities that all good volleyball coaches possess is the ability to help kids grasp and develop skills in a way that lets them have fun at the same time. Of course, kids naturally look forward to participating in matches more than participating in weekly practices. But you want to strive to generate similar game day excitement toward attending your practices. To do so, you want to put together a practice plan that pays big dividends in your playersâ development while also being enj...
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