Club Philosophy

CLUB PHILOSOPHY

Coaching volleyball the "ST-J WAY" means several things.  First and most importantly it means that we are coaching athletes to be confident young adults who feel empowered within the sport of volleyball and in life in general.  On the volleyball court it means that we focus on the complete development of our players using proven teaching principles and emphasize playing well with great effort, energy and purpose.

Core Values

♦ Values complete development of our players.  All players need to know all skills regardless of their position.  A player can not be successful at the next level if they cannot perform all skills.  A middle hitter who cannot pass or a libero who cannot set is not a player who will have opportunities later in her/his career.  Training that limits certain skills to certain positions is more about creating a winning line up and less about the development of the whole player.​​

 

♦  Values practice for learning.  Practice is where players do the majority of their learning, especially this early in their playing careers.  Players touch more balls and work on their whole game in practice.  Players get limited touches and use limited skills at tournaments.  For this reason we also believe strength and conditioning should happen outside of scheduled practice times.

 

♦  Values the process over the outcome.  We encourage coaches, players and families to focus on the development, effort, and execution of our athletes, -- not their win/loss record.  We will lose sets and play well, we will win sets and play poorly.  Our goals are to focus on playing well and playing with great effort, energy and purpose.

 

♦  Values teaching from a positive perspective.  We want to motivate primarily through purpose, not fear or incentive.  We understand all types of motivation can and should be applied at appropriate times, but helping athletes develop their sense of purpose in a positive environment is a better long-term teaching strategy.

 

♦  Values relationships with our St. James families.  Our objective each season is to develop our players to the best of our abilities.  We believe that the ST-J Way is the best way to prepare this year’s players for next year’s club season.  Our prior relationship with players does influence our decisions -- our coaches share perspectives on player improvement, attitude, and teamwork.  However, our first responsibility is to our club members and establishing competitive teams to compete in the CHRVA region and beyond.

 

♦  Values research-based instruction.  The ST-J way is derived from a variety of proven coaching principles and some of the top coaches in the NCAA and FIVB.

 

♦  Values R.E.F.F. in our practice plans:

  • Reps - incorporate as many random, game like reps as possible to develop the premier skill for volleyball -- READING.  
  • Engagement - create a fun and purposeful environment to encourage full participation in all practice activities.
  • Focus - have a specific purpose for each session and skill.
  • Feedback - showing is better than telling so we demo skills and incorporate iPad video.  We also guide players to the answers through asking questions and promoting self-awareness.