What do you need to be a volleyball coach?

Question

i have been playing volleyball (i m 6"5, 195 cm) in varsity and i m just thinking about coaching...can you do as a part time job for college? how much would you get? do you need any special skills to be a coach? and so on..

Answer 1

All you really need to coach is a willingness to teach young people the sport of Volleyball. You do not get into coaching if you want to make money. It's not about that at all. Many high schools have teachers that take on the volleyball team to earn some extra cash, but it never pays enough for all the hard work you need to do. Then again, some of the greatest players and volleyball educators have positions all across the country. Either way, you need to be a great teacher.

You don't have to have years of experience playing the sport, and all you need is basic knowledge of fundamentals. It helps though because that's less you need to read up on.

I would start out assisting someone with a middle school or elementary clinic in your area. What you learn here is how to teach basics to kids. This is important and you can use this experience to make you a better coach. This is also good because if you tend to have little patience with this, then you might not be right for the profession as it only gets more complicated.

USAV junior clubs are always looking for coaching assistants too. I'm head coaching 15 year old girls this year and I have a 27 year old former Div 1 Player and a high school senior as my assistants. Both do a great job and I'm excited to see their progression. Many clubs pay, but most do not. If they do pay, you will most likely get a tax-free Stipend check at the end of the season that the club divides up between coaches with the excess funds before they close the books for the year.

For USAV, you will need an IMPACT certification, which the club should pay for, if they don't look elsewhere. I would also look into CAP training. I am CAP II certified and I highly recommend the clinics and the knowledge you gleam from the instructors.

For high school. I run a boys varsity program in Wisconsin and I'm looking for assistants all the time, volunteer of course. Most schools don't have the money to provide pay to assistants, but the experience you get helps you get the head coaching job somewhere else or take over for the head coach should they leave or get fired.

For high school coaching, you don't need a degree and (the rest of this paragraph can change based on the state you are in.) you don't need to teach at the school. Some schools are just happy to have someone running the sport for them believe it or not. This could be parlayed into a "you get what you put into it" job. In your first year, if you are a non-teacher you can coach off the street with a background check. After your first year however, you need to take a certification test sponsored by the NFHS that will ensure you know how to deal with kids correctly. This is similar to the IMPACT course offered by USAV.

Get involved in organizations like AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) and your state organizations too. Information is passed around that you can't find online. This info is vital in helping you achieve your teams full potential.

Most importantly, it's awesome that you want to coach. Find a coach you respect, have them help you develop a philosophy and go for it. Learn from every coach you see. Attend games and watch coaches along with the game. Use things you learn from them to tailor your own philosophy and keep learning. Any coach that says they know everything will not coach very long. The game is always changing and so does coaching and it's strategies.

I remember holding off on coaching for years because I didn't think I was "good enough." I realized that no one truly is, good coaches do it for the kids, and as long as you enjoy helping kids learn the sport and have fun you will always be regarded as a great coach and who knows, you might actually help them win some games.

Best of Luck and remember it's hard work, for little pay and much less gratification, but when I hear things like, "Thank you for making me a better player this year, coach" I realize that my decision to coach was one of the best I ever made.

Answer 2

It depends on what you want to coach? there are 2 main venues:

school or club ball

for school you usually need to meet your states minimum requirement. I live in IL, I had to meet the IHSA's requirement of passing 2 courses: Coaching Principles & Sports First Aid

The link to the site for more info is: www.ihsa.org (it may be able to provide links to information in your state)

For club ball, Everything is done under the rules of USAV. The USAV requirement is to be Impact Certified (similar to IHSA classes but mildly different). Other than the Impact certification, clubs decide based Experience and Training.

Pay for both is based on a combination of Experience & Training. For example A coach who has 5 years player and 1 year coaching experience and who is Impact certified will get payed less than someone who has 8 years playing and 5 years coaching and who also meets the basic certification by both groups and is also CAP Level I certified.

in the same token someone who is CAP LEVEL III certified, has 3 years playing and 12 coaching would probly make more than both previous.

I would look to http://usavolleyball.org/Education/progr...

for club and college (but helps greatly for highschool and grade school)

as for the main requirements for highschool/Grade school. I would contact the school district you are looking to coach in and try to get a hold of one of the Head coaches at a school

feel free to email me if you need anymore help or have anymore questions

Answer 3

The two coaches have provided excellent and extensive answers.  

I want to add is that you can get a job coaching club ball while you are in college unless you are on a volleyball scholarship.  There are some restrictions on scholarship players.  You should check with your college to see if they have any restrictions.  

If you are not going for a scholarship, you should be able to coach club.  Follow the above steps for getting your IMPACT and CAP certifications.  Most clubs will help with the fees involved.  Since the juniors program is EXPANDING, there is always a need for coaches.  If you are going to college in the Lone Star region, you can go on the lsvolleyball.org web page.  There is a listing for clubs looking for coaches.  If you are not in the Lone Star region, go to usavolleyball.org, then the Wanna Play link, then the USA regions, then the RVA link and finally click on the area of the map where you are going to college.  See if they have something similar on their web page.  Or use the shortcut below.  

You will probably not be able to coach public high schools as the head coach.  They may be able to hire you as an assistant.  You may be able to be hired in a private school.  Many private schools do not have to follow the same restrictions and the public schools.  They have their own set of rules to follow.  

And the fees that you can expect are different with the amount of experience and the club.

Answer 4

ok so as a player my coach has never yelled at us not once! A little yelling is needed everyonce on a while. she has also never complimented us on anything. we can beat our rivals 25-6 and she'll say you could have done better. she can say the same thing over and over like stay low when we pass and some of the time we are ataying low she just doesnt know what else to say.Being negative is not your job, but its alright to yell and give player critizism, but also encourage them often.