The video made me think about some of my own goals for volleyball, and Open Source Volleyball in particular. I don't have 9, but there are a few goals I would like to see accomplished over the next few years. Just like the FIVB goals, I have very little direct influence on the outcomes. I can't just flip a switch of desire, hard work, and effort to accomplish any of these. I will work on bringing these to fruition.
1. Improve the volleyball literacy of high school coaches.
In my experience coaching at the high school level, there are a lot of coaches that don't know volleyball. My team competed against teams using systems that I faced as a high school player over 20 years ago. The men's US Olympic team of that era was playing a very different game. They were playing a system that is fairly familiar to this era's international teams. I can't blame my high school coaches for playing an older system. They just didn't have easy access even to videos of Olympic matches.
Today there isn't really any excuse. After just a few seconds of searching on YouTube, I can watch complete matches from past Olympics. I can see current international competitions. I can see college matches streaming live even if I live far away from either team's campus. There is a lot more good information out there.
That is a big reason for why I am doing this site. There is a lot of good information out there that can be valuable to inexperienced coaches, and I would like to provide a home for great information and tools. Some of that I will need to generate, and quantify with data. I like to geek out that way, so it will be something I will enjoy. I did this sort of thing before I wrote any of it up. I do it now while I am not part of a coaching staff. I will do it even if I never step into a gym again to teach my favorite sport.
To a lesser degree I would also like to see some college programs adopt a more modern approach to the game. I see women's volleyball in America as a chaotic mix of old and modern. There are some programs rigidly holding onto an older way of playing. There are some that are adopting more modern systems. The National Team has been playing a much more modern game at least since Hugh McCutcheon led the team. Karch Kiraly has since taken over and continued that evolution. College coaches holding to older systems are doing their players a disservice when it comes time for their players to try out for a spot on the national team. High schools are likewise doing their players a disservice if they are sending their best players up to a college team and they have to learn a new style of play.
2. Bring NCAA Division I men's volleyball to my state.
I love the men's college game. I went to a school that had a men's team, and it was amazing to be a fan at matches every spring. I really enjoyed my time as a volunteer with those teams and the things I learned in practices every day. Now I live in a state with three NCAA Division I schools, and none of them have a men's team. There is a Division II school with a men's team transitioning to Division I, but I have a hard time counting that in this tally. When people think of Arizona college athletics, there are basically three schools people think of. Some will only think of Arizona and Arizona State.
As part of goal 1, I want to get the competitive level of boy's high school volleyball in the state to advance to a point where the three schools will have a discussion about adding the sport. I want to see at least one of the three expanding their programs to include men's volleyball. I want to see enough Arizona athletes going to those schools with men's teams that the local schools will want to try to lure them to stay in state.
3. Encourage the NCAA to raise the number of scholarships from 4.5 to 12 for men's volleyball.
I understand and support the rationale behind Title IX and what it has done for women's college sports. I don't understand or support the blatant reverse discrimination institutionally imposed by Title IX with regards to men's volleyball. I see the 4.5 men's scholarships for a men's volleyball team as a big reason for the presence of men's volleyball in the national psyche. I still come across people who think of volleyball as a "girl's sport". Chances are they went to a college that had a women's team but no men's team.
It is hard to entice athletes to choose to play college volleyball for a fraction of a scholarship when focusing on another sport will not only bring a greater likelihood of a full scholarship, but there will be more schools with teams that can offer scholarship. When I was coaching boy's volleyball and had a player who was a legitimate prospect for a college player, I would have suggested pursuing basketball instead. He would be more likely to get offered a scholarship at a minimum, and it would be much more likely to be a full scholarship. Men's basketball can offer 13 for a team. There are also more NCAA Division I basketball teams (with 13 scholarships each) than there are total NCAA Division I-III men's volleyball team (with a maximum of 4.5 scholarships each. Division III teams don't offer athletic scholarships). By comparison there are around ten times as many NCAA Division I women's volleyball teams (with 12 scholarships each) as there are NCAA Division I men's teams. about three times as many as there are total NCAA Division I-III men's teams.
The current scholarship limits are a real obstacle to the growth of the sport in America. It is an unfortunate example of the law of unintended consequences. It is blatant sex discrimination wrapped in a veil of fighting sex discrimination. I can't change this NCAA policy, but I would like to see this changed. I'm not going to bring this up often. I might not mention it any more after this post. It is something that I think is wrong with the sport, and I would like the NCAA to get out of the way of the growth of the sport.
I know these are entirely out of my control, but I intend to make my part of the volleyball world better. If I can influence new coaches through my efforts here to play a more modern, effective system, then I have done my small part. I hope the game grows and the average product on the court is better at every level. Volleyball is a beautiful sport.
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