Each year the JVA sponsors educational sessions at the AVCA Annual Convention, and holds it’s Annual Meeting, featuring a nationally known key note speaker. This year the JVA will host one hard court session, one beach court session, one beach classroom session and two hard court classroom sessions. The topics are geared toward club management, indoor coaching, and beach coaching. In addition, we will have an excellent session focused on recruiting. The presenters all share a wealth of knowledge, expertise and respect in the junior volleyball and collegiate volleyball realms.
Beach Court Session: Preparing Youth and Junior Athletes to be Successful College Athletes
Friday, December 15th 1:15 – 2:15PM
Presenter: Matt Olson, WAVE Volleyball Club Beach Director since 2005
Matt will demonstrate some of the skills and strategies that Junior Beach Players need to compete at the collegiate level.
Volleyball has taken Matt from an MVP at Grossmont Jr. College to the University of Arizona. Matt spent time on the beach tour with the AVP, finishing 2nd in the Hermosa Beach Open in 2007 and 1st place at the Belmar, N.J. Open. Matt competed professionally in Mexico, Australia, China, New Caledonia and Columbia. Matt began his coaching career at Arizona with the Women’s’ Club Team and then worked with the Arizona Women’s Division I team.
Indoor Classroom Session: Successful Volleyball Facility Management 101
Friday, December 15th 2:30 – 3:30PM KCCC 2504AB
Four successful facility managers will share their strategies for raising income with innovative program development and creating revenue sources.
Panel of Presenters:
Corey Helle, Club Director, Upward Starz
Bio: 17 years as Division 1 coach. Over 25 years coaching club volleyball.
Director of Volleyball – Upward Sports 2012-present. Volleyball Director – Upward Stars Upstate 2012-present. Founding Director – SAVL (Southeast Alliance Power League). Upward Stars Upstate has exclusive rights to 2 facilities. Upward Stars Volleyball Center – a dedicated 7 court volleyball facility and the Upward STAR Center – a multi-use 12 volleyball court facility.
Colleen Craig, Co-Founder of Rally Volleyball
Colleen is co-founder of Rally Volleyball outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Started in 2014 to give back to volleyball, RallyVB includes 10 FIVB standard beach courts, 24 indoor hard-wood courts and 81 grass courts. Hosting tournaments, camps, leagues and clinics year round for juniors and adults, RallyVB has grown into a significant player in the volleyball community.
Colleen is an ex-D1 Volleyball player that has led successful start-up companies and transitioned to key roles at multi-billion dollar organizations. After competing as a dual-sport athlete at Cornell University, as a middle hitter in Volleyball and a heptathlete in Track & Field, she went on to Harvard Business School, playing club Volleyball and turning her competitive nature to business.
Colleen has been integral building and growing some of the most successful companies in healthcare and finance, assuming major roles as CFO, COO, Head of Strategy, and Head of Business Development. Colleen most recently was in finance in NYC as Founder and COO of a global hedge-fund Ardea Capital and at Soros Fund Management, a $25 Billion dollar fund, as Head of Strategy. Prior to financial services, she was an original partner and CFO at ApolloMD, helping grow it into one of the largest healthcare companies in the US with $500M+ revenue.
Max Miller: Mintonette Sports Club Director
Max has been the Club Director and Coach at Mintonette Sports in Columbus, Ohio since 2006. The club just opened it’s new facility, The Columbus Volleyball Center, the club’s second facility. His coaching experience includes University of Northwestern Ohio (2017-Current), Mintonette Sports (2006-Current), Central Ohio Volleyball Club (1997-2006), and 20 years of high school coaching from 1997-2006. Coaching Accomplishments include: 2013 and 2017 USAV National Champion, 2011 Ohio High School State Champion, 11-Time Central District Champions, 10-Time Qualified USAV Open Division, 5-Time Central Catholic League Champions, and 5-Time Central District Coach of the Year
Dave Bayer: Milwaukee Sting Operations Director and 15s-18 Program Director
Dave has been coaching club volleyball since 1992 with clubs such as Municana, Sports Performance and Milwaukee Sting. Dave has been working with volleyball facilities since 1996. Thee years with an eight court facility in Waukesha, WI. Then eight years with the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, IL. During that time was the GLCs transition from the old six court facility in West Chicago to the eight court (now 12 ct) Aurora site you know of now. Dave has just finished his first 18 months as the operations director for the 10 court Milwaukee Sting Center in Menomonee Falls, WI that opened its doors in April 2016. The Milwaukee Sting Center is one of the nicest and unique volleyball facilities in the country that is highlighted by 10 taraflex courts.
Court Session: Raise your Teams’ Volleyball IQ and Improve Defense: Train your team to be one step ahead, take their eyes off the ball, look through net and read.
Friday, December 15 3:45 – 4:45PM Court
Presenter: Jason Hames, Club Director and 18 Jota Head Coach, K2 Volleyball Club (Louisville, TN)
J is in his 22nd year of coaching volleyball. He started as a training partner for several WPVA and FIVB players on the beach in San Diego, and still works with professional players on the AVP tour, and currently has two former players competing for FIU and South Carolina beach programs. J’s coaching experience also ranges from high school boys and high school girls indoor as an assistant and head coach for both. He coached DIII women’s volleyball as an assistant coach and served as an assistant coach at the DI women’s level at Tennessee who won a conference championship and had several NCAA tournament appearances. J and his wife Christine Hames started K2 Volleyball Club in 2009 and have built it into one of the premier clubs in the country competing at the highest level in each age group.
Classroom Session: Best Practices for a Junior Club Recruiting Coordinator
Saturday, December 16 9:00 – 10:00AM KCCC 2504AB
Two Club Recruiting Coordinators will share the development of their recruiting programs to include: How to enable your athletes to navigate the recruiting journey (communications, visits, video, etc), developing a solid reputation with the college community, and understanding the needs of college coaches in the process
Presenters: Patty Costlow, Munciana Volleyball Recruiting Coordinator. Joe Jablonski, General Manager and 14 Black Head Coach at Texas Advantage Volleyball
Patty Costlow is heading into her third year as the Recruiting Coordinator for Munciana Volleyball Club and has been involved in the sport of volleyball at various levels for over 30 years (club coach, program director, program development, semi-pro beach and indoor player).
Utilizing her 30+ years of experience in both playing and coaching/teaching the sport of volleyball, it was a natural progression for her to transition into the recruiting arena. Patty brings her passion for developing leaders and helping young athletes pursue their life goals to all aspects of her responsibilities as the Recruiting Coordinator for one of the top clubs in the country. She developed a comprehensive program for Munciana VBC, authors articles for the JVA and speaks on a national level to parents/athletes in regards to collegiate recruiting. In addition, Patty consults with volleyball clubs on building their recruiting programs. Patty is a mother of four and resides in Carmel, Indiana with her husband, Chris. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois.
Joe Jablonski has 20 years of experience coaching junior volleyball and guiding elite athletes through the recruiting process. As the TAV 14 Black Head Coach at one of the top ranked and recruited junior volleyball clubs in the country, Joe spends time educating his players on the variety of opportunities to play at the collegiate level and the importance of being pro-active in the recruiting process. Joe has also coached at Orlando Volleyball Academy and Sports Performance.
A JVA Member for 11 years, Joe is also a North Texas Region Junior Board Member and member of the Competition Committee. He also works in the AAU Sports Development Department.
Beach Classroom: Essential Components of Junior Beach Athlete’s Recruiting Videos
Saturday, December 16th. 10:15 – 11:15AM KCCC 2503AB
Presenter: RJ Abella, Univ. of South Carolina Assistant Beach Coach
RJ will describe what college coaches are looking for when viewing junior beach athlete videos, what catches the coach’s attention, the key skills, and what is not needed. He will outline an ideal highlight video format and how to get it in front of a coach.
RJ Abella is in his fourth season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Gamecocks. In 2016, the team won a program-record 20 matches and finished theseason ranked 20th in the DiG Magazine postseason poll. They also tallied the program’s first-ever win against a top-10-ranked team, after beating No. 10 Florida International at the CCSA tournament.
Abella came to Carolina in the spring of 2013 as assistant coach for both the indoor and sand volleyball programs and made the transition to full-time beach volleyball assistant in the spring of 2015. He was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s “30 Under 30” list in 2014, recognizing 30 rising coaching stars at all levels of volleyball who are under 30 years old.
JVA Annual Meeting Featuring Key Note Speaker Gregory Dale. “Strategies to Develop More Confident,Consistent and Coachable Athletes.”
Saturday, December 16th 12:45 – 2:45PM. KCCC 2215B
Gregory Dale is the Director of Sport Psychology and Leadership Program for Duke Athletics. He is also a professor of sport psychology and sport ethics in the Department of Health, Wellness and Physical Education. Dale has written four books on leadership, coaching, parenting and performance and serves as a consultant to numerous athletic and corporate organizations around the world.
Greg has been featured on Good Morning America, MSNBC and numerous national radio programs. He is a dynamic speaker who provides a variety of interactive and innovative workshops and on-going consulting around the country and the world. Click here to learn more.
Annual Meeting attendees will also receive a JVA giveaway!
RSVP for the JVA Annual Meeting here.
In between sessions and during the marketplace stop by the JVA Booth #718 to visit with the JVA staff, meet new staff members and pick up a JVA souvenir. We always enjoy catching up with our members, meeting new ones, and learning ways we can continue helping your club and coaches be successful this season.
For more information on the AVCA Convention, click here. JVA members receive a discount on registration.
