May is the last leg of the season for clubs competing at the AAU or USAV National Volleyball Championships. While coaches and teams are focusing on the finish, Club Directors are already laying plans for the start of the next season. Here are a few ways to get started.

1.  Develop a Short and Long-Term Strategic Plan
Junior clubs across the country have begun to recognize that in order to succeed in today’s competitive club environment they need to provide an experience for their members that is better than the club down the road. According to JVA’s Club Financial Survey, over 40% of clubs employ full-time staff and over 20% of clubs own a facility. Full survey results can be viewed in the JVA Educational Resources (member login required).

As more junior clubs become facility owners with full-time employees, it becomes more important to have a well thought out business plan that includes a short and long-term strategic plan. Juan Gonzalez, co-Founder of the Gazelles Growth Institute recently presented in the JVA webinar “Strategic Planning: How to Formulate and Execute a Plan that will Drive Sustainable Growth and Revenue for your Club”. He shared the methodology to take your club/business to the next level. The complete webinar is available in the JVA Educational Resources (member login required), below are a couple clips.


There is an old saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, you won’t get there.”

2.  Review Your Plan and Be Ready to Change It
Once you do formulate a business strategy, it is important to review that strategy after every club season and be ready to change it. Comfort does not co-exist with growth. As your competition and your community evolve, so does the need to re-evaluate your business plan.


3.  Attract and Retain Your Coaching Staff 
Many of your club’s athletes go on to play in college at various levels, DI, II, III, NAIA, JC, Collegiate Club, etc. A club that has been around for 10+ years will see quite a few former players return and coach club volleyball: some are just out of college, a few have settled into their careers, and some when their children show an interest in volleyball. The advantage of a career with a club program over a college program is stability. A club career allows your coaches to stay in the same city without having to move every few years and uproot their family in order to move up the coaching ranks.

As you plan your club’s future, look for those amazing former players who have learned valuable life lessons through club volleyball, are college educated, and passionate about the sport. Your future CEO, Club Director, Operations Director, Finance Manager, Master Coach, Tournament Director, etc. may be right in front of you and is a bi-product of your organization’s core values and brand. And once you get them in the door the video below shares how to retain them.

The JVA is constantly sharing and developing ways to make your club better, which in turn, will motivate the club down the road to be better as well. As our member clubs keep nudging each other to raise the bar, our businesses, our members and our sport reap the benefits.

For more education for junior volleyball Club Directors click here.


About the Author

Jenny has served as the JVA Executive Director since 2010. She co-founded Milwaukee Sting VBC in 1989 serving as director, head coach and board member through today. She served as Operations Director and then Executive Director of Badger Region Volleyball Association from 1998-2010. Jenny is passionate about junior volleyball and sees the JVA as a vehicle to improve the junior club experience for club directors, coaches and the club member families.