360 Sports Academy Volleyball was founded in 2011 with one team comprised of girls ages 14 to 18. During the first season, the team competed at the 18U level and went winless. Fast forward to 2023 and 360 Sports Academy Volleyball has grown to 10 teams from 12U to 18U, serving 110 athletes at the CSO Sports Multiplex on the south side of Chicago. The club incorporates a social responsibility component into its training curriculum, and strives to build confidence in its athletes both on and off the court. In addition to developing elite volleyball skills, the athletes also develop leadership, teamwork, discipline, and time management skills that they can apply throughout their lives.
Club Director and Founder Bernie Headley and his coaching staff provide workshops that assist their young ladies with educational, social and career development skills, in addition to the college recruiting process. The club has teamed up with a nonprofit organization called the College Mentoring Experience. They provide college guidance for student athletes that are applying for various colleges. The student athletes are set up with a mentor that is there for them in high school, as well as throughout their college experience. In addition, 360 Sports Academy has a Speaker Series. Every month the club brings in high profile women in various industries to share their experiences with 360’s teams.
“They give our players a chance to see women who look like them go through some of the same adversity they have experienced and have overcome them,” said Headley.
360 Sports Academy has aligned and consulted with some of the top coaches in the game to help design its training curriculum. Currently half of the club’s teams compete locally and the other half are travel teams. The goal is to teach basic fundamentals of volleyball, and begin to introduce the athletes to a level of play that mirrors what they would encounter in a college program. 360 produces their very own College Recruiting Combine that is designed for 360 players, and available to all players that are often overlooked because they live in or near underserved areas of Chicago.
Currently word of month has been 360’s strongest marketing tool. The club also runs a lot of summer camps throughout Chicago to promote its club program. In the future, Headley hopes to be a full service volleyball skills and sports media training organization. The club is in the process of looking for a coach to run a boys program next season.
“We recognize that not every player will be fortunate to play college level volleyball. So we want to be able to give them additional skills that they can use or transfer with them when they go onto college.”
Through their workshops, 360 Sports Academy is training their high school aged student athletes to be sports journalists and media/digital experts. The girls are learning how to professionally film matches, keep stats and edit video to create highlight reels for the recruitable athletes.
Every member of 360 Sports Academy has held a GPA over 3.0, and every senior has graduated and been accepted into college. Through the years the club has secured over $250,000 in scholarships for its graduating seniors. The coaches provide study areas in the gym for the girls to do their homework before practice. Teams have even forfeited practice times for study hours while the girls do their homework with coaches right there on the floor. Players also have to show their report cards every quarter.
“We pride ourselves as an organization of teaching our girls how to work together towards a common goal, and have always held them to a high standard in order to play volleyball. The goal is not just to succeed on the court, but in the classroom as well. We know that their skill set can’t be the only thing to offer a school, especially since a lot of our girls are getting a late start on volleyball,” added Headley.
360 Sports Academy (Chicago, IL) is a member of the Junior Volleyball Association, an organization committed to enhancing the junior volleyball experience for club directors, coaches, players, and fans.
For more information about joining the JVA click HERE. For more information about JVA Awards click HERE. To nominate your club for JVA Club of the Month click HERE.
