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Recently Added
Carolina Union Wins JVA Club of the Month
Carolina Union Volleyball Club was started in 2001 by Carrie Powell as a way to provide more opportunities for [...]
Blog Categories
An Official’s Impact: The Power of Mentorship
Twenty one years into his volleyball officiating career, Shawn Davis still has as much fun as he did in year one. Whether he's beautifully singing the national anthem or facilitating a juniors volleyball match, [...]
Coaching Solutions: How to Track Your Team’s Earned Points vs Error Points
When deciding which statistics to track for your volleyball team, the first step is to make sure it is data that can be used to improve your team's performance. There is no need to [...]
Coaching Solutions: 10 Ways to Help Beginners Improve Their Serve
From The Volleyball Coach's Book of Lists A common question I hear from coaches of young teams concerns troubleshooting for new servers who lack power and struggle to get their serves over the net. [...]
News
JVA Announces Grant of $150,000 to First Point Volleyball Foundation to Expand Partnership to Grow Boys’ Volleyball
(MILWAUKEE, WI) - First Point Volleyball Foundation, the preeminent nonprofit foundation growing boys’ and men’s volleyball in America, and Junior Volleyball Association (JVA), a leading association in the growth of club youth volleyball in America [...]
Nike Named the Official Uniform Provider of the Junior Volleyball Association
Milwaukee, WI - January 4, 2023 — Nike Volleyball, the leading manufacturer of authentic athletic apparel, and the Junior Volleyball Association (JVA), the premier national organization for the promotion and growth of youth and junior [...]
JVA Welcomes Three Members to the JVA Board of Directors
(Milwaukee, WI) The JVA is pleased to announce the addition of John Brannon, Max Miller, and Will Robbins to the JVA Board of Directors. The three JVA Club Directors will begin their three year term [...]
Club Directors
Technology Solutions: 5 Essential Components of an Effective Cybersecurity Strategy
“How do you protect my personal and financial information?” If you haven’t yet fielded this question, it’s only a matter of time before you do. Consumers are becoming increasingly more aware that their private [...]
3 Ways to Increase Participation in Your Boys Program
Junior volleyball clubs are seeing a spike in participation levels, especially at the high school divisions 15U-18U. Boys volleyball is one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S, with 36 states offering high school [...]
Technology Solutions: 8 Tips to Avoid Email Phishing Scams
For most of us, it’s hard to remember when the term “phishing” wasn’t a part of everyday language. Yet, recognizing an email phishing scam is harder than you might think. Email hackers are great [...]
Coaches
Club Training Model: End of Season
Teams who are attending Nationals in June have the month of May and much of June to prep for a Championship. However, the girls' indoor season can take a toll on the mind and [...]
Create an Exploratorium Not a Dungeon: Reasons Why Physical Punishment is Not the Answer
It amazes me that this far into the 21st century, coaches still believe that doing physical punishment is a valuable use of their limited training time. I addressed this over a decade ago in [...]
Recruiting Solutions: April Qualifiers Bring May Maintenance
May is a great month to assess and maintain the recruiting process. Many clubs have limited weekends of play in May and will train more in the gym to prepare for June championships. It [...]
Boys
Division1 Volleyball Club Wins JVA Club of the Month
Division1 VBC was founded in 2007 by Andrea and Shane Davis. At the time, Shane was the Head Coach at Loyola University Chicago (currently the Northwestern Women’s Coach) and his now wife Andrea had spent [...]
A Path to Men’s College Volleyball: One Nebraska Athlete’s Story
As volleyball has exploded in popularity, it is girls who have powered that growth, which is why it’s largely perceived as one of the few “girls” sports. According to the National Federation of High School Associations, only 22 states even...
Start-Up Spotlight: Midwest Boys Programs
There are roughly 6,000+ junior volleyball clubs nationwide, and each year brings more growth for the sport. But boys volleyball still has a way to go as the majority of junior clubs do not offer a boys program. This untapped market...
Girls
The 2022 JVA All-National Team powered by Fivestar is Released
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (June 6, 2022) The JVA is pleased to announce the 84 student athletes selected to the 2022 JVA All-National Team powered by Fivestar, which recognizes the top female indoor volleyball players competing [...]
3 Types of Yoga to Help Volleyball Athletes Prep for Nationals
It’s the post season and your team has made it to the height of competition. Everything your athletes have worked for all season is finally here. It’s an exciting time but it can also [...]
JVA Announces the 2022 JVA Athleaders powered by Fivestar
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (May 16, 2022)– The JVA is pleased to announce the 2022 JVA Athleaders powered by Fivestar to celebrate the success of an impressive group of male and female indoor and beach junior [...]
Beach
Visual and Spacing Cues to Improve Passing in Beach Volleyball
Some players always seem to be moving in the right direction, and some athletes excel at blocking. There are players that get both feet to the ball to set much quicker than others. Believe it [...]
The BVCA Club Challenge Series Events Announced for the 2021 Season
In collaboration with the BVCA, the JVA is excited to announce the 11 events in the 2021 BVCA Club Challenge Series powered by the JVA. Now in its third year, more beach clubs are adapting [...]
Training Proper Vertical Setting in Beach Volleyball
Many high school players are side setters, which may work indoors, but it can be problematic on the beach. Side setting is when you are more parallel along the net and vision is also more [...]
Culture
Keep Your Team Engaged to Avoid the Mid-Season Slump
As the midpoint of the season nears and the weather starts to warm, club directors and coaches can find themselves facing the challenge of keeping athletes engaged. From setting new goals to re-evaluating coaches and players -- or even taking...
7 Player-Run Drills to Make Practice More Efficient and Effective
There are many philosophies and opinions out there about what makes practices efficient and effective, but in this instance, let's focus on removing the coaches from running the drill. That might sound crazy to some because the person running the drill, in many ways, controls its efficiency and effectiveness; but by placing the responsibility of controlling the pace, energy level, and the amount of effort on your players, you are accomplishing many things. To better understand, here are examples of player run drills.
Engaging Your Team Through Communication
How many countless times have you yelled, “TALK!!!!” at your players after an error? Maybe your players aren’t communicating because they don’t know WHAT to say! Have you spent time teaching your players HOW to communicate? Communication is...
Events
The 2022 JVA Challenge Series presented by Event Beacon and i6 Unites the Nation’s Elite Events
The JVA is pleased to announce the 31 events named to the 2022 JVA Challenge Series presented by EventBeacon and i6. All JVA Challenge Series hosts share in the JVA’s ideology to provide a high [...]
JVA Welcomes Adam Beck as the Director of Events
The JVA is proud to announce the addition of Adam Beck to the JVA staff as the Director of Events. Adam's main responsibility will be management of the JVA Tournament Series, which includes seven events. [...]
From the JVA Office: Are Your Tournament Dollars Supporting the Growth of our Sport?
Club Directors have a vast array of options in volleyball tournaments to provide their teams with a competitive schedule. More clubs are opening facilities, cities are building large multi-sport venues to host events, and corporate [...]
Awards
2022 JVA Beach Watch List presented by Fivestar
(June 29, 2022. Milwaukee, Wisconsin) The JVA is pleased to announce the 2022 JVA Beach Watch List presented by Fivestar that recognizes the top female beach athletes from JVA member clubs this season. Over 150 [...]
2022 JVA Boys All-National Team Announced
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (June 20, 2022) The JVA is pleased to announce the 56 student athletes selected to the 2022 JVA Boys All-National Team powered by Fivestar, which recognizes the top male indoor volleyball players competing [...]
Niagara Frontier Volleyball Club Wins JVA Club of the Month
Back in 2005 a number of local girls clubs merged together to establish the Niagara Frontier Volleyball Club. The goal was to expand Junior Club volleyball in the Western New York region by offering [...]
Training
3 Methods to Track the Vertical Jump
If you’ve been training to increase your vertical, it’s important to be able to find out if (or how much) you’ve improved since the beginning. There are a multitude of ways to test your vertical, [...]
Best Practices for Rest and Recovery in Junior Volleyball
The human body is built to withstand intense periods of physical strain and pressure. When a tournament runs multiple days, and into the late evening hours, players can rally and perform to their best abilities. [...]
Functional vs Dysfunctional Breathing for Volleyball Athletes
Athletes that practice breathwork can take their game to the next level. Similar to training volleyball skills to perform at your best in a match, athletes should practice breathing so it comes naturally to you [...]
Parents
From the JVA Office: Making Safety a Priority
Safety of our youth is an extremely important focus in the news, in political discussions, among school meetings, and at the dinner table. The JVA is also prioritizing the safety of the junior volleyball athletes to provide the proper resources...
JVA Partners with 431 Sports on Innovative Approach to Uniforms
Beginning (10/19/2019), 431 Sports will be offering FREE uniform-ordering websites to volleyball clubs as part of the partnership with the JVA. The company’s unparalleled playerPASS platform allows parents to order customized volleyball uniforms and gear year-round that’s shipped directly to...
4 Decision Making Methods to Guide Your Recruiting Journey
Looking into 2019, the recruiting landscape will definitely be ‘different’ in Division I with a later start for college coaches to get on the recruiting trail and most of the month of May cut short as an evaluation period. It creates...
Recruiting
Steps to Navigate the Transfer Process and the NCAA Transfer Portal
The landscape of the volleyball recruiting process continues to evolve, and the relationship that the junior volleyball coaches and recruiting coordinators have with the student athletes is as valuable as it has ever been. Recruiting [...]
3 Reasons to Consider Options Outside of Division I
When volleyball athletes and families start the college recruiting process, oftentimes they get tunnel vision about playing for a D1 college. But is D1 really the best division out there for you? It all depends [...]
Four ways to get recruited if you’re not from a hotbed region
Like it or not, recruiting hotbeds are a real thing. When it comes to volleyball, California, Chicagoland, Louisville, Indianapolis and Texas tend to be the areas most commonly recruited by college coaches. But if you’re not from those areas...
Travel
Limit the Stress of Travel for Youth Volleyball Teams
Missing a flight on the way to a volleyball tournament can become a nightmare for coaches, players and parents. With all the hours spent on preparing for the trip, losing the chance to compete can kill a team’s morale...
JVA SummerFest Arrives in Columbus: The City That Does Volleyball
Columbus, Ohio does volleyball. The popular hashtag #cbusdoesvb fills a Twitter feed with articles, photos, and volleyball moments captured in the heart of the Ohio Valley Region, one of the largest regions of USA Volleyball. The JVA is excited to...
The JVA World Challenge Lands in Metropolis of Sports
For more than a hundred years, Kansas City, Missouri, has been known as the City of Fountains, and it is widely known for serving up some of the world's best barbecue. But in the last few decades, Kansas City has added a new nickname to its list: City of Fanatics—sports fanatics, that is. How fitting that the 2016 JVA World Challenge makes its debut in Kansas City, as the JVA embarks upon it's 10 year anniversary, a huge milestone for what once was a very small organization with a very large purpose.