TeamLVC is committed to growing the sport of volleyball not only at the juniors club level, but also at the top and bottom of the volleyball spectrum. In 2004 TeamLVC formed as a men’s adult volleyball club, competing in high level club tournaments. Today, TeamLVC men’s volleyball team competes in the Volleyball League of America (VLA) Tier 1 professional league. In 2010, while developing the men’s program, the club expanded to include local juniors, starting with four girls teams, then adding boys in 2016. In 2023-2024 TeamLVC fielded eleven girls teams and four High School aged travel boys teams with plans to add multiple younger age groups in the future by developing youth programs that focus on teaching and growing the game for Pre-K through 8th grade students.
TeamLVC is led by Club Directors Chris Hosley and Taylor Teal. They feel it is important to give their athletes and parents a sense of community, so last year they created a brand spin off called “The Flock,” which refers to all of their athletes from the Pre-k program to the graduating seniors. Being a part of “The Flock” helps them to feel like they are a part of something special, a community to support them.
In addition, the club uses the opportunity to connect the TeamLVC Men’s Professional team with their junior level teams in a positive way. Many of the professional athletes coach camps, clinics, and practices when they are back from competing overseas around April or May. There is a wealth of knowledge, experience, support, and encouragement that the Pros share with the rest of the Flock. The professional athletes run the high school “Academies,” which provide the highest level of training to boys and girls volleyball players in grades 9-12. The Academies are broken down into four content areas: Serving/Reception Academy, Attacker Academy, Setting Academy and Defensive Academy.
Each year the club add new programs or revamps existing ones. “This year we piloted a “Mini Mingos” program for athletes ages four to eight. We were surprised with the success of the program and how much we are able to teach these eager, impressionable learners. In upstate New York the majority of the athletic opportunities for children of this age are typically soccer, basketball and football. We are proud to be targeting this age group and we are excited to watch the players in these programs grow,” said Hosley and Teal.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, like many clubs, TeamLVC was unable to use their indoor practice facilities due to health regulations. It was important to both Directors to find a safe way to still host club volleyball opportunities for their members. The LVC staff, along with a handful of parents, renovated a barn into a one court practice facility along with building an outdoor beach volleyball court. These two mini facilities allowed the club to safely run their operations during the pandemic and they now use those locations to offer private lessons to athletes with their highest level coaches.
Professional development is a huge focal point for the club. This means constant improvement of their leaders and staff to continue to provide the best experience for their players and families. “We are continually emphasizing improvements in communication with players and parents, especially surrounding sensitive topics such as playing time and the roles players are currently in. We have continuous check- ins as a coaching staff to emphasize practice quality and efficiency. We are keeping an eye on how the game is changing at the highest levels and trying to find ways to translate these changes into our young teams and athletes. We believe it’s not what we do but how we do it,” stated Hosley and Teal.
Every summer TeamLVC runs anywhere from two to four beach camps on their single outdoor sand court that was built during the summer of 2020. The court was built to meet the ever growing demand of volleyball in this area. This has allowed for the expansion of beach clinics, youth programs, private lessons, and overall time spent playing volleyball.
“We believe learning the beach game at early ages will only help improve our players’ indoor skill set as they grow older. These camps are run by either our coaches or professional athletes. The goal is to progress to a larger beach facility to provide year round opportunities for volleyball players to learn and improve their beach game,” added Hosley and Teal.
A variety of older LVC athletes volunteer their time coaching the Pre-K Program, Youth Program, and summer camps, and assist the younger club teams. The club is beginning to implement a mentor program where they match older athletes with younger athletes. The older players have monthly team check-ins where the younger players can ask questions about the club, volleyball, the recruiting process or anything life related. This type of giveback and support ties into their “Flock” mantra and the club’s goal to have everyone feel like they are a part of the TeamLVC family.
As TeamLVC has grown in size, the level of play has increased and the club continues to send players to the next level to play college volleyball. The club started hosting a “recruitment night” for all club members on 15U through 18U teams to educate their players on pursuing volleyball after their senior year in high school. During this presentation, LVC’s recruiting coordinator, along with multiple collegiate coaches, go through the recruiting process, highlight video creation, important dates, recruiting rules, and what players should be focusing on at this time in their recruiting journey.
Increasing quality before quantity is very important to TeamLVC leaders. One goal is to continue to expand official club teams at the younger ages, especially on the boys’ side, and they believe their current youth programs will assist that goal. They’ve seen the quality of the boys program increased as they’ve had over 20 boys players play at the NCAA level since 2018. Next is to continue to build up the base of their boys program from ages 12U and up.
“Once the time is right, our long term club goal would be to have an indoor and beach facility. Volleyball in our area has grown and it would be anamazing opportunity to provide volleyball players of all ages with additional opportunities to play indoor and outdoor volleyball all year long.”
TeamLVC (Albany, NY) 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.
