Vienna Youth, Inc. is most interested in teaching the children in our program solid and effective volleyball skills so that when they enter high school they are familiar with almost every technique their high school coach asks of them. Our coaching staff is expected to perform at the level of a high school coach and to have a knowledge base at least as large as a high school coach. 

VYI prefers to have a semi-permanent coach in place for each select/travel team it fields, but sometimes becuase of volunteering situations, this is not possible.

 

COACH RESPONSIBILITIES

VYI coaches are expected to not only know volleyball, but also to be excellent teachers, good sportspersons, and excellent role models. Coaches are expected to be good organizers so that every practice is packed with conditioning and skill-building drills and that there is never a moment when players are standing around doing nothing, as gym time is too precious a commodity not to be fully utilized. Minimal amounts of time should be spent going over statistics at practices as we prefer skill-building drills and conditioning. We do not support using scrimmages without coaching correction as a means of teaching the game,  as valuable lessons and skills must be taught to the players during each practice through interaction with coaches during drills, conditioning, and skill competitions. Scrimmages play an important role in preparing for games, but not to the exclusion of skills and practice of fundamentals that are necessary to the development of good basketball players.

Coaches have an administrative role in VYI and are required to be aware of league rules, to notify players who are part of the Zip code or age exemption group of their options, to create rosters, to motivate parents to get players to locations on time, to conduct practices effectively, to manage equipment and turn it in on time, and a number of other duties. 

Coaches are REQUIRED to recruit assistants whenever possible. It is simply not efficient to try to control ten players activities and to effectively teach volleyball without assistance. In addition, the assistant provides a second viewpoint in coaching and interpersonal activities.

Coaches are encouraged to recruit parents to keep statistics for all players during games. The parent responsible for keeping stats should provide them in a usable format to the coach prior to the halftime meeting with the players. The coach might also recruit a parent to record games on video for future review if time permits. Statistics should be used during games to spot trends, outside of practice via email to set goals, and educate and motivate players, but stats should not be gone over in practice as practice/gym time is too valuable.

Coaches are discouraged from recruiting players from other programs or to encourage outside families to come to VYI to play for specific coaches.

Coaches have a responsibility to give all the players on their team a reasonable amount of playing time, assuming that a player is regularly attending practice. For Volleyball, a "reasonable" amount of playing time would be playing an average of one rotation per set. A rotation is defined as being on the court during at least one serve by their own team and for at least one serve by the opposing team.  Sometimes this is not possible due to a large number of players on a team and the flow of the game (i.e. one team gets on a long scoring/serving run).  In those cases, coaches will have players play at least one rotation in every other set.  Some coaches provide more playing time than this minimum specified, but beyond the rule above, it is a coach's decision. There is NO playing time requirement in the playoffs and coaches are encouraged to play who they think best will allow them to win.

If a player does not attend practice regularly, does not personally notify the coach in advance when a practice will be missed, is disruptive during practice, or has parents who are disruptive to team discipline and order, they may be punished, by a reduction in playing time, suspensions from the team or dismissal from the team.

Parents are required to discuss issues they may have with coaches in a discreet and mature manner.  Following a game, there is a 24-hour "cooling down" period before parents/players should discuss concerns with a coach. Players should advocate for themselves and communicate with coaches first whenever possible.  If a parent remains dissatisfied after the player and the parent have spoken with their coach, the parent is directed, under the Parent Agreement to address concerns to the VYI Volleyball Commissioner. Coaches are expected to use good judgment when dealing with a dissatisfied parent. Volunteer efforts are for the kids. If you have a problem that you deem sufficiently unmanageable you are encouraged to bring it to the attention of the VYI Volleyball Commissioner.  

Parents have been advised that coaches are not drivers or child sitters, so parents must be conscientious to deliver their children on time and to pick them up from practice and games on time. It is strictly prohibited for a coach to take an unaccompanied VYI child in his/her car. Coaches should not be alone with players at any time and must be sure that parents or others are present.

Coaches are expected to be teachers, not friends, to their players. Players should respect their coaches, but they by no means are expected to like all of their coaches. Coaches are authority figures and personality conflicts and other differences of opinion that every person will encounter in their life will occur in sports, and players need to learn to deal with that. If VYI teaches its players this life lesson, then it is performing part of its stated goals for developing players and solid citizens.

 

NO AUTOMATIC BIDS DUE TO PLAY IN OTHER SPORTS

It is imperative that coaches pick the players at tryouts based on performance during tryouts. While summer programs and other sports are usually a good indicator of talent, it is VYI's policy that players should start from scratch at tryouts and each player entering the gym should have an equal chance of making the team regardless of the relationship to the coach. This means, if a coach is from another program as well as being a VYI volleyball coach, or an AAU coach in addition to being a VYI volleyball coach, that he/she may not, by VYI rules, choose players simply because they are familiar with them, or because the coach knows them from other activities. They are expected to perform at tryouts, and if they do not, they do not get an automatic bid to join the team as that is clearly unfair to those others trying out. 

INJURIES

If a player is not available to try out due to injury, but the coach is familiar with the players skill level, the coach may select the player, but in fairness to the other players trying out, must select one extra player on the roster. The injured player, once recovered, should not get undue preference over other players on the team regarding playing time.

VYI POLICY RELATING TO OTHER ACTIVITIES AND VOLLEYBALL CONFLICTS

When a scheduling conflict arises, parents have been advised that VYI expects families to choose VYI over the competing activity, with obvious exceptions such as scheduled religious and special family events. Regular season games of primary season sports always take precedence over practices, and in-season sports always take precedence over second-season sports. VYI Volleyball allows two unexcused absences at practices but any player with more than two is subject to being cut or given reduced playing time at the discretion of the coach and the Commissioner.

COACHES INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

In addition to volleyball skills, our coaches are expected to have interpersonal skills so that they may effectively deal with players, parents, school personnel, and officials during the year.

Coaches are expected to know volleyball, but no personality requirements are stated in our guidelines. That means that players may have a low-key, "reserved" coach who wants to be friendly with his players and may accept less than the best from players as long as they are "trying" one season, and a tough "outspoken" coach that raises his voice and demands perfection the next season. While this is not planned and no one coaching style is supported over another, VYI supports each player having a variety of coaching styles introduced to them during their VYI career. This prepares them for any eventuality in high school so that they can easily adapt in the future.

VYI coaches are expected not to have social contact with the families of their players or their players outside of volleyball activities. Friendships can lead to complaints of favoritism, or worse, and this is not tolerated in VYI. A coach, because of today's standards should never touch any player inappropriately, to include hugging. Congratulations should be rendered through a "high five" or other appropriate congratulatory method.

Any team activity for community service supported by the coach for his team must be attended by one or more parents in addition to the Team Mom or Dad. If parents cannot attend, or will not attend, the activity must be canceled.

VYI is not a religious organization and we do not expect religion to be a part of the coaches program or teaching agenda. Religion is best left to parents and churches and should not be part of a secular sports club such as VYI.

Coaches may certainly get upset at players for not performing as they have been taught in practice, but this anger should never manifest itself so that players are overly embarrassed or shamed during games or in public. Players may certainly be corrected and admonished during practices so that they understand what they need to do but they should never be publicly vilified.

Coaches must be respectful of the players, referees, parents, school custodians, other coaches and children in the stands and on their teams and opposing teams. Poor sportsmanship or similar inappropriate behavior are not tolerated and may result in suspensions or dismissal of coaches.

COACHING STYLES

Every coach has a different style. Some choose to coach during the game and some choose to coach mostly during practice and let the players play during games. Some coaches actively correct their players while they are on the floor and while they are in the huddle, and some focus on team strategy.

VYI supports an active coaching style where players are corrected on the floor, on the bench and at practice. It is particularly important to have an assistant coach on the bench during games. When a player leaves a game he should be told by the assistant what he did right and wrong during the time he is in a game, while the head coach concentrates on game action and strategy. Every step a player takes is a learning experience and good coaching will help that player all along the way. VYI does not support a coach who will see a player performing a skill incorrectly and not correct them, or a coach who overlooks a mistake. Of course, VYI recognizes that in the heat of a game, perfect skills may not always be performed, but it is a goal of our program to teach them properly every practice. VYI wishes to develop skill levels as close to perfect as can be obtained at the various age levels. 

VYI does not support singling out kids on the floor and berating them in front of the crowd. VYI also does not support "calling out" or challenging an entire team in a loud voice that may be heard by parents and other spectators. That is poor coaching, reflects a lack of understanding of motivational skills, and should not be tolerated. However, VYI does support some active yelling from the bench to position players, warn them about possible opposition activities, positively "fire up" and motivate the team and a variety of other things that might arise in a game. Just because a coach raises his voice does not mean he is berating players and a lot of constructive things are taught by a coach from the bench during a game.