So You Are The New Coach

Before the Season

1. Make sure you have the proper certifications Pupil Validation, CPR, Concussion and Fundamentals of Coaching through Ohio Department of Education
2. Learn the rules of the game. Buy a book, video or take the NFHS volleyball coaching class. Get a mentor, go watch a college practice or ask the AD.
3. Join your coaches associations and become active. District Coaches Associations (map). Meet your district trustee. They are your “go-to”.
4. Get to know your equipment. This includes your net system, antennas, ball cart, balls, basketball hoops and ball inflator. See our vendors for help.
5. Like us on Facebook (Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association) and follow us on Twitter (@OHSVCA). Encourage your players and parents to do the same!

Preseason

1. Plan your practices. Write out a detailed practice plan. Include times and diagrams of the drills you want to do. 60-70% of your practice should be passing and serving. If your team can’t do these skills the rest is pointless.
2. Get to know your team. Begin to evaluate your team. Stat a practice. Keep track of the stats. You may need these later when dealing with parents.
3. Sign up for MaxPreps at MaxPreps.com. Post your team’s match schedule.

Regular Season

1. Coach your Coaches. Give them a job to do during the match.
2. Stats. Accurate statistics are very important to give your student athletes and your program credibility. Know what a block and an assist are.
3. Report your scores. Win or lose report your scores to the local media and MaxPreps.
4. Pre game procedures. Plan an efficient pregame warm up for your team. If you have a public address announcer, type up what you want them to say. You will need an official scorer, libero tracker and statistician. You will also need a roster for your team with numbers and names. Before the match begins you will need to submit your starting lineup.

Postseason

1. Sectional seeding meeting. All the district boards conduct the meeting differently. You will be informed by your AD as what the procedures are.
2. All Star nominations. Nothing gets you into more hot water than All Star teams. Make sure you know when the due dates are for nominations for district, league, all county and all state.

Off Season

1. Academic Awards. Senior Scholarship nominees are due to your district trustee by February 28. Team and Individual Academic awards are due to Allan Perry (awards@ohsvca.org) on February 28.
2. Offseason Coaching. You may coach individual skills to no more than 4 of your players at a time during all but the dead period which is 28 days after your last contest of the season.

Ohio High School Volleyball District Map

Find the county that you coach in, and that is the number of your district.