Building competence and confidence for "Sustained Competitive Excellence"

Welcome to the exciting world of volleyball and to this sample of the Athlete Competency Handbook, a publication developed by USA Volleyball's leadership which includes the USA Coaching Accreditation Program Cadre and Staff, the Sports Medicine and Performance Commission and the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

USA Volleyball (USAV) strives to have as many people play and enjoy the sport of volleyball as possible while reaching a level of personal excellence. This Athlete Competency Handbook has been prepared to help you achieve that goal.

To bring you this information, USAV has worked with many dedicated experts who coach, play, manage, and study athletic performance. This handbook will tell you what you need to know, what you need to practice and what you should be able to do in competition as you journey through the athlete pipeline. Everyone is different in many ways, including individual talent. Even people with the same volleyball background will not be identical.

In this on-line sample, USA Volleyball will give you a sneak peak at our Athlete Competency Handbook. You will be exposed to specific skills/guidelines that will help you in becoming the best volleyball player you can be. Each phase indicates a range of years and experience that are approximated. Many of you will advance more quickly!

Helpful Tips:

• This information applies to both female and male athletes who play volleyball indoors and outdoors.
• Athlete competencies in this handbook are divided into four domains within each of the six developmental phases. These include Athlete Skills, Physical Development Skills, Personal, Social and Team Skills and Game Skills. At every stage of your development, coaches will help you improve your skills in each domain.
• The physical development competencies are based on age and maturation while all other competencies are based on your playing and volleyball experience.
• Two other resources are in development - a handbook for parents/guardians and one for coaches that will bly support your improvement as you progress through each phase of training and competitive play.

Download the Athlete Competency Handbook

Download the Coach Competency Handbook

Download the Athlete Pipeline

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