In the first post of this series I started to look at the similarities and differences between NCAA Division I volleyball and the professional game in Europe based on the time I spent with some pro teams in Germany and my own experience coaching in Sweden. The focus there was on the time element. In this post I want to extend that comparison into the area of resources.
Facilities
I think this is actually an area of considerable commonality. There are some professional clubs who host home matches in large arenas. BR Volleys plays its matches in Max Schmeling Halle, which holds over 8000.
That’s one of the bigger, better arenas, though. Most clubs play in more modest gyms. The folks at SC Potsdam and TV Bühl could both can seat around 2000 at the time of my visit. When I coached in Sweden, our gym at Svedala maxed out at about 800, and that was straining the fire codes. I saw a hall in Denmark that I don’t think held even that many.
Honestly, I think most colleges have bigger gyms than do the majority of professional clubs. Only quite small schools have a capacity of less than 1000 and many have arenas the can match or beat Max Schmeling Halle.
In both the pros and the college game there can be scheduling conflicts with other sports and other demands on the facility. In some cases the training and playing gyms are not the same. Alternative gyms need to be used for training periodically. None of the pro teams I’ve visited have full control over their training/playing site. Similarly, most college programs have to coordinate with other sports and school demands in scheduling gym time.
Staff – College
NCAA Division I schools are allowed to have four volleyball coaches (a head and three assistants). At the top end the staffs are full. In the lower rankings, though, oftentimes schools only have a head coach and assistant (as was our case when I was at Radford). Maybe they can get a low-paid or volunteer 2nd Assistant during the season.
Schools generally also have a trainer (physio) and a strength coach. These are usually shared with other teams and are not always available to be assigned to be with the volleyball team during all training sessions and competitions. Many schools also have a Director of Volleyball Operations. They do a lot of administrative work for the program, but are not really management. They report to the head coach.
When I was at USC in 2013 all those people were in the gym during preseason training sessions. Most schools have just a handful of staff in the gym to work in practice, though.
Staff – Professional
From what I’ve seen, professional teams tend to have maybe three coaches – oftentimes it’s just a head coach and an assistant. You might also see what is called a Scoutman, which is basically a stats person. In some cases an assistant coach fills that role. When I was in Sweden my assistant was also the team’s manager. Because he had a day job, he couldn’t always make practice.
Pro clubs generally have strength coaches and trainers, though how often they are specifically on-hand varies. At one club the strength coach was actually involved full-time and also coached the club’s second team. In another case the strength coach was more of a consultant who spent spells with the team throughout season. One club had a trainer at the gym sessions while the other didn’t.
At Svedala I had to be the strength coach and we didn’t have a trainer. That serves to highlight how different things can be.
Professional clubs have team managers who work on the administrative side of things. They get players signed and deal with much of the off-court stuff around the team. How often they turn up for and/or help out with training no doubt varies. My impression is that they are largely considered administrators rather than having much of a role in practice.
Equipment & Technology
Here, budget is a large factor. I saw clubs in Germany with lots of equipment of all kinds – or at least access to it. I saw more use of stuff like training aides than technology, though. One club used video replay in training, but the others didn’t at that stage (though one was moving in that direction). No doubt at least some of that reflected the attitudes of the coaches.
At Svedala, where there was a lot less money, we didn’t have a lot to work with. We had some basic equipment that belonged to the hall. I had to bring in video stuff of my own to use in practice, though.
By contrast, I’ve seen NCAA volleyball teams use video and stats extensively in training. USC has video replay systems on all three of its training courts, which is definitely a high-end example. Even much smaller programs have that kind of technology, though. I was given the impression by a couple coaches that in Europe they kind of look to the US for the latest technology developments.
Budgets
I was told in 2014 that the average budget among women’s teams in the German top flight (the Bundesliga) was about €500,000. That was roughly $650,000 based on exchange rates at that time. I think on the men’s side it might have been more like €700k ($910k). I know there are teams with 7-figure budgets, though, implying that there are also teams with markedly lower ones. The result is a disparity in resources among teams competing in the same league. It’s the sort of thing which can also notably be seen in professional soccer.
I don’t have budget figures for NCAA schools, but multiple millions is not uncommon at the upper level. It would be a bit tricky to compare them directly with the pros in any case (and perhaps even with each other in some cases) depending on how scholarships were valued and such. On a conference basis there is probably less disparity in funding between schools than we see in the professional ranks. The same, however, can’t be said when we look at all of Division I as a whole. There are clearly some schools with massive financial support and many with relatively little. That’s hardly unexpected when considering 300+ teams.
Overall, my impression is that NCAA Division I schools and European professional volleyball teams are not dissimilar in terms of available resources. There’s is considerable disparity on both sides of the equation, and one side may be stronger than the other in some aspects, vice versa in others.
As I said in my previous post, my perspective is a limited one at this point. I’d love to hear from readers with better/different knowledge than myself. Just leave a comment below.
I wrap up the comparison in the next post by talking about things from a coaching perspective.
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