U.S. Volleyball Coaching Career Paths

I assume at least some readers of this blog are thinking about where they might like to take their volleyball coaching careers. That being the case, I figure it’s worth providing a basic outline of the U.S. volleyball structure and where the jobs are at within it.

There are three primary levels of volleyball coaching. Those are primary/secondary school, club, and college/university. I’ll tackle each separately.

Primary/Secondary School Teams

High school volleyball (usually grades 9-12, ages 15-18) is the single largest segment of the sport. This is especially so in terms of legitimate coaching opportunities. According to recent statistics, volleyball ranks 2nd in participation count for girls. That trails only outdoor track & field.

There are more than 21,000 total teams and nearly 600,000 participants nationwide across boys and girls. Those numbers may not make sense at first glance. If you do the math, it works out to over 25 players per team. The count, though, only includes varsity teams. Most schools also have junior varsity. Some have freshman teams as well.

Middle school volleyball (ages 12-14) is not as common. The impression is it’s expanding, though. I don’t have participation figures at hand, unfortunately. I think there is a heavy regional element. For example, there are lots of junior high and middle school teams in Texas.

Unfortunately, though growing, boys’ volleyball is only a fraction of the size of girls’ volleyball, as it tends to face a lot of competition, though, from higher profile sports. Also, in some places, it’s seen as “a girls’ sport”.

Primary/Secondary School Coaching

Generally, the high school season is about three months long. Teams train and/or play 5-6 days a week, usually after school. There are often rules around working with players out of season. Politics and union influence can play a big part in coaching at this level. In some places a teacher gets first crack at a job. This can be despite weaker qualifications. Most teams have assistant coaches, but how many varies widely. Often the primary varsity assistant acts as head coach for the junior varsity.

Some kind of first aid certification is usually required. There may also be others related to child safety and welfare. While this is obviously part-time coaching, the pay can be pretty good, relatively speaking. Location and school district play a big part there.

Club Coaching

USA Volleyball alone has more than 300,000 junior girls members, with substantial additional participation in boys volleyball and in clubs affiliated with AAU, JVA, and other organizations. Nationwide, that means tens of thousands of youth club teams and a very large number of coaching opportunities.

They all need coaches. Some even need assistant coaches.

The juniors coaching commitment varies considerably. Some teams train once a week and compete in a handful of 1-day tournaments over the season. Other teams compete nationally. They train multiple times per week and travel for multi-day tournaments.

Obviously, expectations and commitment levels widely differ. So too does coach pay, as a result. I’ve seen anything from a couple hundred for a season to a couple thousand per month. Additionally, coaches are generally paid higher salaries in the more traditionally volleyball-oriented regions.

USA Volleyball requires juniors club coaches to have IMPACT and SafeSport certifications. There is also a required background check.

Club volleyball at the adult level in the US is not as big a sport as at the youth level. There tends also not to be much in the way of coaching.

Collegiate Volleyball – The Diversity

There are well over 1500 college volleyball teams in the US (again, mainly women). You can see from this breakdown they fall across a number of different categories. The top is NCAA Division I. That’s the highest profile and in general has the best level of play. There are also NCAA Division II and Division III. The latter is the single largest category.

All of these are 4-year colleges and universities. The divisions differ primarily in areas such as athletic financial aid, program resources, and rules governing the amount and timing of required athletic activity. Division I programs generally have the largest budgets and greatest year-round demands. Division III does not offer athletic scholarships and generally has more restrictions on out-of-season activity, with Division II falling somewhere between the two in many respects. Each division has its own set of rules.

Also at the 4-year level is the NAIA. It has its own rules, which can vary considerably from the NCAA.

Lastly, there are the 2-year colleges. The largest single organization of these schools is the NJCAA, with over 300 teams. California has its own Community College Athletic Association. Here, as with the NCAA, there is gradation. The NJCAA actually follows a similar 3-division system.

It should be noted that there is a lot of overlap of competitive level. Just because a team is in NCAA Division I, that doesn’t mean it’s better than all teams in Division II – or even Division III! Each division has a wide spread. The level of play at the bottom of a division is very different from the level at the top.

Coaching College Volleyball

As you might expect, the different levels mean a variety of coaching opportunities. Obviously, all teams have a head coach. The vast majority also have an assistant. Beyond that it depends on budget and resources.

At the lower end the positions are part-time. It’s similar to high school volleyball in that way. As one moves up the ranks, though, the time commitment and expectations grow. In Division I it’s to the point where all, or nearly all, head volleyball coaches are full-time. So too are many assistants.

In the lower divisions there’s a bigger mix. Many positions are part-time. This is especially true in Division III were the off-season commitment can be much less. A volleyball coach sometimes has teaching and/or administrative duties to make up a full salaried position.

At all levels there is in-season travel for competition. This can include both weekend and midweek matches. Generally speaking, at the lower levels conferences are geographically smaller. That means shorter trips. At the higher levels the conferences cover bigger areas. In some cases they require air travel.

There is also off-season travel for recruiting. Again, that tends to be more at the higher levels than at the lower ones.

There’s no universal coaching certification required to coach college volleyball. Individual schools establish their own employment requirements, though a bachelor’s degree is commonly required or preferred for full-time positions – Master’s for head coaches. First aid/CPR/AED certification and a driver’s license may also be required. Coaches also have NCAA, NAIA, or other governing-body compliance requirements depending on where they work.

Beyond formal requirements, getting hired is another matter. Recruiting ability, organizational and administrative skills, communication, and a demonstrated ability to coach and develop players all matter.

It’s about finding your niche

With tens of thousands of volleyball teams out there, work as a coach will never be hard to find. It just depends on how much of a commitment you’re after. Satisfaction can be found at every level. You don’t need to coach a Division I team and contend for the national championship to enjoy yourself and have a rewarding career.

Find a level that suits you. Then go make an impact!

If you’re looking to get started or move to another level, the Coach Careers & Development section has more on finding coaching jobs, moving up the coaching ladder, and developing the skills that make you more employable.