The First One

Welcome to Altamont Volleyball. This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while now.

I first got into coaching for two reasons: (1) I knew I couldn’t keep playing forever, and (2) I had limited access to quality coaching as a player. I had a team parent as our coach for the majority of high school. He was a good man who tried his best, but he was relatively new to coaching and to volleyball in general. We were self taught on UCLA’s club team; the program was brand new, started just a couple of years before I arrived, and we didn’t have the budget for a coach. I learned a lot from my teammates. We had several coaches come in and out of Stanford’s club team, with varying degrees of success. We also self taught one or two seasons. That always stuck with me. What could have been if I had gotten a faster start with more support? What if I could do that for others? Regardless of what could have been, volleyball has been a major bright spot in my life. I met my wife and my closest friends through the sport. You could say I have a family because of it.

This project is about giving back to the volleyball community as effectively as I can. It’s about coaching the whole person, not just the athlete’s side. I no longer live in the volleyball hotbed that Northern California has become. And I can only coach so many teams in person. But by offering online services, I can reach an entire population of players and coaches. Whether you’re a player or a coach, brand new to the sport or a relative veteran, looking for technical feedback or more general support, you’re welcome here.

A good friend and coach once said to me, “You get into coaching because of the sport. You stay in coaching because of the kids.” I couldn’t agree with that more.