Coach Chijo Podcast

Are perfect volleyball practices actually hurting player development?Coach Chijo joins Nikki Mabrey, Director of Volleyball at The St. James in Springfield, Virginia, to discuss why volleyball coaches should spend less time controlling drills and more time letting athletes play.After a day of clinics with nearly 90 athletes, they break down game-like training, player decision-making, the importance of embracing mistakes, and why practicing for performance matters more than practicing for perfection.They also explore the growing demand for volleyball on the East Coast, where 220 athletes joined the clinic waitlist.A conversation for volleyball coaches, players, and parents who want to rethink how athletes learn the game.Guest: Nikki Mabrey, Director of Volleyball at The St. James, Springfield, VirginiaLearn more: https://sports.thestjames.com/volleyball/Follow Coach Chijo for more volleyball stories and conversations.#Volleyball #CoachChijo #VirginiaVolleyball #VolleyballCoaching #VolleyballPodcast #YouthVolleyball #JustGo

Three hours of driving. One way. Just to attend volleyball practice.That's the reality for some young volleyball players on the Navajo Nation.Coach Chijo visits Kayenta, Arizona, to sit down with Andrea Ashkie, director of Velocity Volleyball Club, to learn what it takes to create volleyball opportunities in a community where distance, expenses, and limited facilities present enormous challenges.Andrea shares how she went from playing volleyball on the reservation to competing at the collegiate level before returning to her community to coach and build a club program.With coaches volunteering much of their time, families traveling hours for tournaments, and gym space difficult to secure, keeping volleyball accessible requires extraordinary commitment.Coach Chijo and Andrea also discuss the personal sacrifices of coaching, balancing volleyball with family, and the importance of giving back.It's a conversation about community, opportunity, and why volleyball is so much more than winning games.Guest: Andrea Ashkie, Director of Velocity Volleyball ClubLearn more: https://www.velocityazvolleyball.org/Follow Coach Chijo for more volleyball stories and conversations.#Volleyball #CoachChijo #NavajoNation #VolleyballPodcast #YouthVolleyball #JustGo

What can chickens teach volleyball players? Apparently, quite a bit!Coach Chijo visits longtime friend and fellow coach Hollen in rural Idaho, where a conversation surrounded by chickens turns into a lesson about hesitation, hustle, and the importance of simply going for the ball.After unexpectedly running a 6 AM middle school volleyball practice, Chijo and Hollen discuss how to get young players moving, why coaches should sometimes talk less, and how game-like training can make practices more effective and enjoyable.They also explore the balance between teaching technique and letting athletes play, why serving under pressure matters, and why keeping beginners excited about volleyball should be a top priority.A fun, practical conversation about coaching, learning, and helping young athletes fall in love with the game.Just Go!

Why aren't more boys playing volleyball?Coach Chijo sits down with Jake Wu, a high school senior and boys' volleyball setter from Boulder, Colorado, to explore why boys' volleyball hasn't grown as quickly as girls' volleyball and what might help change that.They discuss the shortage of youth teams, the differences between the boys' and girls' games, serving strategies, the mental challenges of competition, and why some players don't discover volleyball until high school.Jake also shares his perspective on what makes a great coach, how he handles competition and trash talk, and why volleyball is a sport he wants to play for the rest of his life.Plus, some encouraging advice for younger boys who are nervous about trying out for their high school team.A candid conversation about growing the game, coaching, competition, and the love of volleyball.Just GO!

What if you had to board a plane every time your high school volleyball team traveled to an away game?That's everyday life for volleyball players in Juneau, Alaska!Coach Chijo takes the podcast onto a boat in beautiful Southeast Alaska for a conversation with Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears head coach Arnold Ibias and players Bree Powers and Nellie Stowers.With only two teams in their conference and no roads connecting Juneau to other cities, traveling to compete is a major undertaking. The team flies across Alaska, sometimes stays overnight in school classrooms, and relies on community fundraising to support a volleyball budget of $65,000–$80,000.The players share what it's like traveling almost every weekend, adjusting to life in Alaska, and building friendships through their unique experiences.You'll also hear about the differences between volleyball in Hawaii and Alaska, the challenges of Alaska's long winters, what makes an athlete coachable, and Coach Chijo's approach to choosing team captains.It's a conversation about volleyball, community, dedication, and the extraordinary experiences that come with playing sports in Juneau.Just GO!

Wait… snow volleyball is actually a real thing?Coach Chijo sits down with Coach Betül Çetin, an accomplished indoor, beach, and snow volleyball athlete from Türkiye who has competed internationally and now brings that experience to coaching.Coach Betül won bronze representing Türkiye at the 2012 U16 World Championship in indoor volleyball. In beach volleyball, she became the first female athlete from Türkiye to compete at the Youth Olympic Games when she represented her country at the 2014 Nanjing Games, finishing ninth. She has also won more than 20 Turkish Championship titles, earned silver and bronze medals at the Balkan Championships, and finished fourth at the 2015 European Beach Volleyball Championship.And yes — she plays snow volleyball too.Coach Betül won the 2023 CEV European Snow Volleyball Tour and was runner-up on the tour in 2017.In this episode, she explains what it's actually like to play volleyball on snow — from cleats and gloves to three-player teams and snowstorms.The conversation also explores her journey from player to coach and back to player, what coaching taught her about the game, the challenges of playing-time decisions, good mistakes versus bad mistakes, and why she's returning to Türkiye to pursue professional volleyball again.Coach Betül has coached athletes in Canada and the USA, focusing on athlete development, technical training, and performance improvement.And there's a great connection at the end: Coach Betül shares how Coach Chijo's videos helped her when she began coaching in Canada — before the two unexpectedly met in Las Vegas.It's a conversation about competing, coaching, learning, and following your passion for volleyball.Just GO!

Sometimes you have to get out of the gym.After running five volleyball clinics in three days in Alaska, Coach Chijo heads into the Alaskan wilderness for a completely different kind of adventure.The trip includes hours in four-wheel-drive side-by-sides, glacier melt rivers, incredible scenery, and eventually a glacier.Then comes the big question: Is Coach Chijo actually going to jump into the freezing glacier water?This episode is a reminder for volleyball players and coaches to occasionally step away from the gym, get outside, experience something new, and make some memories.And sometimes that means taking the polar plunge.Just GO!

Why is high school volleyball different in Texas?Coach Chijo sits down with Libby Pacheco from the Texas High School Coaches Association while attending the association's massive coaching convention in Houston.Libby explains why Texas takes high school athletics so seriously and how having coaches working on campus changes the relationship between coaches and athletes.They dive into Texas volleyball culture, why the level of competition is so high, the relationship between high school and club volleyball, and whether athletes really need to play club to be successful.They also discuss multi-sport athletes, school size, facilities and resources, competitive parents, professional development for coaches, and the bigger role high school sports can play in an athlete's life.It's an inside look at a high school sports culture that surprised Coach Chijo and gave him a few major aha moments.Just GO!

How do you reduce drama on a volleyball team?This is Part 2 of my conversation with Coach Blase. In Part 1, The Playing Time Problem, we talked about fairness, equality, winning, development, and why playing time creates so much conflict between coaches, players, and parents.I ended that episode by asking Coach Blase what advice he would give young coaches struggling to handle playing-time issues.This episode begins with his answer.And that answer leads us into a much bigger discussion about how coaches can proactively reduce drama on their teams.Coach Blase believes better-informed parents and players can mean less drama. He explains why he regularly educates parents about what's happening in practice, questions the idea of closed practices, and argues that parents should be viewed as part of the team's support system rather than the enemy.Then he shares an idea that even surprised me: having parents become cleared and participate in practices as assistant coaches.We also discuss why coaches need to remain open to change, even after decades of experience, and why being vulnerable enough to receive feedback can make you a better coach.Coach Blase shares how he had a parent track his interactions with every athlete during practice. What he discovered was eye-opening: some players received no attention at all, while others heard almost nothing but corrections.That leads to another important lesson: You have to be the coach for all of your players.Ultimately, reducing drama requires transparency, communication, education, vulnerability, and a willingness to do things differently.It's not my team.It's our team.Keep learning. Keep growing. And remember, let's play volleyball because it's fun.Just GO!

Playing time. Few topics create more tension between coaches, players, and parents.In this episode, Coach Blase and I tackle one of the most difficult questions in youth volleyball: What does fair playing time actually mean?Coach Blase shares the story of a parent who used a stopwatch to compare her daughter's time on the court with another player's and even counted how many times each athlete touched the ball.That leads us into a much bigger conversation about equal vs. fair, winning vs. development, and how much control coaches actually have over an athlete's opportunities during a match.I also share one of my own experiences coaching 12U. I gave a middle blocker an opportunity to stay in and play back row. The player enjoyed the opportunity, but her parents had a very different reaction.We discuss why coaches sometimes play developing athletes even when it could hurt the team's chances of winning, why some positions naturally get more touches, and whether changes like unlimited substitutions would actually solve the playing time problem.This is Part 1 of my conversation with Coach Blase.Next week, we'll finish the playing time discussion and talk about how coaches can reduce drama on their teams.Keep learning. Keep growing. And remember, let's play volleyball because it's fun.Just GO!