This summer, I had the privilege of exchanging ideas with many volleyball coaches, from the elementary level to Japan’s top league. This rare opportunity to talk with coaches from every category left me with one powerful realization: the importance of a cross-category mindset and the need for a grand design for a cross-category player development system.
As a coach who primarily works with elementary school players, it was fascinating to hear about the challenges in other categories. Here are some of the issues that left a strong impression on me (just a few examples):
- Elementary School Coaches:
- It’s difficult to teach fundamental techniques like overhand passing to young kids.
- Physical punishment and power harassment are common.
- Positions and roles are fixed too early.
- Junior High and High School Coaches:
- Players can’t use overhand pass; they often “catch and throw” the ball.
- Coaches (who are often teachers) have very little time off.
- They are expected to build a new team every year.
- Premier League Coaches:
- Some players experience burnout.
- Tall players have poor receiving skills.
- Coaches are evaluated based solely on a single season’s results.
The Interconnectedness of Challenges Across Categories
When you look at these issues across all categories, you’ll notice they don’t exist in isolation; they are deeply interconnected.
For example, the challenge of teaching overhand passing to young kids in the elementary category leads directly to the problem of players who can’t overhand pass in the junior high category.
Similarly, the practice of fixing positions too early in elementary school contributes to the issue of tall players having poor receiving skills in the Premier League.
And the pressure on junior high and high school coaches to rebuild their team every year is a lot like the Premier League’s problem of evaluating a coach based on a single season.
So, what can be done to solve these problems? Is it enough for each coach to fight these battles alone?
Adopt a Cross-Category Mindset and Actively Engage with Other Coaches
I don’t believe these challenges can be solved if coaches only focus on their own category. To truly make a difference, coaches need a “cross-category mindset.”
For me, a cross-category mindset means understanding where your own coaching category fits within the entire system (preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, university, professional, etc.). It means defining the purpose and methods of your coaching based on that understanding.
To do this, you must learn about the purpose and methods of coaching in other categories. Actively engaging with coaches from other levels is essential to avoid a shortsighted view.
When you connect with other coaches, you gain a meta-perspective on your own coaching. This allows you to work with a long-term vision, always asking yourself how you can help players find happiness through volleyball, both now and in the future.
Drawing a Grand Design for Player Development
Once you have a cross-category mindset, the next step is to begin drawing a grand design for a player development system that spans all categories.
How can we create an environment that ensures the players we coach today will have the best possible volleyball life in the long term?
Even if you can’t influence every level directly, you can use your imagination to draw a grand design for the entire development system. A single coach’s design will never be perfect, but that doesn’t make it meaningless. You can create a draft and share it with other coaches.
I am still working on my own grand design, but I’m committed to doing the work, no matter how incomplete the result may be.
