Five:1 VBC | Our Philosophy
TRAINING
The best way for volleyball players to improve their overall skillset is to play the game. Our training environment and approach incorporate the randomness of volleyball into every session, better equipping our athletes to handle unexpected situations during competitive play. Every athlete practices every skill, every time they step foot in our gym.
Teams are strategically assigned to practice time blocks to position them to train with and compete against other teams in the club, providing the ideal competitive pressure for each team. The results speak for themselves: athletes leave each club season better equipped for the next, whether in middle school, high school, or college. Significant growth is evident among athletes who come in determined to overcome whatever challenge is presented each day in practice.
Our athletes, regardless of age, learn and execute the same offensive and defensive strategies and the same basic serve and receive patterns. They use the same keywords to ensure consistent learning of the game's fundamentals. This provides continuity from one season to the next, reinforcing and building on the knowledge from the previous season.
Coaching
Eric Lazowski, our volleyball director, is the lead coach for all practice sessions. He provides the practice structure for our coaches to execute during training. This approach ensures that every athlete and coach in the club (regardless of current team level) has the opportunity to learn and apply what's needed to pursue whatever future in the sport they wish to achieve.
Our top coaches are paid professionals with experience at the higher levels of the game. New coaches that we choose to employ are trained alongside the veterans. Coaches work together each session to train ALL of the athletes in the gym that day - not just their own.
Coaches are responsible for assembling a lineup that gives the team the best advantage over the competition we face. All of our athletes play in matches. We don't, however, promise equal playing time. Individual court time and roles are determined and earned through training and in-match performance, and based on a player's overall contribution to the team.
Competition
The training is the heart and soul of our program. Athletes ultimately pay to train at our club; it is the work they put in that determines the growth they achieve during a season and the play time they earn at tournament events. All rostered athletes have the opportunity during tournaments to test what they have learned in practice.
The tournaments our teams compete in are carefully selected to provide the right level of challenge for the athletes. While winning is usually "fun", progress in volleyball skill and processes is best accomplished by competing against teams who are playing at a level or two ahead of where you are currently playing. Learning happens in losses. The goal of tournaments is to apply training from practice and learn to play the game better in your position and as a team.