Thoughts on "selling" boys volleyball to new players:

I was probably not fully prepared for what I was about to do when I said, "Yes, I'll be the head coach and start a new high school program."

However, I did know immediately that I would put my best effort into creating the type of high school program that I had seen be successful. That meant that more days than not, I spent some part of my day working on things related to my new adventure. Planning, planning, planning... Right?

Luckily for me, I'm fortunate to be in an area where boys volleyball is somewhat established, so finding teams to play was not terribly difficult, but finding players would prove to be another story. My program is at a highly rated, urban, city school district - where many students had never even thought of the possibility of boys volleyball, let alone actually play it competitively! I've lost count of the number of times boys have asked me, "Do you have to wear booty shorts to play?" or, "Does the team wear those short-shorts?". A lot of the kids have just never been exposed to it, which I knew I would have to change.

I really have two jobs, my regular 9-5, and being the self-titled "Program Director". Once I started, I have never stopped. I run social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) for the program, which is a great way to build interest and exposure over time. I learned quickly that the parents would be on Facebook, and some of the kids on Twitter, and a lot of the kids on Instagram. It sounds like a lot, but it can actually be pretty fun, and a lot of times I just piggy-back off of other social media accounts like USAVolleyball, the FIVB, and well known volleyball players (they have really cool photos that we only wish we had!).

I also have taken a lot of time to do what I refer to as "recruiting" - not the illegal kind, trying to get kids from other schools and whatnot, but just recruiting kids to come to an open gym, or come to tryouts. I truly believe that once I get a kid in the gym doors, I can sell them on volleyball (or rather volleyball itself does the selling). I knew, though, that the kids with no exposure to volleyball before would be very unlikely to come try a sport they have never seen or heard about, or considered a "girl" sport. So I had to do something to introduce them to boys and mens volleyball, and try to give them a glimpse of what its like - fast-paced, athletic, aggressive, etc.

To do this, I set up a table during the lunch periods at the school. I bring my iMac in and have a playlist of mens volleyball highlights on youtube (best spikes, diving saves, etc.). I also made sure to include videos with a diverse group of players. I figured that it would be more approachable to African American kids if they saw great volleyball players from across the world, including some of the best like Wilfredo Leon and Robertlandy Simon from Cuba, Wallace from Brazil, and Sharon Vernon-Evans from Canada.

I also bring an example of the uniforms (including shorts!) - so they can see the really awesome jerseys we bought for the team. I bring handouts for them to take, and I have a sign up sheet for interested students - but you have to make sure they know there is no commitment to singing that sheet, it is just to get on the informational list.

Some other tips are to use any girls who are volleyball players to help you bring guys over to the table where you then can "sell" volleyball to them.

Use every resource you can think of!