Junior Volleyball Association

09/23/2026

At 15, I walked away from the sport I loved. Not because I did not care. I was burned out, empty, and could not explain why. I could not muster the motivation to show up to training, let alone compete. What I know now is that my motivation drivers had been running on empty for a long time, and nobody around me, including me, had the language to identify it.

I found my way back, eventually playing collegiately at UNC-CH and then professionally for 12 years with the Chicago Fire FC. But not every athlete does. That’s what keeps me up at night.

Motivation Is Not a Switch
After years as a player, coach, and sport parent, here’s what I’ve come to understand: motivation is not something athletes have or do not have. It’s not a character trait. It’s a specific combination of internal drivers unique to each athlete, and when those drivers go unmet, no amount of encouragement, pressure, or extra reps fills the gap.

We call this Motivation Intelligence. Every athlete is fueled by six core drivers:

Value: The need to feel their specific contributions are seen and recognized.

Stability: The need for trust, clarity, and consistent expectations.

Purpose: The need to know their role connects to something larger than the scoreboard.

Connection: The need for teammates and coaches who feel like genuine partners.

Achievement: Energized by measurable growth and visible development.

Alignment: The need to believe in the team’s direction and culture before fully committing.

Every athlete has all six. What separates them is the order and intensity of each one: their motivational fingerprint.

READ MORE:
https://jvavolleyball.org/what-actually-drives-your-athletes-the-6-motivation-drivers-every-coach-and-parent-should-know/

JVA community offer: Take the Athlete Motivation Profile and use code JVA15OFF at checkout for 15% off, exclusively for the JVA community.

https://app.coleadsports.com/start?utm_source=jva&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=jva2026

At 15, I walked away from the sport I loved. Not because I did not care. I was burned out, empty, and could not explain why. I could not muster the motivation to show up to training, let alone compete. What I know now is that my motivation drivers had been running on empty for

09/22/2026

When I started coaching, I planned practice by collecting drills. I’d find a few I liked, put them in an order that seemed reasonable, and hope it all came together. It didn’t, and for a long time, I couldn’t say why.

More drills wouldn’t have fixed it. What I was missing was a way to decide what my team needed, then build the session around that decision. Here’s the framework I use now, and it works the same whether you’re coaching 12s or 18s.

Three-step practice planning loop: decide the focus, build the session, check it stuck, with the cycle running through your next match.

Step one: Let the game decide your focus
Every rally begins with a serve and a first contact, and that first touch gates everything after it. When the pass is bad, the set becomes a scramble and the attack is out of system. The quality of every contact downstream of the bad pass drops. Ball control is non-negotiable. It’s the base the rest of the game is built on, and it takes a ton of reps to get good at.

Offense is the most over-practiced skill at any age level. Think about how often each action happens in a match. Every point starts with a serve and a pass.

So I start there. I aim for serve and receive to be about half of our practice on the court. That doesn’t mean half your time is spent serving and passing in isolation. It means that of the drills you have going, about half should involve a serving or passing contact. As an example, a split-court doubles tournament with five-minute games gets you tons of serve and pass, and it’s a lot of fun.

READ MORE:

09/22/2026

Pssst. Are you going to JVA The Reckoning? Do you want to be seen by college coaches before it starts? Check this out.

Kevin Pratte, with Kevin Pratte & kevinprattefoundation, is teaming up with JVA to host a Boys Volleyball College Showcase the night before The Reckoning.

The KP SHOWCASE details:
💵 $125 (Before October 15)
📆 Friday, November 20
⏰ 6 P.M. - 8 P.M. (Parents meet with Kevin from 6:10-6:30)
🏐 Play in front of college coaches from all over the country. Courts will be run by college coaches, so you’ll experience what it’s like to practice at the collegiate level.
❓Q&A will take place afterward from 8 P.M. - 8:30 P.M.

REGISTER: https://middlehitter.com/volleyballcamps/
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: https://youtu.be/zcqOPtgJj_Y

09/11/2026

25 years later, we remember.

We remember the lives lost, the families forever changed, the first responders who ran toward danger, and the countless acts of courage and compassion that followed.

Today, we honor their memory and the strength found in coming together when it mattered most.

We will never forget. 🇺🇸

09/11/2026

What began in 2022 with three young officials learning the game from a different side of the volleyball court has reached an important milestone.

Kaulupono “Kaulu” Osorio, a junior at Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu who competes athletically for Hilo High School, was one of the original three members of the Moku O Keawe Junior Officials Program. Four years later, he has become the program’s first participant to earn the opportunity to serve as a line judge at the collegiate level.

In July 2026, Kaulu learned that he had been selected to line judge collegiate volleyball matches. His first assignment came during the 2026 Hawaiʻi-Alaska Challenge at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, placing him on the court alongside collegiate athletes and experienced officials.

For Kaulu, however, officiating has become about much more than making calls on a volleyball court.

“Officiating has definitely made me more confident,” Kaulu said. “At school, when I have to give a speech in front of everyone, I’m more comfortable being in front of a crowd. Officiating has taught me to be aware of what is happening around me, stay focused and be confident in the decisions I make.”

Those lessons are exactly what the Junior Officials Program was created to provide.

The program was rekindled in 2022 with just three young officials, including Kaulu. Entering the 2026-27 year, that number has grown to approximately 30 Junior Officials who are learning the responsibilities of officiating while developing leadership, confidence, communication and decision-making skills.

Read more:
https://jvavolleyball.org/moku-o-keawe-junior-officials-program-celebrates-its-first-college-level-line-judge/

09/10/2026

hear us out: tournament theme day?! 👀

these are also the only ai graphics we’ll ever make. we promise.

09/08/2026

From small-town volleyball to the professional stage.

Maya Sands joins the podcast to talk about her journey through college volleyball, navigating the professional recruiting process, adjusting to her rookie season, and learning how to contribute when her role changed.

She also shares what helped her build confidence, why having the right support system matters and what it means to represent the sport as a Volleyball ambassador.

For athletes wondering what the jump from college to professional volleyball actually looks like, this one is worth the listen!

🔗 in bio!

09/04/2026

For Desmond Brooks, volleyball is much more than a sport. It is a platform for leadership, personal growth, mentorship and creating opportunities for others.

The 2026 JVA AthLeader Award winner and 2028 setter for Lakas Volleyball Club has embraced those opportunities both on and off the court. A student-athlete, community leader, coach and advocate, Desmond has developed a philosophy centered on using his time and talents to make a difference in the lives of others.

His journey into volleyball, however, was somewhat unexpected.

Growing up, basketball was Desmond’s primary passion. He devoted countless hours to the sport and never imagined volleyball would become such an important part of his life. That changed in middle school when his physical education teachers noticed his natural ability and encouraged him to try out for the school team.

Desmond wasn’t initially convinced.

His mother, however, encouraged him to give it a shot, and Desmond credits that decision with changing the direction of his athletic career.

He not only made the team but earned a starting spot on the varsity team as a sixth grader alongside primarily eighth-grade players. The team went undefeated during the regular season and advanced to the championship, providing an early indication that Desmond had found another sport in which he could thrive.

From there, volleyball became much more than another activity. It became an opportunity to learn, lead and eventually help others discover the game themselves.

READ MORE:
https://jvavolleyball.org/leading-with-purpose-desmond-brooks-exemplifies-the-spirit-of-the-jva-athleader-award/

09/04/2026

The next level of boys volleyball is here.

Introducing Volley SuperLiga (VSL), the elite JVA boys division built into top power leagues across the country.

Teams compete within their participating power league, battle through a season-long points race, and earn their way to the VSL Cup, where the best teams from each league come together to compete for the championship.

The first power leagues to launch a VSL Division:
🏐 THE Point Series THE Point Series
🏐 Midwest Boys Point Series Midwest Boys Point Series

More competition. More meaning behind every match. One path to the VSL Cup. This is Volley SuperLiga.

09/03/2026

Building More Than a Team: Lessons From Don Shondell’s Legacy

Long before volleyball became the sport it is today, Don Shondell was building something that extended far beyond a college volleyball program.

As the founder of the Ball State University Men's Volleyball program and the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, Shondell became one of the sport’s leading ambassadors. But perhaps his greatest legacy wasn’t measured solely in championships or wins. It was measured in the people he taught, the opportunities he created and the coaches and leaders who carried his lessons forward.

The Shondell family is often regarded as the “first family” of volleyball, and Don’s influence can be traced through generations of athletes and coaches.

For today’s junior volleyball leaders, his story offers an important reminder: Great programs aren’t simply built by finding great players. They’re built by teaching, developing and believing in people.

During many of his 38 years coaching at Ball State, Shondell didn’t have the luxury of inheriting polished volleyball players.

So he looked elsewhere.

He found athletes through cuts from other Ball State teams, intramural competitions, fraternities and even his own physical education classes. Many were talented athletes, often basketball players, but had little or no volleyball experience.

Instead of asking only, “Can this athlete play volleyball?” Shondell asked a different question:

“Does this athlete have the qualities we can develop into a volleyball player?”

Scott McCoy, who played on four consecutive Final Four teams in the early 1970s, recalled the process Shondell used to evaluate newcomers.

“He had six or seven athletic ability tests: Like throwing the medicine ball against the wall above a certain line and seeing how many times you could do that in a minute, or the 50-yard dash, or a standing jump. He would rank people and that’s how he picked who made the team.”

READ MORE:
https://jvavolleyball.org/building-more-than-a-team-lessons-from-don-shondells-legacy/

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