Building Las Vegas Volleyball: Coach April's Path to Elite Training

Once I decided I wanted to coach I already knew five things about Las Vegas Volleyball that helped me structure how I wanted my Boot Camp classes to look like. 

• Despite all the annual big SCVA tournaments coming to town each year, Las Vegas volleyball teams rarely ranked higher than the top 40 to finish in any of them 

•  It didnt seem like any of the local school and/or club players were benefitting in anyway (except 1-2 exceptions Durango/Nevada Jrs back in the day) from the influx of great talent and great coaches that was coming into the city to compete in Vegas, 2-4 times a year. Everyone wanted to come to Vegas but their presence didn't seem to have a trickle down effect or benefit any of the Las Vegas players

• No one was really incorporating strength and conditioning into their Las Vegas volleyball high school or club programs. So Vegas high school players when they travelled or played in Vegas hosted national tournaments were competing against faster, stronger, higher jumping prep players from other states who who were strength training and doing body weight workouts   

• No college coach was seriously recruiting Las Vegas volleyball kids. College coaches would come to Vegas and recruit other players from other schools who were VISITING Vegas year after year but didn't recruit Vegas kids. (I knew this because I knew alot of top collegiate coaches who said so.)

• The Vegas kids that did get recruited rarely were prepared to play four years at a D-I institution because they weren't physically or emotionally prepared. It was well-known that top Vegas players would come home injured, or come home homesick or quit their college team for other reasons but rarely completed a four year period. 

• In my opinion the Las Vegas volleyball clubs at the time were professional babysitters, I felt, who weren’t really educating and fixing or teaching players REAL technique and skill that they could use to play competitive volleyball at any of the next levels 

The Las Vegas Volleyball "Freshmen Can't Make Their High School Varsity Team" Rule

One last thing that motivated me also was that rule about freshmen players not making varsity that seems to only exist here with Las Vegas volleyball high school players.

Congratulations to Las Vegas volleyball players Sydney Berenyi and Kaylynn Smith for making the Silverado High School varsity team as incoming freshmen and Boot Camp class regulars.

Congratulations Las Vegas volleyball libero Alex Payan for making varsity as an incoming freshman and Boot Camp class regular.

Las Vegas volleyball hitter Aaliah Largusa incoming freshman and regular Boot Camp class member makes the Palo Verde high school varsity team.

Everyone else around the country has freshmen players who train to make the varsity team and Gatorade even produces a National All Freshman Team.

Because of that rule no Las Vegas volleyball player could ever make that team and that didn't make sense to me. 

So I made it a personal challenge to produce better players at a younger age…and in my mind I dared the coaches to say No to players who HAD to make the team because it was so obvious they deserved to.

Those are my thoughts, inspiration and the motivation for doing what I've done for the love of this sport especially when it came to making Las Vegas volleyball players better. 

Because of these 7 sources of motivation, when I started coaching I did it with a chip on my shoulder.

I played with a chip on my shoulder so that helped keep my passion on point. 

I wanted to make a statement and prove these coaches wrong and send a STRONG message to the parents that basically they were not getting a REAL return on their investment. 

That’s why my first classes were $2 classes when I was at the Hollywood Rec Center. We’d get over 60 - 75 players from the area and we only had half a court to work with.

Young Breakfast Club players at Stupak Recreation Center with Stanford setter Kami Miner and Gatorade Player of the Year Sydney Berenyi

By that time my mother found and introduced me to Coach Dermot Thomas who was knocking door to door to promote his physical training services. (See how God works?) No one else at this time was doing what Coach D did.

By that time my mother found and introduced me to Coach Dermot Thomas who was knocking door to door to promote his physical training services. (See how God works?)

No one else at this time was doing what Coach D did. 

And Coach Rick dropped in to one of my first classes and NEVER stopped coming for 7 years after that.

Coach Ray Payan was an awesome coach who helped coach regularly. 

I told them the only way we’d do this is with a strength and conditioning component in every practice so that Las Vegas volleyball kids would get stronger, faster, jump higher and hit harder which was needed to compete at higher levels.

I told them the only way we’d do this is with a strength and conditioning component in every practice so that Las Vegas volleyball kids would get stronger, faster, jump higher and hit harder which was needed to compete at higher levels. My Motivation For Charging $5 To Coach Las Vegas Volleyball Classes.

The price point raised eyebrows but word spread because in that neighborhood at the base of Sunrise Mountain there were kids who wanted to play and being able to find change or borrow a $1 from a parent was easy.

So the Boot Camp class concept came from that.

It became a volleyball circuit training 90 minute class with one group doing strength and conditioning and two groups doing volleyball skills.

The other thing I insisted on was that the Boot Camp coaches would coach more and talk less...learning how to coach without spending so much time talking and with the goal that players would average 500 reps in an hour.

• I wanted players to touch more balls in a short amount of time because the more a player touches a ball the better they get.

At club practices most players weren’t touching enough balls and definitely weren’t sweating or working hard in their club and/or high school volleyball practices...until they came to our Boot Camp class practices. 

At Boot Camp class everybody sweats for this reason.

Its became a thing, what we became known for. Players didn't walk in practices, they ran, everywhere and we trained at the speed at which a game is played. 

I did the same thing in my semi private training and all my clients and Boot Campers and Breakfast Club participants started bringing an extra shirt to change into and they always always said at the end of our sessions that "this is the first time I've ever seated in practice, this feels good"

I heard that repeatedly that they didnt sweat in their practices but they always sweated in ours. 

To this day one of the biggest compliments I hear and love is “Man we dont sweat in our practices but we sure sweat and work hard at Boot Camp class and in private volleyball training sessions!”

That’s one main thing that motivated me and that’s what continues to motivate me.

Because with this sweat ethic I know more kids will learn faster how to play better volleyball. Which in turn means more kids get recruited ..which has been happening in the past 3-4 years.

I hope I helped in challenging Las Vegas volleyball coaches in the Valley to get better..improve their coaching skills and to really teach players how to play the game. 

It took 2-3 years but when I charged $5 for classes and

• more of my players as freshmen were making their high school varsity team and
• making USA High Performance teams while
• other parents were paying hundreds/thousands of dollars for club volleyball and
• their kids play at the end of the season with the same skills they started with at the beginning of the season…

…but parents began to notice our results and people began to talk about our results. 

Kami Miner and Sydney Berenyi, Boot Camp class and breakfast Club regulars, private volleyball training clients, varsity high school team players as freshmen (Kami in California at Redondo Union) in Colorado Springs for USA Volleyball High Performance 5Save

By this time classes were held at City of Las Vegas Parks  Stupak Recreation Center once described as located in the top 10 worst neighborhoods in Las Vegas.

My Motivation For Charging $5 To Coach Las Vegas Volleyball Classes Friday Night Boot Camp class strike a pose

The Stupak Recreation Center is located right behind the Stratosphere a block off The Strip in a gated location which houses a lot of after school programs and offers community programs for the surrounding residents. 

Despite the location, classes sold out regularly and we had to add more. The response was overwhelming – players of all ages and skill levels showed up, eager to learn and improve.

These early days were challenging. I often found myself not only coaching but also setting up nets, carrying equipment and even recruiting players.

But the energy and enthusiasm of those first students fueled my determination. I knew we were building something special, one $5 class at a time.

My Motivation For Charging $5 To Coach Las Vegas Volleyball Classes. A young Boot Camp class group that was at the Summerlin location on Fridays.

As word spread about the affordable, high-quality training, the demand grew exponentially. 

I organized my own summer camps with special guest coaches and even started my own club team called Volleycats Elite VBC.

This growth brought new challenges – securing gym space, managing larger groups, and balancing the needs of beginners with those of more advanced players.

The Las Vegas volleyball scene was evolving, and I was evolving with it.

I began organizing 3 vs 3 boys tournaments for high schoolers, and created the super popular Friday Night Lights Open gym attended by players from all over the city,  I organized my own summer camps with special guest coaches and even started my own club team called Volleycats Elite VBC. 

Each step was a learning experience, teaching me not just about coaching but also about community building and business management.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Private or semiprivate volleyball indoor/sand lessons are an excellent way for young Las Vegas high school volleyball players to quickly improve their individual skills through a private or semi-private coaching experience. These lessons are conducted by former pro volleyball player, former USA Volleyball High Performance instructor and Evaluator and Tstreet Vegas 18s head Coach April Chapple on a weekly basis. Sign up now!

Follow me on Pinterest Volleybragswag to improve your game even faster!

I share alot of individual, partner and easy-to-do volleyball serving drills we do in class with my followers.

Many of these volleyball practice drills you can do at home by yourself or try at your next practice with your teammates.

If you're a B team or JV player trying to make varsity next year...your goal should be to complete 1000 reps a day of at least three of the basic skills on your own...volleyball passing, serving and setting should be at the top of the list. 

ShareFacebookXPinterestTumblrRedditWhatsApp