OVA News

Durham Attack is an Ontario Volleyball club who has implemented a successful LTAD program. Recently, five of the twelve OUA all-rookie team selections (men and women) and OCAA player of the year were Durham Attack alumni. Here’s a report from their club:

As a mature club that has just passed the 15 year mark, we are looking for ways to improve the programs we provide to the volleyball community. Though our teams have been successful provincially and nationally, competition outside Canada has shown us that a lot more can be done, and we are using LTAD as a framework for improvement. It has confirmed the importance of some of our existing grassroots programs, and pushed us to expand in other areas to improve how we develop our athletes.
We have always believed in establishing as broad a base as possible, to support the natural narrowing of the pyramid as players move through the age levels. LTAD is well-aligned with the goal of developing a community base. It reaches down to the 6-9 year old stage with a goal of improving physical literacy at that age level. To support this FUNdamentals stage we run a SPIKES program each Fall, for 60 athletes age 6-12. It is conducted entirely by our senior athletes, teaching them leadership skills, and developing future coaches. Though it is almost all girls, we are beginning to attract more boys to the program. And that program is a lot of fun – it is perhaps the most enthusiastic house league program in the gym.
Volleyball fundamentals are taught in the Learning to Train (age 9-12) stage. We run two successful and rapidly growing House League programs, and camps. Our girls House League has 280 players, runs for 10 weeks, is led by our 18U athletes, and is coached by our athletes from 15-17U. Due to demand we have extended it down to players in the 7-9 age group, with a Tykes division that functions similar to SPIKES, but with more opportunities to play in game situations. Our boys House League attracts 60 athletes in Fall and Winter sessions and is run by club coaches and athletes.
During the summer months we offer six weeks of all-day camps and have extended these camps into outlying communities such as Peterborough and Lindsay, where there is demand but no programs available. Roughly 400 athletes attend our camps.
All of these things serve to promote interest in our sport and broaden the base of athletes and coaches in the region. With twenty competitive teams each season, our constraints as a club are always the number of coaches available, and gym space. With the base we have established there is no shortage of players wanting to play.
We view volleyball as a continuum, with recreational leagues, competitive teams, provincial team, college/university, and national team. Though each player will have different end objectives in mind and within reach, our responsibility is to plan and execute their development to carry them as far as they wish to go. Our success at Nationals and stream of college recruits is evidence of a good developmental system, but one that we strive to make better. This past week five of the 12 OUA all-rookie team selections (men and women) and the OCAA player of the year were Durham Attack alumni.
We continue to look for ways to develop each athlete in our club to their ultimate potential, skill-wise, physically, mentally, and as members of the volleyball community.

Part 1 of a Series on LTAD and Ontario Volleyball