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2023 Winter Speaker Series

FEBRUARY 7 (Online)

8:00PM – 9:00PM

Helping Your Athletes Successfully Manage Performance Anxiety and Perfectionism (Two Mental Hurdles In Their Pursuit Of Excellence)

Mark Epp – Mental Training Expert in Saskatoon

Mark Epp is the owner of Pursuit Sport Mental Training.  He has been a coach for 31 years and a teacher in the area of psychology for 21 years. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Education, a Master’s degree in Education, and a Ph.D. degree in Kinesiology (with sport mental training, athlete fear of failure, and the high-performance coach/athlete relationship being his Ph.D. content priorities). Mark also work’s as a mental performance consultant with the Sport Medicine & Science Council of Saskatchewan (SMSCS).

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He has worked with hundreds of athletes from beginner to university, national team, and professional levels, and with teams from elementary to provincial and university levels. He has seen transformative results at the athlete and team level when sport mental training principles are embraced with the same passion as the physical, technical, and tactical aspects of sport.

FEBRUARY 10 (Online)

12:00PM-1:00PM (Lunch Hour)

Blocking for Middles

Mark Lebedew – VfB Friedrichshafen Men’s Head Coach

Mark Lebedew has been a professional volleyball coach at international and club level for over 20 years and is in his second year as the head coach of VfB Friedrichshafen.

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In that time, he’s been a participant in the all the major international events (Olympics, World Championships, World League, Volleyball Nations League) with the National Teams of Australia, Slovenia and Germany and many of the top club leagues (Italian, Polish, German, Belgian, European Champions League).

• In 2012, 2013 and 2014 he coached Berlin Recycling Volleys to the German Bundesliga title. • In 2015, he added a CEV Champions League Bronze Medal to the tally.
• In 2015-16 he moved to Poland and Jastrzębski Węgiel winning the Plus Liga Bronze Medal in 2017.
• In 2018-19 season he coached Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie to the semifinals of league and cup for the first time in club history.

From 2017-2020 Mark was Head Coach of the Australian National Team, leading them in FIVB and AVC competitions including World Championships (best result ever) in September 2018. In September 2019, we won the silver medal at the Asian Championships for Australia’s first medal in that competition in twelve years.

FEBRUARY 10 (Saskatoon)

4:00PM – 4:45PM – University of Saskatchewan Gymnasium (PAC)

Effective attacking strategies and techniques

Mark Dodds – University of Saskatchewan Women’s Head Coach

Mark Dodds took over as head coach of the Huskie Women’s Volleyball program in 2015-2016.

The former Huskie volleyball and Canadian Senior Team standout has steadily improved the Huskies year-over-year. In 2019-20 the team qualified for the Canada West playoffs for the first time since 2001-02.

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Dodds’ conference winning percentage as of the end of the 2019-20 season is the highest of any Huskie coach since the legendary Mark Tennant retired after the 1996-97 season.

Dodds was a member of the Huskie men’s volleyball coaching staff in 2011-2012. Dodds played with the Huskies from 2002 to 2006. In that time, Dodds led the team in kills and service aces. He sits third all-time on the Huskies career kills list with 939. He was named an all-star four times and a U SPORTS All-Canadian three times. Dodds was the Canada West and U SPORTS MVP in 2005-06. He won the national championship with the Huskies in 2004.

Dodds has also had a successful career with the Canadian Senior Team and also represented Canada at the World Universiade.

February 10 (Saskatoon)

5:00PM – 5:45PM – University of Saskatchewan Classroom

Technology options in volleyball

Sean McKay – University of Saskatchewan Men’s Head Coach

McKay became the ninth head coach in the history of Huskie men’s volleyball when he took over for the 2019-20 season. In the 2019-20 season, McKay guided the Huskies to a playoff berth.

McKay joined the Huskies from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) where he served as head coach of the Trojans men’s volleyball program for three seasons. From Sudbury, Ont., he led the Trojans to a record of 51-2, earning an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) championship in 2018 and ACAC bronze in 2019.

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Along with guiding the Trojans, McKay has spent time with the Volleyball Canada Regional Excellence Program in Calgary and also with Volleyball Alberta, the latter of which where he was able to guide the U-17 boys team to a second place finish in the 2018 Canada Cup.

A former U SPORTS setter, McKay spent five years with the Western Mustangs where he was a four-time Ontario University Athletics silver-medallist and also helped the Mustangs earn a pair of top-five finishes at the national championship tournament. He also holds playing experience with the Sodertelge Volleyball Club in Sweden.

February 11 (Saskatoon)

10:00AM – 10:45AM – University of Saskatchewan Gymnasium (PAC)

Ball control and warm up games

Christine Biggs – University of Calgary Women’s Head Coach

Christine Biggs began her tenure as the ninth head coach in Dinos women’s volleyball history in January 2021.

She joined to the Dinos from the University of New Brunswick, where she has led the Reds women’s volleyball program since 2018. In her short tenure at UNB she led a turnaround for the Reds, posting a 24-15 record in two seasons after the program had posted just seven wins in the previous three seasons combined. In her first season, she was the Atlantic University Sport coach of the year after leading the Reds from an 0-20 mark in 2017-18 to a 12-7 record and an appearance in the AUS final just a year later.

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A native of Edmonton, Biggs played for MacEwan University, Red Deer College, and the University of Alberta, winning a national title with the Pandas in 2007. She earned Education and Physical Education degrees, then returned to UofA to complete a Master of Coaching in 2019.

Before heading east to Fredericton, Biggs was an assistant coach with the Pandas from 2015-18 and had plenty of other coaching experience at the provincial and club level. In 2015 she was named an assistant coach for Volleyball Canada’s national women’s sitting volleyball team, representing Canada at the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016.

February 11 (Saskatoon)

11:00AM – 11:45AM – University of Saskatchewan Gymnasium (PAC)

How to create a practice plan that is appropriate for your team (balance between game and repetition)

Rod Durrant – University of Calgary Men’s Head Coach

Rod Durrant was named the fifth men’s volleyball coach at the University of Calgary in June 2006. In his 15th season as head coach of the Dinos in 2021-22, Durrant led his team to a national championship appearance for the fifth time.

During his tenure, Rod has led the Dinos to the 2010 U SPORTS national championship and the 2011 Canada West title. He was the conference coach of the year in both 2011 and 2016, and in 2016 added U SPORTS coach-of-the-year honours after leading his team to a program-record 18 wins during the regular season. It was the program’s second U SPORTS Coach of the Year honour and the first since 1978.

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He coached the Canadian Men’s Standing Disabled team to three consecutive World Championship titles in 2002, 2004, and 2006, adding to the team’s World Cup gold in 2005 and silver in 2003. He coached Team Alberta to a silver medal at the 2001 Canada Games and was an assistant coach of the Dinos men from 2000-to 2002.

From 1995-99, Durrant served as Head Coach of the Mount Royal College men’s volleyball program, capturing three consecutive Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) provincial titles from 1997-99. He added a national silver medal in 1997 and back-to-back Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) national championships in 1998 and 1999.  He was named ACAC Coach of the Year in 1998 and CCAA Coach of the Year in 1999.

Durrant also has strong ties to the volleyball community in Alberta.  As Technical Director of the Alberta Volleyball Association since 1999, he has created ties with athletes and coaches throughout the province and has been involved with several major volleyball events across Western Canada. He has been co-chair of the Canadian West Open – the largest indoor volleyball event ever held in Canada – since 1999.

Durrant was an assistant coach for the Dinos team that captured a bronze medal at the 2001 U SPORTS Championship.

In his playing career, he captured an ACAC bronze medal with Red Deer College, ACAC gold and CCAA silver at Mount Royal College, and a Canada West silver medal as a member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Kinesiology degree from the University of Calgary and is a fully certified NCCP Level III volleyball coach.

He was inducted into the Volleyball Canada Hall of Fame in 2002.

February 11 (Saskatoon)

12:00PM – 12:45PM – University of Saskatchewan Gymnasium (PAC)

Training serve reception – performance cues, best practices, and drill progressions

Tania Harrison – Head Coach of Volleyball Canada Regional Excellence Program in Regina

With nearly 25 years of coaching experience, Tania Harrison struggles to narrow down her coaching highlights – there have been too many.

The Saskatchewan coach played for the University of Regina in her post-secondary days, starting to coach at the club and provincial levels before she finished her playing career. She has spent a number of summers coaching Team Saskatchewan in the Canada Games, including as an assistant coach in 2001 and head coach in 2005 and 2013.

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Her loyalty to the University of Regina kept her with the school, serving as an assistant coach with the women’s for a large portion of her coaching career. She’s the head coach of Volleyball Canada’s Regional Excellence Program in Regina, and has served on the coaching staff for Youth, Junior, and Senior National Teams.

WINTER REGISTRATION INFO

*** EARN UP TO 5 PD POINTS DURING OUR WINTER COACHES SYMPOSIUM ***

Receive 1 PD point for each online session and 3 PD points for attending in-person.

Coaches please provide your full name, club name and NCCP # when you register.
Sask Volleyball will provide a discount code to Accredited Clubs in January.

Registration Costs:
$10.00 + gst / Accredited Club member (Discount code required)
$20.00 + gst / Approved Club member
Tickets for the Friday and Saturday matches are not included with your registration. 

Final Deadline – Feb 1, 2022

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If you were certified in 2018, your 5-year coaching period to obtain your Professional Development points will be ending in 2023. Please verify your coaching Locker for the number of points you require prior to your end date.

For inquiries please Contact (Subject line – Coaching)

Winter Symposium Registration - OPEN

Online Session Links will be sent via email on February 6

On January 1st, 2014, Volleyball Canada complied with the Coaches Association of Canada’s (CAC) NCCP Professional Development policy. Coaches who are “Certified” within any context now receive credit within the Locker database for approved professional development experiences. In order to maintain certification, certified Development Coaches & Advanced Development Coaches will need to accrue 20 points over a period of 5 years. Performance Coaches will need to accrue 30 points over a 5-year period. Please review the CAC’s FAQ for all the details.

2022 Fall Speaker Series

Our Fall presenters will focus on early athlete training and how it leads to Long-Term Development in volleyball. All introductory volleyball coaches at the recreational, elementary, high school, or 13/14U club are welcome to attend. By attending both the online & in-person sessions, you will receive professional development (PD) points to assist with your personal coaching certification.

October 25 (Online)

7:30PM – 8:30PM

Making the link between Long Term Development (LTD) and Smashball

James Sneddon – Volleyball Canada Manager of Sport Development 

James has had been highly involved in shaping the Volleyball Development Matrix, National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) and building pathway connectivity between Indigenous and mainstream participants for Volleyball Canada. He also established our national high performance development athlete programs including the Regional Excellence Programs (REP) and National Excellence Program (NEP) across the country.

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  • Direct all Long-Term Development (LTD) initiatives.
    • Collaboratively authored the LTD 3.0 Manual and Volleyball Development Matrix
    • Led the development of a Smashball Trainer App
    • Leading the development of the Community Coach workshop, targeting coaches working with 6–12-year-olds in the club context.
  • Responsible for building pathway connectivity between Indigenous and mainstream participants. Identifying systemic gaps and directing a corresponding action plan.
  • Previously led all aspects of the National Coach Certification Program (NCCP).
    • Revised five NCCP courses.
    • Trained Master Coach Developers across Canada.
  • Developed national high performance athlete development programs including the Regional Excellence Program (REP), and National Excellence Program (NEP).
    • The REP operates in several cities across Canada, offering supplementary training for youth aged 13-18.
    • The NEP identifies, selects, and trains the top 14 athletes across Canada in grades 11/12 from the months of September to December each year. The program applies an innovative online sport school model that offers a high-performance environment while maintaining connections with family and peer networks.
  • Administrative and technical lead for the Canada Games beach and indoor volleyball events (2009, 2013, 2017).

Lead the ongoing development of volleyball initiatives through collaboration with all 13 Provincial/Territorial Volleyball Associations.

October 29 (Regina)

9:30AM – 10:20AM – QCVC Complex

Smashball – FUNdamentals Grade 1-3 (What? Why? How?)

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10:30AM – 11:30AM – QCVC Complex

Smashball – Learn to Train Grade 4-6 (What? Why? How?)

Tom Ash – Sask Volleyball Indoor Development Program Coordinator

I am married with two grown children and two beautiful grand daughters.

I am a retired educator with over 30 years of experience.  This experience has included such roles as: classroom teacher (gr. 8 – 12); Science & Mathematics consultant (K-12); Adjunct Professor (Science Education – University of Regina) and Curriculum writer.

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In my retirement (12 years and counting . . .), I have been employed as:
– a consultant (Lab safety and Safe storage of chemicals);
– an Adjunct professor (Science Education)
– a Sask Volleyball clinician
– Mini-Volley (K-3)
– Atomic Volleyball (gr. 4 – 6)

I joined Sask Volleyball in 2012, on a part-time basis, as Program Coordinator.  In this capacity I am responsible for overseeing Developmental programming from K – gr. 8, as well as the 12U, 13U and 14U age-class programs.

I have been involved in sports, as a competitor, later a coach and now a spectator, for most of my life.

My coaching experience includes a variety of sports: hockey, softball, baseball, soccer, badminton and volleyball.

I have coached volleyball at the high school and club level for more than 30 years.  My involvement with club volleyball includes every age class from 13U – 18U, as well as a Provincial team assistant coach.

During my time coaching volleyball, I have had the good fortune to have worked with teams that experienced a degree of success in Championship settings, including:

4 Provincial (D1) – Gold medals – 14UW; 16UW; 17UW; 18UW

1 Provincial (D1) – Bronze medal – 15UW

1 Provincial 5A Girls High school Champions

6 Junior Girls City (Regina) – Gold medals

1 Canada West – 16U Nationals (D1-T1) – Silver medal

I continue to enjoy my involvement in volleyball, in my present capacity as Program Coordinator.  It’s encouraging to watch the joy and enthusiasm with which the athletes embrace our sport.

October 29 (Regina)

12:30PM – 1:30PM – QCVC Complex

13U – Starting off on the Right Path

Coach Jay will share his insights on what skills to focus on, how to progress them, and provide some sample drills. He will also share thoughts on how to develop team tactics for this, quite often, first year volleyball athletes.

1:45PM – 2:45PM – QCVC Complex

14U – Continuing to Grow:

Now that serving and passing are more important, how does that shift your training priorities?  What new skills should be introduced?  Which skills require advancing?  Should you assign positions to athletes?  Coach Jay will touch on these questions as well as provide some sample drills.

Jay Magus – Huskies Volleyball Club Coach (14U & 18U)

Jay grew up in small town Saskatchewan and played Team Sask volleyball for 4 summers, culminating with a Silver Medal at the 1989 Canada Games that were hosted in Saskatoon. He then moved to the University of Saskatchewan playing 5 years for the Huskies as their setter, and was Canada West 1st Team All-star 4 years, and U-Sports 1st Team All-Canadian twice. He also played 3 years full-time for Team Canada Men’s Volleyball playing in two World Student Games, one Pan-Am’s, one World Cup, and numerous NORCECA’s.

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He then moved to coach assisting with the Huskies University for several years, before switching to club coaching, leading an Ontario 18U male club team to a Tier 1 5th place at Nationals, and a Calgary 17U male club team to a Tier 1 National Silver Medal. He was also an assistant coach with Team Canada Junior Men’s in the summer of 2004.

Jay then took a break from coaching as his daughter’s were born, but in 2017 and 2018 coached triple ball in the 13U division, including earning a provincial title in 2018. In 2019 the team moved to the 14U division and finished with a bronze medal at provincials. In 2020, prior to Covid striking, he was coaching a 16U team with his oldest daughter as a team member, and a 12U team with his youngest daughter on the team.  Currently, Jay is planning on coaching 18U and 14U club teams throughout the next club season.  Jay has also coached Team Sask female teams over the past 3 summers, and is proud to see a number of club athletes he has coached reach their goals of playing post-secondary volleyball.

FALL REGISTRATION INFO

*** Registrants will receive a Zoom link from Sask Volleyball via email, Monday prior to the event ***

Coaches please provide your full name, Club name and NCCP # when you register.
Sask Volleyball will provide a discount code to your Club Coordinator.

Fall Symposium Cost:

Free for an Accredited Club member (Discount code required)
$10.00 + gst/Approved Club member or non-member

REGISTRATION Deadline – Oct 20, 2022

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Earn up to 3 PD points for attending our online or in-person sessions

If you were certified in 2017, your 5-year coaching period to obtain your Professional Development points will be ending in 2022. Please verify your coaching Locker for the number of points you require prior to your end date.

If you have any questions please contact us at coach@saskvolleyball.ca

Fall Symposium Registration

On January 1st, 2014, Volleyball Canada complied with the Coaches Association of Canada’s (CAC) NCCP Professional Development policy. Coaches who are “Certified” within any context now receive credit within the Locker database for approved professional development experiences. In order to maintain certification, certified Development Coaches & Advanced Development Coaches will need to accrue 20 points over a period of 5 years. Performance Coaches will need to accrue 30 points over a 5-year period. Please review the CAC’s FAQ for all the details.

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