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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
*** 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)
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.
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.
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.
*** 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
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.