31 Mar 2024

UK Volleyball Coaching Symposium - with US' Stone to be keynote speaker

UK Volleyball Coaching Symposium - with US' Stone to be keynote speaker

Volleyball England – in collaboration with the other Home Nations – will host a UK Volleyball Coaching Symposium on the weekend of 14th and 15th September 2024 at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering.

Juniors performance development will be the main overall theme, with Jim Stone confirmed as the keynote speaker. 

Jim successfully coached the USA youth national teams for more than 10 years, with his squads winning gold at FIVB World Championships in 2019 and silver in 2013 and 2015. 

He spent more than 30 years as an NCAA Division I coach, the vast majority at Ohio State University where his teams won more than 500 matches. 

Under his charge, the university played in 15 NCAA tournaments, and reached the national semi-finals twice. 

Jim is also well known for his work with The Art of Coaching Volleyball website resource and is author of the book A Game Plan for Better Practices

“All the Home Nations have coach development as one of their top priorities,” said Volleyball England’s Strategic Manager for Talent. “Being able to host this sort of event highlights our dedication to making real progress in that regard. 

“Jim Stone not only brings high level juniors performance coaching experience, he’s also a globally respected clinician and coach educator. We’re extremely pleased he’s agreed to take part.”

Margaret Ann Fleming MBE, CEO of Scottish Volleyball, said: “This new initiative from Volleyball England delivers the opportunity for all the home countries to collaboratively approach coach education and player development from a UK perspective.”

“Having a knowledgeable and world class coach in Jim Stone delivering adds value and expertise, offering all those attending the opportunity to work alongside, learn and share best practice from Jim and from other home country coaches."

Jonathan McFadden, Northern Ireland Volleyball’s President, added: “Coach development and education is key to the long-term future and growth of volleyball throughout the home nations, and our coaches look forward to this exciting opportunity to learn from a coach of Jim’s quality and experience.” 

The cost of the weekend will be £150 with this including; event registration, lunch and dinner on Saturday, lunch on Sunday, recordings of all the sessions, access to a live follow-up online Q&A with Jim Stone after the event. 

Bookings are now open. More details can be found here.