Why don't Australia have an Olympic Volleyball Team?

[@Destamoon]

The problem is that Luke Perry is your best player and unfortunately you can only go so far when your best player is your libero

[@ShadowhunterJDeng]

Another sub-part of funding not mentioned is the low number of indoor courts for volleyball. Badminton basketball netball usually get priority

[@S3verance]

We need to advocate for more courts dedicated to volleyball. Recently Reds club in perth has signed a deal with the government for a 12 court stadium but that was only possible due to the basketball association also chiming in. I can almost guarantee basketball will get a priority there too.

[@kreyull]

low number of indoor courts + almost no indoor courts near the CBD (for Victoria at least), not only is it difficult for clubs to find spots to train, but also for players to find accessible places to hire a court

[@travelerop]

funding's always a problem for volleyball. the high school i go to, the boys team has no money. almost everything's payed by the girls and sometimes we have had to pay from our own pockets for our uniforms

[@Willmoaa]

my school dont even got a volleyball team

[@typekkleks4013]

your schools got teams for anything? No after school activities where i live (in my country)

[@liamhenry59]

@@typekkleks4013 your country has schools? wow, no schools in my country.

[@Willmoaa]

@@liamhenry59 ur have a country I don’t even live in one

[@travelerop]

@@typekkleks4013 american schools have almost all the popular sports for both boys and girls

[@OzzyTragic]

Also the FIVB work ranking system changes have come in at EXACTLY the wrong time for us, as in the mid 2010s we had a banger team on the men's side that qualified for the World League finals (beating basically the same French team that won gold in Tokyo) and those results have kept us in the World League/VNL right up to 2 years ago basically. But then when the ranking system changed to this more Chess style system, being the weakest team in VNL just means that your world ranking takes a hammering because you are playing in so many more games that are for ranking against the best teams in the world. Before this change, countries would get points just for qualifying into a tournament or competition so that would help keep the ranking up.

[@OzzyTragic]

Love it mate. Years ago volleyball had a smaller player base in Aus, but we seemed to do relatively well - we qualified for Athens 2004, won an Asian championship and qualified for London 2012. Whereas now there appears to be a much bigger player base but we don't seem to be getting the elite athletes at the same level. Maybe this was just a holdover from the amount of money that was put into the sport leading up to 2000 and the hangover of that. Now that Australian sport and the AIS is much leaner and really only funding medal chances, we have been struggling.

[@OzzyTragic]

For all of the other sports you mentioned, it is also SO EASY to watch them at the highest level on TV. Only now with the advent of streaming, youtube, VBTV etc has it become easier to watch the best in the world play and follow along with the best national and club competitions in the world. Growing up (in the 90s/2000s) we were lucky if SBS would show the World League or the AVL - at like 8am on a sunday or whatever it was 😂. Think of the hard work that SBS did to put soccer on the map in Australia. Soccer was NOWHERE in the 80s and 90s. Now the Aussie Super League is sometimes on TV and streaming which is a good thing (kinda hard to get to however for the streaming provider) .

[@PocketZ678]

Another huge problem is also the lack of international practise that the teams can get. Australia is sooo isolated from everywhere and it makes it so hard for the national team to get proper practise.

[@kingofthesun4858]

An over looked part is regional volleyball. Good luck trying to compete with big cities, mean while Rugby league produces top notch regional players constantly. once you hit your local region skill ceiling you either have to commute to a big city if you're lucky or move to a major city which is insanely expensive.

[@caylamlovercio8418]

I’m so passionate for volleyball that I have to drive an hour to and back from my club plus some socials, 3 times a week

[@timothyebbs6443]

That’s amazing, I hope you can continue to love the sport that much!

[@jonathancheong3042]

Point number 4 is crazy on point, coaching FIVB level 2 was expensive. Not just Elite players are leaving, great younger generation coaches are leaving too. VA is not focusing on the next batch of generation coming into the system. Most of the senior coaches are just not mentor-friendly to actually teach the next one coming up. Also, the Super League is just a breath away to die off. We need to support the community from the ground up first. Coaches and players alike.

[@irobotlover]

as a kid i was also introduced to volleyball quite late. i was 11 in year six doing volleyball games (was added onto a list bc i was sports captain + athletic. all kids who were good at sports in primary school were on the list) and then in high school i was added. so i was playing at 12, sadly which is so late. volleyball is such a great and fun sport! it’s my favourite sport. i’ve never been so passionate about doing something, i haven’t played in about five years now because i moved to a rural town. i miss it every single day!

[@elkayteevee7680]

Hope one day I can play even a small part into inspiring the next generation to love and play Volleyball at the highest level. Thanks for doing this i was wondering why us as a country despite all the sports talent, never showed for indoor Volleyball at VNL and the Olympics

[@mitch99999]

Stumbled across this by accident but great video! I really resonated with the point about massive growth in interest with organisations not keeping up. I used to be able to play Div 4 SVL but now the comp is too crowded, it's a real shame. Hopefully this great sport keeps growing

[@S3verance]

My children are going to be playing volleyball at age 4

[@DonnyDonnMendoza]

I played at university back in the day and ended up coaching seriously during the early 2010's right at the peak of where Australia was. After injuries and constant business travel towards the end of the 2010's and I couldn't coach as seriously anymore. Along with the demoralising reality of seeing talent disappear to other sports, not being able to develop players who would stay and not being able to implement different/newer coaching techniques (especially more gameplay-based scenarios) I gave up on coaching myself. We used to also have a lot of high level sponsorship as well which is also no longer the case. I'm also not too sure about our chances for 2032; it's going to take some drastic changes in approach to coaching and development (most of which is well and truly beyond me LOL ). I hope they do happen very soon.

[@ascent1on716]

yeah funding is a large part of the failure of sports development in Australia unless they are one of the bigger sports there isn't much development outside of clubs and even then clubs often have parents or old school coaches that don't study more information then they need to but in the sports that are the most popular you can see that we do have the ability to do this so we need to start doing that on a wider scale.

[@xexexz6372]

there are volleyball players at the 2024 olympics who started playing in middle school tho.

[@S3verance]

It's a game of numbers. How many adults are out there who could have been excellent volleyball players but either didn't pick up volleyball or chose to move to other sports. Basically: More kids playing volleyball = higher chance of finding talent

[@poetrybyivo1299]

Its ok mate. Im an aussie fencer lmao. Not a shred of funding, never introduced unless you go looking for it, hot down here with all the gear. Its ok. We will get there haha

[@avanillasodapopslice]

i wish australia was more diverse with sports honestly if you arent a swimmer, netballer, footballer, basketballer etc it sucks

[@warwickmilne612]

It is really exciting to see the young women in the Women's Volleyroos. The next generation is currently getting high-level experience in US/Canada/Europe. Over the next 4 years that will grow our skill exponentially. The average age of our current team is 21. I bet that's the youngest in the world.

[@miu01011996]

hi coach, thanks for making this video and all other coaching videos over the past year. i was wondering where to buy your merch? i suggest you include a link in the description so viewers can easily access it. thank you

[@zurawrath3467]

I think one of the reasons was it was all height where we train tall kids instead of the best kids. Some of the best players weren’t 200cm or taller. I was apart of state squads aus juniors yet was always overlooked because a kid was a bit taller than me. Two players Ben bell and Thomas Edgar are the only good players who made it that were tall but not amazing thru school. Ben bell was good thru school

[@bensonspov]

Haha I started volleyball last year when I was 22 and honestly the resources available isn't that good either tbh

[@Masa6x]

Me too, I played a little in highschool but it was PE rec level, barely learned the fundamental skills. This year at uni at 22 I started playing more properly, 5-1 rotation and all that, it's tough. I see basketball content on youtube that I'm convinced would help me get to the intermediate level RAPID, volleyball only has coach donny, reddit and some niche youtube videos here and there. Even my uni team's coaches were terrible and I learned more from the experienced asian players giving me tips

[@bensonspov]

@@Masa6x I suggest you explore the Japanese side of volleyball content lol. They have a bunch of useful information especially and a lot have english subtitles. I hover around a lot of the asian volleyball videos on youtube since I can understand mandarin so a taiwanese youtube channel also provided very in-depth information on technical side of vball

[@Masa6x]

@@bensonspov yea when i was first starting one of those japanese videos helped me a lot with the biomechanics of my armswing because i was getting pain from doing it wrong. its just frustrating to have to rely on auto translate sub titles, yet their content is so good. japanese volleyballers even at lower levels have the best technical skills across the board ive found. Are there any specific channels you'd recommend?

[@bensonspov]

@@Masa6x SD Volleyball English Hoshina Training Studio 銘排生活Ming's VolleyLife Yea, these 3 are the people I watch the most

[@Masa6x]

@@bensonspov Ooh ill check out the ming's volleylife channel, ive been subbed to the other 2 for a while but havent seen all the vids yet. ty bro

[@evakmohns5363]

I remember that Australia used to be like league B of these international competitions, I used to see you guys around the tournaments, now - not so much. I think the ranking system change didn't help you as well... It's also funny as you have one of the best liberos in the world. Luke Perry is a big thing here in Poland, I think he was picked as the best libero of the 2022/23 season and top 2 this season, he also won silver in the championships. We're talking about the best league in the world right now (Italians will argue 😉) but yeah, it's sad hearing all these things. This is a very particular sport, it's not widely accessible eg physical attributes, facilities, what's also observed is that our volleyball players are really intelligent, often have higher education, they're well spoken even at a very young age - so I understand why it's not a world-wide sport, but as a volleyball lover, it would be so much fun if more countries got into it

[@petergrootenboer9508]

Great book!

[@fighter44777]

the same goes for india too. here volleyball is famous and played in every state but mostly on clay courts. also there is lack of indoor courts dedicated to volleyball. and sometimes politics in slection of the players. one more reason is that i have seen many talented players but due to financial stress they have to quit volleyball to work. but after hikyuu this thing will going to be change but it will easly take time up to 7 to 8 years. i am hoping for india vs australia in vollyball olympics finals. also In October 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed India's bid for the 2036 Summer Olympic Games while inaugurating the 141st session of the IOC in Mumbai. Hosting an Olympic Games requires a massive investment in creating both sports and non-sports infrastructure. also there exists professional men's indoor volleyball league called prime volleyball league like ipl, but there are no famous players exists in this.

[@OzzyTragic]

Yes mate, so much volleyball content coming out of India. The videos of players on clay courts with huge crowds watching on and these amazing players doing it outdoors on the clay! incredible. Prime volleyball should increase the Indian team's level eventually. Bringing a lot of skilled players and coaches into India to train and impart their knowledge can only be good.

[@jerrychen2302]

They need u to join the team

[@kyledrake9750]

Way too many gate keepers. A lot of the coaches for kids are just people who put their hands up to do it, even at the representative level, and personal politics means there isn't much liking for constructive criticism. Beach pairs don't really allow lazy gatekeepers to stand around feeling important. It is purely merit based. So many coaches don't focus on technique and are not great at problem solving team coordination. They think that the answer is to invent a different and irrelevant drill each session.

[@avanillasodapopslice]

my couches suck unfortunately, its not their fault but they are all old men who played a little bit of volleyball when they were young and have an extremely outdated way of playing. they never teach us about the actual strategy of the game. just drills and drills. its the only volleyball where i live and i live in regional victoria so volleyball opportunities are bare bones. it sucks because i had dreams to get to a high level but it is impossible

[@arielfokoua9740]

They weren’t good enough either ways (at least in men’s)

[@samlape]

At least in Western Australia, bogans are too busy playing AFL/netball/INDOOR BEACH REBOUND VOLLEYBALL. Australia doesn't deserve ANY Olympic volleyball team.

[@co0kii]

the indoor rebound volleyball was WILD to me when I visited WA and played a social session

[@twowheelseatingmeals-motoj8080]

Easy, never seen highly explosive athletes that can jump in Australia, they're all playing basketball.

[@avanillasodapopslice]

all the tall/high jumping guys here think volleyball is gay lol it sucks

[@ASutt23]

There are a few that play the sport still…

[@avanillasodapopslice]

@@ASutt23 no of course, there definitely are but a lot of the super athletic boys in aus go for basketball or footy

[@vibraniumsteelix2125]

Bro it is 100% a lack of skill lmao if your team isn't even top 30 in the world 🤣 Dosanjh was your best setter in years and he sucked, only players doing anything overseas are Mote and Perry, neither of which are guys you can build an offense around at the NT level

[@avanillasodapopslice]

u clearly didnt watch the video lol.. it is lack of skill but its because of the things he talked about. australia is a highly athletic country but yeah volleyball here sucks, if anyone did have talent for volleyball they probably wouldn't play because nobody knows about it