Regional Excellence Program
The Excellence Program (National and Regional) develops the next generation of leaders in the volleyball community, who exemplify excellence both off and on the court.
Regional Excellence Program
Volleyball Canada’s mission is to recruit and develop athletes across the country through excellent coaching and invested support staff.
The National Excellence Program (“NEP” formerly the Full Time Program) and the Regional Excellence Program (“REP” formerly the VCCE) are specifically designed to prepare volleyball athletes to take their game to the next level.
Unfortunately, our young developing athletes often spend more time in competition than in training and development. Practice time is typically spent on developing team systems in preparation for games. While this produces short term success on the court, the technical skills of our athletes are being left behind. The REP aims to counter this trend with training sessions focused on individual skill development.
In partnership with high schools, provincial associations, colleges and universities, and funding partners, the Regional Excellence Program (REP) is based on an integrated sport performance environment, including a number of services to complement high-performance athlete development. Physical assessments, testing, video analysis, integrated strength and conditioning are part of the program offered by Volleyball Canada. Working with leading experts in nutrition, sport psychology, and athlete development, programs ensure cutting edge athlete training.
Focusing on a committed club, high school as well as regional, provincial, and nationally recognized athletes (Grade 8-12), each person will benefit from the training received in his/her program. Training is based specifically on individual skill development. A low coach to athlete ratio allows for lots of personal feedback, ball contacts and progress for athlete success.
A professional team of coaches, many of which coach at and have associations with local college and university teams, receive training and development from our National team coaches. Each one understands what it takes to excel at the next level and what each athlete needs to do to be successful both on and off the court. Volleyball Canada supports the coaches through curriculum development, working directly with a lead mentor coach, as well as professional development opportunities such as working with National Team programs and/or coaching certification opportunities.
Training commitments include 1-2 training sessions per week during the duration of the program. Availability of sessions depend on location, but take into account seasons of play for common Club and High School training times and are typically offered from September to June.
The development of our youth athletes is critical to our Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model and the program provides the appropriate amount of training, competition, and recovery during the early stages of athlete development.
Some of our successful athletes that are in our program or graduated are Youth National Team athletes Alina Dorman and Emie Gaboury. Alina played for Canada’s Senior Women’s Team. Alina was heavily recruited by US and Canadian Universities and is played for the perennial powerhouse the University of Toronto. Alina she was USpot Rookie of the year!
Former athlete, Kevin Lebreux and athlete Alexandre Nsakanda represented Canada on the Youth Men’s National Team, winning a silver medal at the USA International Tournament.