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The Mission of LAVA Girls
The LAVA Mission Statement is succinctly and best summed up with a single phrase: “Volleyball Done Differently.” We strive to do differently, to do better, in every single aspect of our enterprise.
In a club volleyball landscape that has deteriorated of late—with regard to how clubs treat one another in their discourse, with regard to the long off-season and tryout process, with regard to providing value in line with the heavy cost of play, with regard to honesty and integrity, and with regard to the overall environment of our SCVA region—LAVA is committed to setting a course and navigating a path with the highest ethical standards of behavior. We pledge to do differently, and better, and will work to ensure our coaches, administrators, players, parents, and everyone else associated with LAVA understands and follows our example.
LAVA Girls is the flagship girls club volleyball program for the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy. Our goal is to provide our players, parents, and families with quality volleyball and athletic instruction and education, in the form of: technique training and passion-building for players; support and guidance for parents on raising youth and junior athletes, communicating with coaches, and understanding the sport; assistance in the collegiate recruiting process; and top-notch direction and leadership for our teams in competition. Our training regimen is one of the most structured in the region—we offer national travel teams, youth and skills development programs, private and semi-private lessons, and myriad workshop and clinic sessions throughout both the season and off-season.
In addition to the above, and even more importantly, our LAVA Girls coaches recognize the exceptional responsibility inherent to coaching—the simple fact that in life, the role of a coach is often second only in weight and influence to that of an athlete’s parents. Our coaches, therefore, take this responsibility very seriously: we believe the responsibility of coaching is less a weight placed on our shoulders and more an incredible opportunity to influence young people positively through the sport of volleyball; we believe every coach is charged with the duty to help his or her players become responsible, autonomous individuals; and we believe coaches should commit to improving the skills of their players, should foster a strong sense of self-confidence in their players, and should do everything in their power to help their players, and their teams, succeed.
To facilitate the achievement of these admittedly lofty goals, LAVA Girls coaches work with an understanding of what we consider our Three Core Values, each with its own set of philosophies designed to help our players, parents, and coaches know their roles, understand their responsibilities, and achieve their dreams.
To the members of the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy and LAVA Girls, there is nothing more important than the sanctity of one’s integrity. The one universal constant amongst the coaches and administrators across the vast LAVA network is a subscription to the idea of “Volleyball Done Differently”, and this is not simply lip service. We work hard and make it a focal point to do better and differently in every single aspect of our enterprise, and this includes the realm of coaching, in which we ask our coaches to teach the skills, teach the meaning of teamwork, treat people fairly, answer questions honestly, and simply strive to do better.
We are a sports-based organization; the fundamental element of sports is competition. While integrity is crucial, competition is the central component of our product—the sport of volleyball. We train and develop our athletes, guide and grow their skills, and seek to foster within them a competitiveness that will transfer onto the court and help them perform to the best of their abilities. The goal for our top age division teams is to perform and succeed at the highest of competitive levels, both in our regional mandatory season and at national travel tournaments beyond, while the goals for each and every one of our teams, no matter the level of overall skill, are to work hard, seek to improve, and compete to the best of their abilities, and to understand that winning is the ultimate by-product of accomplishing these goals.
It’s been said nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion, and while perhaps this is not entirely accurate, in the realm of athletics its truth cannot be overstated—one of the primary forces separating average teams from good teams, good teams from great teams, great teams from extraordinary teams, and quality teams and teammates from their lesser counterparts is the ability, determination, and desire to play—above and beyond anything else—with passion. We make it a point to speak this truth to our players, to build their confidence and help nurture their passion for this wonderful sport, and to stoke it as we bring it forth to flourish on the court. Play together, play for each other, come to play, and play to win, but above all, play with passion.
We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel, but rather to highlight these values in an environment that focuses too heavily on the wrong sorts of philosophical ideals. With nine affiliates spanning several hundred miles, LAVA certainly spans a great distance geographically, but no matter how far apart our programs are from one another in terms of distance, there are two universal constants amongst our coaches and administrators—an understanding of our Three Core Values and a subscription to the idea of “Volleyball Done Differently.”
Simply stated, here at LAVA Girls we want to bring as much product and service to the table—provide as much value as we can—while fostering an environment of honesty, integrity, passion, and competitive fire, with strong values and a familial feel.