Coach Chijo Podcast

Sometimes you have to get out of the gym.

After running five volleyball clinics in three days in Alaska, Coach Chijo heads into the Alaskan wilderness for a completely different kind of adventure.

The trip includes hours in four-wheel-drive side-by-sides, glacier melt rivers, incredible scenery, and eventually a glacier.

Then comes the big question: Is Coach Chijo actually going to jump into the freezing glacier water?

This episode is a reminder for volleyball players and coaches to occasionally step away from the gym, get outside, experience something new, and make some...

Why is high school volleyball different in Texas?

Coach Chijo sits down with Libby Pacheco from the Texas High School Coaches Association while attending the association's massive coaching convention in Houston.

Libby explains why Texas takes high school athletics so seriously and how having coaches working on campus changes the relationship between coaches and athletes.

They dive into Texas volleyball culture, why the level of competition is so high, the relationship between high school and club volleyball, and whether athletes really need to play club to be successful.

They also discuss...

How do you reduce drama on a volleyball team?

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Coach Blase. In Part 1, The Playing Time Problem, we talked about fairness, equality, winning, development, and why playing time creates so much conflict between coaches, players, and parents.

I ended that episode by asking Coach Blase what advice he would give young coaches struggling to handle playing-time issues.

This episode begins with his answer.

And that answer leads us into a much bigger discussion about how coaches can proactively reduce drama on their...

Playing time. Few topics create more tension between coaches, players, and parents.

In this episode, Coach Blase and I tackle one of the most difficult questions in youth volleyball: What does fair playing time actually mean?

Coach Blase shares the story of a parent who used a stopwatch to compare her daughter's time on the court with another player's and even counted how many times each athlete touched the ball.

That leads us into a much bigger conversation about equal vs. fair, winning vs. development, and how much control coaches actually...

Coach Mehdi played volleyball for 25 years in Iran, including years in the Iranian national-team system.

Now he's coaching in the United States and passing everything he learned on to the next generation, including his own daughter, Asal.

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, Mehdi takes us inside the life of an elite volleyball player. He talks about training three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon, living in national-team camps, playing professionally, traveling internationally, and spending long stretches away from his family.

Asal joins the conversation and gives...

What can an experienced coach learn from someone in their first year coaching high school volleyball?

Quite a lot.

Coach Chijo met Coach Cameron Humble at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention in Houston. After learning that she had just completed her first season as the head volleyball coach at Orangefield High School, he wanted to know how she approached the job.

Coach Humble shares how she worked to change the culture of her program by giving players ownership, expecting upperclassmen to lead, creating competition in the gym, challenging her team against...

Stella is heading into her freshman year and has a lot of questions about what high school volleyball is really going to be like.

So she asks Coach Vicky and Riley.

How do you handle walking into a gym with older players? How confident should a freshman be? What should you do at tryouts? What happens if you don't make the team you wanted? And how do you show coaches that you're coachable?

Coach Vicky and Riley give Stella advice from their own experiences, including why communication matters, how to respond to coaching...

What is volleyball really like in China?

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, I sit down with Coach Bai Yun, a former Chinese National Team player and founder of the largest volleyball club in Beijing. With more than 3,000 athletes, 18 coaches, and 12 training locations, she shares what it's really like to develop volleyball players in China.

We compare the differences between volleyball in China and the United States, discuss coaching philosophies, player development, discipline, training schedules, and why she hopes her daughter will someday play NCAA Division I volleyball.

Whether you're a...

What happens when Super Helper Isabella keeps asking the questions every volleyball player wishes they could ask their coach?

In Part 2, Isabella dives even deeper into the coaching decisions that players think about every tournament.

Coach Chijo explains exactly how he determines playing time, why attitude matters just as much as skill, and how players can earn opportunities long before match day. They also discuss handling pressure, creative coaching strategies, adapting during matches, and why practicing every situation makes better volleyball players.

If you haven't listened to Part 1, start...

Super Helper Isabella turns the tables and interviews Coach Chijo with the questions volleyball players have always wanted answered.

From tryout tips and tournament warm-ups to choosing captains and understanding why coaches make substitutions, Coach Chijo shares honest insights from more than 30 years of coaching.

This is Part 1 of a special two-part interview series.

What do coaches really look for during tryouts?

Why do coaches substitute players?

How are team captains actually chosen?

In this special episode, Isabella turns the tables and interviews Coach Chijo with the...

What happens when you spend an entire day learning from one of volleyball's greatest minds?

In this solo episode, I share the biggest coaching and teaching lessons I learned after spending 24 hours with legendary volleyball educator John Kessel.

Some of these ideas challenged almost everything I've believed about coaching, private lessons, drills, and player development. I found myself questioning many of the methods I've used for years.

We dive into why so many players are practicing for practice instead of practicing for performance, why reading is the most important skill in volleyball, and...

Why Volleyball Festival Feels Like Family | Bryan Kelly

What makes Volleyball Festival so much more than just another volleyball tournament?

Coach Chijo sits down with Bryan Kelly, President of Volleyball Festival, during Volleyball Festival in Phoenix to learn why thousands of players and families return year after year.

Bryan shares the story behind the tournament's family culture, the traditions that have been passed down for more than four decades, and why creating lifelong memories matters just as much as winning matches. From personalized player touches and the famous Player Party to gift exchanges...

What do parents really want from coaches?

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, Coach Chijo sits down with Dina Snook, former volleyball player, volleyball parent, and Coach Chijo Operations Manager, to discuss the coach-parent-player relationship from a perspective many coaches rarely hear.

Dina shares her experiences raising athletes through years of club and college volleyball, what parents notice from the sidelines, and how coaches can build stronger relationships with both players and families.

Topics include:

Who gets the opportunity to play volleyball?

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, Coach Chijo sits down with Coach Johnitta Clemons, Director of Volleyball at Game Day Sports Academy (GSA) in Bakersfield, California, for a powerful conversation about diversity, accessibility, and the future of volleyball.

Coach Clemons shares how GSA has built one of the most diverse volleyball communities in California and discusses the barriers many families face when trying to access club volleyball. From fundraising and transportation challenges to creating opportunities through programs like Starlings Volleyball, this conversation explores what it takes...

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, Coach Chijo sits down with Coach Kristen, Director of Tuba City Volleyball, Head Coach at Tuba City High School, physical therapist, wife, mother, and community leader on Navajo Nation.

Coach Kristen shares her journey from helping Tuba City High School win its first-ever Arizona state championship in 2012 to now leading the next generation of athletes in her community. The conversation explores the realities of growing up and playing sports on the reservation, the challenges of limited resources and long travel distances, and why athletics can be life-changing for young...

Coach Blase has coached volleyball for nearly 50 years, including serving as Head Coach of the Australian Women's National Team. Today, he's coaching 12U and 15U athletes and helping develop the next generation of players.

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, we discuss what great coaching really looks like, why player development starts with self-awareness, and how coaches can create environments where athletes learn, grow, and enjoy the game.

Coach Blase shares stories from his coaching journey, lessons learned from international volleyball, thoughts on leadership, dealing with difficult situations, coaching burnout, and the importance...

How do you run up to 50 volleyball tournaments a year across the country?

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, I sit down with Chris Hames from Top Court Events while we were in Las Vegas at the Emperor’s Cup Volleyball Tournament.

Top Court generously hosted me at the event so I could meet followers, sign autographs, and take photos with players and families throughout the weekend.

Chris shares what happens behind the scenes to organize major volleyball tournaments and the pressure that comes with managing events at such a high le...

What Players Wish Coaches Knew | Isabella’s Perspective as a 16U Player

What do players actually wish coaches understood?

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, Isabella shares her perspective as a 16U club volleyball player and talks honestly about communication, confidence, mistakes, pressure, and what truly makes a coach impactful.

We talk about:
• How different athletes respond differently to coaching
• What players are thinking after mistakes
• Why communication style matters so much
• How coaches can build trust and confidence
• Things coaches may never hear directly from players
...

What does it really take to build a volleyball brand online?

In this episode, Coach Donny and Coach Chijo sit down in Las Vegas during tournament weekend to talk about the reality behind content creation, social media growth, editing, filming, staff, pressure, burnout, and the work people never see behind the scenes.

We also talk about the sacrifices that come with constant travel, including missing family and balancing real life while trying to grow a brand and help people through volleyball.

Most importantly, we talk about how volleyball came into both of our...

One year ago, Monica and I were basically just “playing coach.”

Now we’re traveling across the country running volleyball clinics, building the Coach Chijo brand, meeting thousands of athletes, and recording our very first podcast episode.

In this episode, we talk about:
 • how everything started
 • what the early days looked like
 • building a brand from scratch
 • lessons we’ve learned along the way
 • what actually helps athletes become better players
 • and some behind-the-scenes stories from the journey so far

Huge shoutout to Baden Sports for supporting the journey.

If you’...