Vacancy: Volley Blacks Head Coach

Volleyball New Zealand seeks applications for the position of Volley Blacks Head Coach for the next cycle of the programme.

Our senior men’s indoor programme is designed to develop New Zealand Volleyball athletes who can perform to the best of their ability consistently. The Volley Blacks Head Coach will play a significant role in helping to achieve this goal. The purpose of the role is to create an environment that inspires, challenges, and develops their athletes to be better.

The key roles and responsibilities for the role over the two-year team cycle period (both domestically and internationally) are:

         Prepare a two-year plan inclusive of internal and international activities, which meets the stated outcomes of the nationally focused development of the programme (athletes and coaches are being serviced nationally)

         Attend Volleyball New Zealand events to observe athletes in action so you can select, give feedback, and build relationships with your athletes

         Build rapport with your athletes to gain trust and respect

         Improve the overall performance of the athletes in your team

         Prepare and travel with the team to domestic and international commitments

To apply, please email your Coaching CV and Cover Letter to Volleyball New Zealand Performance Administrator Teresa Highnam – admin@volleyballnz.org.nz

Applications close 8pm, Sunday 7 January, 2024

Click here for the full position description (PDF).

Beach Tour 2023 dates and locations locked in

Volleyball New Zealand is delighted to confirm the dates and locations for the 2023 G.J. Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour.

Following a comprehensive internal review of the 2022 tour, VNZ have confirmed a number of changes to the timing and structure of the tour in 2023 to improve the experience for stakeholders on and off the sand.

Regional Beach events, which provide opportunity for players to earn points towards involvement in the G.J. Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour, will take centre stage in the early summer months.

The Regional Beach tour event structure has also been simplified from 2022 version with events now in two categories only – 1-day and 2-day. Click here for full calendar of dates for Regional Beach events.

The 2023 edition of the G.J. Gardner Homes New Zealand Beach Tour will begin in Tasman on February 10-12 before the tour switches to Auckland (venue TBC) for February 24-26.

The tour then comes to the home of Beach Volleyball in New Zealand, Mt Maunganui Main Beach then playing host to the third event before the Tour Finals on back-to-back weekends in early March.

There will be two divisions of competition in the 2023 tour, with Premier and Division 1 competitions – full details of the structure of the competition will be available shortly.

VNZ is also continuing discussions with FIVB regarding the hosting of a World Pro Tour Futures level event in the 2023 summer and VNZ will confirm the outcome of those discussions shortly.

G.J. Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour 2023 – Dates and Locations

- February 10-12 – Tahunanui Beach, Tasman
- February 24-26 – Auckland (venue TBC)
- March 3-5 – Mt Maunganui Main Beach, Mt Maunganui
- March 10-12 – Tour Finals – Mt Maunganui Main Beach, Mt Maunganui

Experiencing Birmingham from the referee's stand

Tim Cleaver attended the recent Birmingham Games as one of 14 referees from around the Commonwealth - it wasn't just a fantastic experience, it also helped with his development as an official.  

"You arrive a few days beforehand for refereeing clinics, and to go over the tournament protocols. The clinics are really useful, there are loads of video clips and resources provided to us, and we can bring those back and use those to help out with referee development in New Zealand."

Tim started refereeing when living in Germany in 2009 - he was playing in a New Zealand team that needed to provide a referee. From that point on he's refereed in New Zealand and picked up two or three international appointments each year, mainly on the Asian leg of the World Tour, in places Thailand and Korea, as well as Olympic qualifiers.

The chance to travel to the Birmingham Games as something special.

"Generally, there were two appointments a day as a first second referee or reserve referee, where you're scoring as well. They're all challenging in their own right, there's pressure on right from the start."

"These games followed a very similar protocol to the Olympics, with teams able to challenge on certain things. That's something you might only get once or twice a season in other tournaments, so it's good to get a few games using it under your belt. It's a really good system, and I'm sure that the players will say the same. You can see on TV with the tiny block touches or the ball landing one or two centimetres either side of the sidelines."

"The games were really, really good, perfect stadium and crowd engagement through the announcers and dancers, the crowd made a lot of noise! You can really hear in your ear when you're on the referee stand. There was a bit of bit of extra pressure! The Olympic qualifier was amazing, and this was in a similar vein, it was good to get the experience under my belt."

Photo credit: APAC Sport Media.

NZSS Junior South Island Resources

Volleyball New Zealand | Poirewa Aotearoa
FIVB
AVC
Oceania Volleyball
Volleyball New Zealand Inc
Sports House, Stadium Drive,
Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

admin@volleyballnz.org.nz