Coach Chijo Podcast

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 paren...

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 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 i...

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 cr...

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 s...

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 differentl...

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 missi...

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...