Christopher P.

Chris has come to Missouri by way of Northern California where he coached USAV Junior Girls Volleyball for powerhouse club Delta Valley Volleyball Club (Stockton, Calif.). His former club Delta Valley VBC operates and competes in arguably one of the toughest regions in the country: NCVA (Northern California Volleyball Association). For over 20 years, Delta Valley has sent at least one team to the USA Volleyball Girls Junior Nationals each year. Most recently, their 14’s team won the Gold Medal in the Open Division at the 2010 Junior Olympics in Orlando, Florida. It is this professionalism and commitment to excellence that Coach Chris brings to the greater Saint Louis area.

In six seasons (2004-2010) coaching with Delta Valley VBC, Chris consistently helped lead his teams to various Gold, Silver and Bronze division finishes in their respective age groups in the NCVA. He also served 2 years (2004-2006) as varsity assistant to his coaching mentor Don Shannon at Amador High School in Sutter Creek, Calif. It is his time with Coach Shannon at both Amador and Delta Valley, Club Director Richard Chan and the entire coaching staff of Delta Valley that helped to shape his coaching philosophy and approach to teaching the game to others.

Chris also coached at the collegiate level, most recently at Humboldt State University (Arcata, Calif.) during their 2006 and 2007 summer camps directly under the HSU coaching staff of James Kealalio (El Camino College starting setter) and Sue Woodstra, 1984 Olympic Silver Medalist as a player & 2008 Beijing Olympics Silver Medalist as assistant coach to USA Women’s Olympic Team Head Volleyball Coach Lang Ping.

Chris is currently coaching USA Volleyball Junior teams with Saint Louis Vision Volleyball Club where he also serves as Club and Technical Director. He has coached with/for the club for the last 4 seasons with various teams from 12U to 17U. Coach Chris is also currently serving as Varsity Head Coach for Kennedy Catholic High School. He has been in this capacity for the last two seasons.

Club Coaching Experience: 11 years
High School Coaching Experience: 4 years

Certifications: USAV Impact Certified, Gold Medal Squared Certified, CAP1 Certified.

At a very young age, Chris played in his first grass doubles tournament in California in 1987, finished 1st-Place and has been hooked ever since. From 1995 to 1997 he played as a starting setter for the Mission College (Santa Clara, Calif.) Club team. He also played for the San Jose State Club team from 1998 to 2000. From 1998 to 2001, he played alongside team founder Ali’i Pearson on Team Po`okela in the California adult A-League (Fremont, Calif.) as a setter and opposite where they dominated with one 2nd-Place and two 1st-Place finishes.

The success of Chris' sessions are predicated on a sound teaching philosophy implemented by a seasoned instructor. It is a teaching session in which he demonstrates and explains volleyball techniques, tactics, and systems. Students (as he sees them) are continually given feedback in all areas. All drills, sessions and instruction are designed to provide as many quality GAME LIKE contacts as possible. A firm believer in the "Growth Mindset" process of learning, he ensures students first learn HOW to efficiently learn and invest in their learning process. "The mind is the athlete" is also a mantra of Coach Chris. Once students see "skills" as Motor Programs of their brains, they can learn ANYTHING.