Nicola Sgambato

Great to be here I've been coaching volleyball for over 25 years, mostly in Italy and in Portland Oregon for the past two years. I have a CAP 2 certificate from USAV and I specialize in coaching youth volleyball ( under 8 - 18) and high school volleyball. As a coach I am always reading up on how to become a better leader of athletes and a better teacher for my players as well as attending online and in person coaching clinics . My players are fundamentally sound with very high volleyball IQ as I also tend to focus a great deal on the mental aspect of the game.

As a player I played high school and club volleyball in Canada where I grew up. I was by no means the star of the team. I was often on the bench but I was a great teammate and I knew early on that my future would be in coaching. When I moved to Italy I began coaching and studying the sport. I know how difficult the game can be, both physically but above all mentally yet at the same time with the right coach and focusing on the essentials of the game it can also be very simple.

I focus on the major fundamentals of the game: passing, setting, serving, spiking and blocking. The most underutilized skill in USAV youth volleyball is the serve. I focus on float serve, jump float and jump serves.
Blocking, it's not how high you jump but how much penetration you can get over the net and how well you can read a spikers approach. These are two examples. Finally, I place a
great emphasis on reading.