Development

Kerish Maharaj - Long-term development goals help grow the sport and love of the game

News

Article Wed, May 12 2021

The fifth webinar series run by the CEV Technical and Development Department continues in full swing, with Canada’s Kerish Maharaj hosting the latest Zoom session on Wednesday afternoon attended by as many as 59 participants from around the world.

Kerish explained that the overall philosophy of Ontario Volleyball revolves around inclusion and the provision of opportunities for everyone to play the game.

Maharaj reviewed the traditional sport model from their past and its side effects, such as positional training coming too early, burnout episodes and a decline in diversity/participation, not just for players but among staff as well.

These negative effects were due to too much emphasis put on winning even at the foundational level. A key part of Ontario Volleyball’s new strategy is to recognise that excellence in the sport takes time and getting athletes to “participate for life” is a huge goal.

Kerish emphasised that teaching children fundamental movement skills needed for multiple sports allows them to develop coordination and agility with themselves as well as with teammates or opponents. Moreover, optimal participation at the grassroots level requires the right mix of meaningful competition / opportunities to play, adaptive programmes, inspirational experiences, and low barriers of entry.

Kerish’s final message to everyone after the Q&A session was to continue working together to grow the sport and love of the game.  

The last session of this webinar series will be taking place on May 20 and feature Italy’s Franca Abbo – who has been running the highly successful S3 development programme for many years in her home country.

#CEVolleyball