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Mission and Vision

 

Mission: Our mission at 575 Volleyball is to develop technically skilled volleyball players who strive to compete at the highest level possible.

Vision: We are a family oriented club and are very passionate to do what is best for the players. Our highly trained and committed staff provides skill based instruction and only form competitive teams.

575 Volleyball creates a positive atmosphere where kids are passionate to succeed and compete. 

Kortney Kimura - Club Director

Kortney grew up in Aiea, Hawai'i and has played sports his entire life.  He was one of 5 students through high school that played 3 sports each year (no specialization like nowadays).  Volleyball was always his favorite along with basketball a close second.  Kortney attended BYU on an academic scholarship while his high school teammates went on to win multiple national championships in volleyball at Penn State, UCLA and Stanford (They had the brains and athleticism!)

He began coaching high school at North Cobb then moved to Etowah.  He has also coached club volleyball for 12 years with Tri-county originally and then Cobb Atlanta.  Kortney is excited to be a part of 575 Volleyball and work with all the amazing young athletes we have.  He loves everything about volleyball!

When he's not coaching volleyball he's running his CrossFit business in Woodstock, GA.  Korney's favorite use of time though is spending time with his amazing fiance and their 3 kids.  In his free time you can catch him working out, playing a sport, learning something random on youtube and playing a game of chess.

John Edwards - Club Director

John Edwards will be coaching the 14-1 team, an age group that he has coached the past four years.  Counting his years coaching basketball, John’s first 575 Volleyball team will be his 37th team.

John began coaching in 2000 as a community coach at Sequoyah High School, assisting the team to State Finals appearances in 2003 and 2004.  He accepted the head coaching position at Creekview and started the program in 2005.  The volleyball program qualified for the state playoffs every year except the first year of varsity competition, making it to the Final Four in 2008 and the Elite 8 in 2009.  Coach Edwards took over the head coaching position at Sequoyah in 2010, guiding the team to state playoff appearances in each year, including one Elite 8 (2010), three straight State Finals (2013-2015), and one State Championship in 2014.  He has been voted Cherokee County Coach of the year six times, Area Coach of the year twice, and AAAAA State Coach of the Year in 2014.  Coach Edwards has over 300 career wins at the high school level.

On the club level, John has worked with North Atlanta Volleyball Club, A5, and Crossfire.  In 2010, his 18-2 team at A5 was a USAV National Qualifier. 

Outside of coaching teams, John has been running summer camps, giving lessons and assisting at high school and college camps since 2010.

Reason for coaching: He loves watching players grow and acquire new skills, gain confidence in what they do, and develop as players and as people.

John has been married for 11 wonderful years to his wife Sarah, and they have two girls, Audrey Cate and Maggie. 

Jeff Black - Founder/Director

Jeff Black is a San Diego native who started playing volleyball his freshman year of high school. He instantly fell in love with the game and wanted to play 24/7. Jeff played in high school, played club, and 2 years of college ball. His high school/club coach, Matt Wilkinson, had a genius volleyball mind and is the best strategist/motivator Jeff has ever seen. When Jeff graduated college in 2012 with a Sport Management degree, he struggled finding a career he was passionate about and was fortunate to land a job with one of the best volleyball clubs in the country - A5. Jeff learned everything about running a successful club and has developed an even stronger passion through teaching/coaching. While at A5, Jeff founded the beach program, which started with 14 year round players, then grew to 40+ and 70+ in just 3 years. With indoor at A5, he coached 15-3 his first season, the following year 6 players made 16-2. The next year he coached 13-4, they won 3 tournaments, the following year 1 player made the 1 team and another made the 2 team. After that, He spent a year at A5 South to help build and mentor the youth program, which grew to 70+ players in just one year.  After resigning  from A5, Jeff coached with Crossfire for 2 seasons. Their youth program saw tremendous growth in the first season, with over 100 players going through the ignite program and more than 50% played club the following year. 

Jeff also coached the Cherokee Christian Warriors Middle School Program for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and led their camps and clinics for all the teams at the school. During the 2017 season, the warriors finished 2nd in state! 

Jeff has helped players sign to colleges across the country including: Florida State, Arizona, Georgia State, West Georgia, Mercer, Texas Christian University, Columbus State, Valdosta State and more!

Jeff is also the head coach volleyball and a teacher at Marietta High School. 

Jeff Black has a history of success growing programs throughout the Metro Atlanta Area, and has been mentored by some of the best in the business. He remains active in the volleyball community as a coach and player, and has established life long relationships with coaches and players across the country. 

Jamie Horton - Founder/Director

Jamie began coaching Volleyball and Basketball at Jonesboro High School 17 years ago. He served as assistant at Jonesboro High in Volleyball for 8 years and as a head coach at Cass High School for 4 years. During this time over 20 student/athlete accepted scholarships to play college volleyball. Throughout this time, one thing hasn’t changed and that is the love of working with the student/athletes and seeing them grow into young adults who would become important members within the community. Jamie enjoys fostering relationships with student/athletes and watching the players develop as a person and athlete. He looks forward to developing elite volleyball players as well as successful adults. In May, 2017, Jamie was named head coach at Cherokee High School and we are excited to see what he can do with the program! Jamie would like to personally welcome you to 575 volleyball and let’s start training!!!

Out of Town Tournament Policies/Jewelry/Playing time Policies

OUT OF TOWN TOURNAMENT POLICIES

575 Volleyball has two types of out of town tournament policy structures. All players stay with their families for all tournaments:

Stay to Play Tournaments: These are rooms for primarily National Qualifiers during the season where tournaments require our club to stay in their hotel blocks.   Families must book hotels at these blocks which will be given to players. 

While players are primarily the responsibility of their parents at all times there are the following rules in place that the club and coaches will adhere to:

  • Players are not allowed to be anywhere by themselves at any moment when they are at the hotel.  A minimum of one other person must be with them at all times.
  • Players are to spend time with each other and not isolate themselves from their team.
  • Players should never tell other people what room they are in or allow other people to enter the room at any time without parental permission.
  • Players are not allowed to leave the hotel premises at any time unless they are with a parent/legal guardian for that weekend.
  • All players must notify their coach and parents of any emergency immediately upon receiving information of such incidences.
  • Players will maintain professional behavior towards each other and the hotel premises.  This includes but is not limited to noise levels, cleanliness, destruction of property, tv programs/movies/shows, conversations and use of phones/computers/tablets and any form of media and apps.
  • Players should be to bed at a reasonable time to allow proper rest for the next days competition.

Non-Stay to Play Tournaments:

Typically all tournaments besides National Qualifiers are non-stay to play tournaments.  Parents are welcome to stay where they want and players will stay with their parents.  575 will contract a block of hotels to help teams stay together but they are only offered as an option and not mandatory.

For all tournaments both Stay to Play and Non-Stay to Play families are responsible for all travel to and from the hotel and to and from the tournament.

Jewelry Policy

USAV 4.5.1: …It is forbidden to wear hats or casts (even if padded). Braces, prosthetic limbs or other headgear that may cause an injury or give an artificial advantage to the player must not be worn. If a brace, prosthetic limb, or headgear is used, padding or covering may be necessary. Jewelry may be worn provided its nature does not present a concern for safety, such as extremely long necklaces and/or necklaces with large medallions, or large hoop earrings.

  • Shirts/spandex with logos or names of other clubs or schools need to be left at home.  For practice, only 575 attire or “neutral” shirts on days the team is matching by color, theme, etc.  For tournament days, players are to wear their 575 warm up during  warm ups, and wear their cover up shorts or pants when not on the court.

Tournament Policy

  • Coaches and teams are required to be at their respective court no later than 1 hour before their scheduled first match of the day.  If you are assigned a reffing assignment first you must be at your court no later than 45 minutes before the scheduled match.  If your team has a bye first with no assignment you are still required to be there 1 hour before your scheduled match.  This will allow ample time for issues known and unknown that may arrive as well as allow the team to be ready mentally and physically to compete.
  • When your team is assigned to ref players must know their assigned roles for both the first, second and possible third set before the match starts.  The scorekeeper may not be switched out between sets.  All players on the team must remain court side while your team is the work team.  Be attentive and focused on your responsibility as we expect the same from others when we are competing.  All tournaments require a coach to be at the work table though some allow you to be court side. If possible both coaches should try to help work to allow two more girls to warm-up.
  • When your team is off the team should find another 575 volleyball team to cheer on unless they are eating.  The team must stay together except for the following exceptions: You have a sibling playing on a different court and your coach approves it. 2) You are spending time with extended family in town to watch you play and your coach approves it. The entire team should be back at their court no later than 15 points into the second set.  Once the match is over all players should be ready to warm-up immediately after the court is open to do so.
  • At NO point are you allowed to leave the tournament facility during competition.  Teams should also remain together through the tournament day.  You should never be alone except for bathroom breaks.
  • Phone policy during tournaments.  Players are allowed to have their phones the first 20 minutes of break between matches when they have no assignment.  It should ideally be used to promote team bonding such as listening to music or playing a game together.  If you are the work team all players will not use their phones regardless if they are working that set or not.
  • Players are required to bring two jerseys to every tournament day regardless of the color teams choose beforehand.
  • Players are required to wear something over their spandex when they are going to and leaving a tournament.
  • The buddy system is in place at all times, if you go anywhere you must have a buddy! If you're going to the bathroom in the middle of a game, a parent will be your buddy.

Playing Time Policy

Playing time is always a sensitive issue in team sports. The purpose of 575 Volleyball Club's playing time policy is to document and communicate the club-wide guidelines in advance to ensure that those who commit to the Club understand what factors will be used to determine playing time over the course of the season.  Our Club has also established a process whereby a player/parent can raise concerns, if they believe the coach is not implementing the policy consistently on their respective team (set forth in the player/parent contract).

Whereas "house"-level sports programs advocate “equal playing time”, our Club does not advocate equal playing time, rather “earned playing time."  However, the Club does believe that all players should receive equal training opportunities at practice.

In volleyball, there are four (4) types of games – scrimmages, pool-play, playoffs/medal-brackets, and regionals/qualifiers. All players will receive some playing time during scrimmages and pool play at the discretion of the coach.  However, in playoffs/medal-brackets and playoffs or regionals/qualifiers, the factors below will be used to determine playing time:


1. Ability to execute during competition
2. Ability to perform specific skills needed or play a specific position during competition
3. Performance in practice (including skills, attitude and dedication)
4. Attendance/level of commitment to the team
5. Overall contribution, in whatever capacity, to the success of the team

 Athletic propensity dictates what position a person plays, her performance in practice dictates how and when she will be used in tournaments. Another factor that may influence court time is how she adds to or distracts from the team's performance as compared to a teammate who plays the same position.

During a tournament (i.e. game-day), coaches are constantly adjusting and evaluating line-ups, which means that some players will receive more court time than others.  Players are expected to understand and accept their role as defined by the coach and concede that the collective performance of the collective team has priority over the individual player.

Under no circumstances is it permissible for a parent or player to approach a coach during competition or at a tournament site to discuss playing time. Parents and players are required to wait 24 hours after the last tournament day before initiating any type of communication with a coach regarding playing time issues.  If a player is concerned or unclear about her role on the team, she should initiate a meeting with her coach to discuss the matter either before or after practice. Coaches will meet with players during the season to discuss each player's role on the team and to set individual goals.