Canberra Beach Program

The Canberra Beach Program is a Beach Volleyball Training Program for all interested Athletes. 

If you are a competitive adult player, a potential state team junior, a beginner, or aspiring toward playing in some regional or AVBT events this program is for you.

Training Block 1 (16 October to 17 December 2024) is now open for Registrations. 

Changes for 2024/2025 Summer: 

This summer the Canberra Beach Program will be split into the type of beach volleyball you are participating in and each group will have the training adjusted based on their season goals.  

Tour: For athletes competing in Division 1 or higher of the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour and/or players earning FIVB points towards international events.

Event: This is for motivated players who have the end goal of competing in a specific national event this summer. That event might be ACT Open, Aus Youth Beach Volleyball Championships, or a specific round of Australian Beach Volleyball Tour (i.e. the Canberra Round) or Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Tour. 

Competition: For players who regularly compete in beach volleyball, whether it be in a week-to-week pairs competition, ACT Beach Series, or something similar. 

Participation: This group is for players still developing their beach volleyball skills. It will go through the skills, fundamentals, general tactics and conditioning required and provide you with the basics required to start competing. 

The goals for the program remain the same: 
 - To bring Beach volleyball athletes together in a challenging, supportive and rewarding training environment.
 - To provide athletes the opportunity to train and develop with ‘best practice’ coaches.
 - To educate athletes in beach volleyball.

What is the Canberra Beach Program?
The Canberra Beach Program is an initiative of VACT started in 2021. The program provides a training environment with a focus a skill and technical development for individual athletes and pairs.
All interested Athletes can register for the program, athletes will be placed in training squads based on their season goals and the format of their competitions. The program is focused on improving technical and tactical attributes desired by national programs and improve the overall development of volleyball athletes.
While involvement in the CBP does not directly relate to selection with state programs, involvement in such a training environment will help prepare athletes for any opportunities that may come up.

Training times
The training times are still being confirmed and are subject to change but as a guideline:
Sunday training: Participation, Competition & Event 
Monday evening: Tour 
Wednesday evening: Event & Tour 
Friday evening: Participation, Competition

Cost
$210 - Please note: Payment on a session by session or for a one-off training session is not an option for the Canberra Beach program.

What will the Canberra Beach Program involve:
The Canberra Beach program focuses on developing volleyball holistically, and as such all athletes involved in the program will be exposed to skills, match play tactics, technical coaching, and physical preparation.

Program Outline: The move away from purely skill based tiers will allow each group to have their training specifically tailored to suit their goals and manage their specific workloads throughout the season. 
 - Include warm-up and exercises, drills and challenges that are designed specifically to the level and capabilities of the players. Gameplay and sand fitness will also be incorporated.
 - Squad levels will be graded to ensure players will be at the correct skill and learning levels.
 - All squads have a maximum of 10 players to one coach.
 - The squad will only run if there has been a minimum of 6 people signing up.
 - Where more than 12 players have signed up for the same squad focus, that squad will be split, it may be based on skill level, it may be coed or separate gender. 

ALL CBP athletes are encouraged to play in ACT Beach series events so that tactics and strategies can be implemented.

NOT SURE WHAT LEVEL YOU ARE? We will invite you for a trial and the coaches will assign you to a squad

Please note: Squads for the Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championship will be run separately to the Canberra Beach Program. Athletes can be in both programs; however, it should be noted participation in either one does not grant acceptance or selection to the other.

Expectations: Athletes will be expected to treat the Canberra Beach program as a high-performance training session. While it will still be intended that they enjoy the training, the emphasis will be on learning skills at a high level. Everyone at training will be expected to turn up with the desire to learn and improve their volleyball skills, as well as support others in the squad.

Player Expectations: Inform the Coach if for some reason you are going to miss a training session or organised match, as far in advance as possible
Be a team player; assist other players where possible
Have a positive attitude at all times
Stay focused, mindful, and display a strong work ethic at every practice and tournament.
Always show respect to all squad/ program members, teammates, parents, coaches, and officials
Do not provide, use, or condone the use of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, or recreational drugs. The use of any illegal substance will not be tolerated and would result in dismissal from the program
Take care of our facilities and clean up after yourself at the training venue
Rake the courts after each training session
Players need to bring a water bottle to every practice so that they stay well hydrated and water breaks can be taken quickly
Come to practice mentally prepared; have personal goals set for yourself before each practice.
Find ways to improve and have a specific technical goal to work on during every drill.

Coaches: ACT is fortunate to have access to several long-term Beach coaches, state program, national coaches and ex-Olympians and Paralympians. Different coaches will run various sessions to utilise their knowledge and experience, with each skill level assigned a Head Coach.

Coach’s Responsibilities:To teach proper technique and fundamentals to all players
To teach and apply proper strategies
To communicate clearly to each player
To balance hard work, fun, and discipline
To create a positive, growth-based, and trusting environment for athletes
To act as a positive role model for players both on and off the court
To prepare players for any and all situations that might occur when playing in a match.