2020 Yearly Timeline
Here is a timeline for what to look out for throughout the season. The timeline followed by the 2020 season is not typical and shouldn't be expected in future years.
Preseason
Week 1 - September 28-October 3
Week 2 - October 5-10
Week 3 - October 12-17
Weeks 4-5 - October 19-31
Weeks 6-7 - November 2-14
Weeks 8-9 - November 16-28
Week 10 - November 30-December 5
Week 11 - December 7-12
Off-Season - December 12-August 16
Preseason
- MNVBCA Coaches Clinic - **Cancelled for 2020**
- Become a member of the Coaches Association
- Meet with your athletic director to get your schedule, rule book, and login information for the MSHSL (Minnesota State High School League) website.
- Familiarize yourself with new rules and MSHSL (Minnesota State High School League) bylaws
Week 1 - September 28-October 3
- September 28 - Official start of practices
- Complete all required educational programs on the Coaches Dashboard section of the MSHSL website. This will require you to create a login that will have to be approved by your athletic director. The instructional videos will include presentations on rules, concussion protocol, first aid, and general coaching philosophy. Not all courses are required every year.
- You should receive an email from your section representative. This person will be a good resource for you throughout the season, as they will be sending you emails over the course of the year with reminders and other information. You can find a list of section representatives on the Board of Control page of this website.
- It is recommended that you get a new game ball(s) every season. The official game ball of the MSHSL is the Baden Perfection 15-0 (VX5EC-220) in blue/white/grey.
Week 2 - October 5-10
- This Thursday is the first day that teams are allowed to begin playing regular season matches.
- Prior to the first regular season match, you must complete all of the continuing education requirements on the Coaches Dashboard (as mentioned above), and also be sure that your athletic director has received a roster for each of the teams in your program. The rosters are needed for your AD to complete the required Eligibility Verification Form on the MSHSL website.
- Have a plan for keeping stats. Whether statistics will be kept by a manager, players, assistant coaches, or the head coach, whoever will be keeping stats should be very familiar with the Statistical Definitions. It is very important to keep accurate statistics for later in the season when players will be discussed in All-Conference and All-State meetings.
Week 3 - October 12-17
- By the end of this week, you have probably played your first match. Be sure that you are submitting your results to the local newspapers, MNVolleyballHub.com, and Minnesota-Scores.net.
- This is MEA week, so most schools don't have classes in session on Thursday or Friday. Schools may not schedule athletic events over the long weekend, but that may be different this year due to the condensed schedule.
Weeks 4-5 - October 19-31
- In addition to awards that your players can receive for their play on the court, they can also win awards for their work in the classroom. Team Academic Awards are available, as are Academic All-State Awards for individuals. You can find more information on the Academic Awards page. Since cumulative GPA's are used for the awards process, the grades used for calculations only go through the end of the previous school year. This being the case, even though the deadline for academic award submissions isn't until later in the season, coaches are strongly encouraged to submit their player(s) and team early.
- Many club programs have tryouts on November 1 and open gyms leading up to that date. Be sure to educate yourself and your players on the MSHSL Dual Participation Policies.
Weeks 6-7 - November 2-14
- This is the middle portion of your season when hopefully you're in the swing of things. There's nothing to else to worry about this time of year other than coaching your squad!
Weeks 8-9 - November 16-28
- This is the last portion of the regular season, with most teams having their last game on or by Tuesday, November 24.
- By the end of this time, you will likely receive an email or two from your athletic director or section coordinator regarding the seeding process for section playoffs. Every section is different, and your section coordinator will give you all the details you need. You should make sure that all of your results are up-to-date on MNVolleyballHub.com and Minnesota-Scores.net.
Week 10 - November 30-December 5
- Every conference handles All-Conference awards differently, but you may have a meeting around this time or later to discuss the All-Conference selections. You can find some of last year's All-Conference award winners from around the state on the All-Conference page.
- Monday, November 30 is a big deadline day for the major season awards. This serves as the deadline to submit statistics on the All-State page for the players you nominated for All-State earlier in the season. This is also the deadline for both the Team Academic Award and the Academic All-State individual award. These submissions can be made on the Academic Awards page.
- Playoffs start this week, so it's win-or-go-home this time of year.
Week 11 - December 7-12
- This is the 2nd week of playoffs, and the season officially wraps up on December 12.
- Shortly after the season concludes, the Coaches Association will release the All-State Teams, Ms. Baden (Minnesota Player of the Year), Coach of the Year, and Assistant Coach of the Year awards. While many awards are traditionally announced at the State Tournament Banquet, this event is unlikely to take place this year.
Off-Season - December 12-August 16
- During this portion of the year, coaches are not permitted to work with players from their program that participated at the varsity, JV, B-squad, or 10th grade level in any way. Many players continue playing club volleyball through the off-season. See the USA Volleyball - North Country Region website (www.ncrusav.org) or NorthStar Volleyball United (this region's branch of Junior Volleyball Association - www.northstarvolleyballunited.com) for more information.
- Every other year, the Minnesota State High School League collects data from its member schools regarding school enrollments. With enrollment fluctuations, competitive section lines are re-drawn and section assignments are released in late-March or early-April.
- One of the great ways that volleyball is promoted in Minnesota is through the Breakdown Volleyball publication. In order to make this season preview book as good as it can be, it is important to fill out the preview capsule on the Breakdown Sports website. Be sure to head to www.BreakdownSportsUSA.com in February or March to fill out the information about your team so they can be featured in the book!
- If you are interested in being a section representative, terms are four years long, and elections are on a rotating basis. Every year, the section representative position is opened for two sections from each class. If an election is necessary (multiple people want to be a section rep), it takes place over the first two weeks of April.
- Coaches may work with their players from June 1-July 31, as long as the coach has completed the Summer Waiver form on the MSHSL Coaches Dashboard. Player participation during this time of year may NOT be considered mandatory by High School League rules. The MSHSL also has instated a summer "No Contact Period", where coaches may not work with their players. The No Contact Period is 7 days long and includes July 4. Contact your athletic director for the exact date range.