Our mission is to recruit and develop athletes across the country through excellent coaching and invested support staff. 

The National Excellence Program ("NEP" formerly the FTP) and the Regional Excellence Program ("REP" formerly the VCCE) are specifically designed to prepare volleyball athletes to take their game to the next level.

In partnership with high schools, provincial associations, colleges and universities, and funding partners, the Regional Excellence Program (REP) is based on an integrated sport performance environment, including a number of services to complement high performance athlete development. Physical assessments, testing, video analysis, integrated strength and conditioning are part of the program offered by Volleyball Canada. Working with leading experts in nutrition, sport psychology, and athlete development, programs ensure cutting edge athlete training.  

Focusing on committed club, high school as well as regional, provincial, and nationally recognized athletes (Grade 8-12), each person will benefit from the training received in their program. Training is based specifically on individual skill development. A low coach-to-athlete ratio allows for lots of personal feedback, ball contacts and progress for athlete success.   
 
A professional team of coaches, many of which coach at and have associations with local college and university teams, receive training and development from our National team coaches. Each one understands what it takes to excel at the next level and what each athlete needs to do to be successful both on and off the court. Volleyball Canada supports the coaches through curriculum development, working directly with a lead mentor coach, as well as professional development opportunities such as working with National Team programs and/or coaching certification opportunities.

Training commitments include 1-2 training sessions per week during the duration of the program. Availability of sessions depend on location, but take into account seasons of play for common Club and High School training times and are typically offered from September to June.

The development of our youth athletes is critical to our Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model and the program provides the appropriate amount of training, competition and recovery during the early stages of athlete development.

Unfortunately, our young developing athletes often spend more time in competition than in training and development. Practice time is typically spent on developing team systems in preparation for games. While this produces short-term success on the court, the technical skills of our athletes are being left behind. The REP aims to counter this trend with training sessions focused on individual skill development.

• Stream 1) dedicated to grade 6-8 athletes who enjoy the sport and are looking to develop skills and tactics.  The focus is on skills and body movement patterns designed for future high performance success
• Stream 2) dedicated to grade 9-10 athletes who have entered the sport, compete and train as committed club athletes.  Athletes in this stream are at the early stages of high performance training and are entering into a key window of skill acquisition and fundamental movement patterns  
• Stream 3) dedicated to grade 10-12 who have often chosen volleyball as their primary sport and are dedicated to reaching their full potential, with a desire to play post-secondary, professionally and/or for our National Team