I’ve been a professional volleyball coach at international and club level for over 20 years.
In that time I’ve been a participant in the all the major international events (Olympics, World Championships, World League, Volleyball Nations League) with the National Teams of Australia and Germany and many of the top club leagues (Italian, Polish, German, Belgian, European Champions League).
In 2012, 2013 and 2014 I coached Berlin Recycling Volleys to the German Bundesliga title. In 2015, I added a CEV Champions League Bronze Medal to the tally.
In 2015-16 I moved to Poland and Jastrzębski Węgiel winning the Plus Liga Bronze Medal in 2017.
In 2018-19 season I coached Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie to the semifinals of league and cup for the first time in club history.
From 2017-2020 I was Head Coach of the Australian National Team, leading them in FIVB and AVC competitions including World Championships (best result ever) in September 2018. In September 2019, we won the silver medal at the Asian Championships for Australia’s first medal in that competition in twelve years.
I watch and study a lot of volleyball for my job, preparing for my job and for fun.
Sometimes I come across things about volleyball that interest/amuse/annoy me.
These are those things.
At Home On The Court 
Nice blog page Mark…!!
Will be following your lead… and tuning into your updates
LikeLike
The only coach that impressed me!!!
LikeLike
Thanks, Piticu. But you didn’t have to work with me every day 😉
LikeLike
Always enjoyed your posts Mark.
Just recently coming back onto the internet, and once again, I get to enjoy your posts.
So I just had to give ya a shout out on how many gems your posting! 🙂
LikeLike
Nice to hear from you, Frank.
And thanks 🙂
LikeLike
Hello,
I have been playing volleyball for awhile now. I’m currently in my last year of college which also means my last year of college volleyball. I am not ready to give up learning and growing as a player. I’ve heard a lot of things about playing in Europe. I thought I could start my search early for the possibility of playing there next year. Do you have any suggestions on how to get in contact with coaches? Or if there are any places I should avoid contacting. Any information you might have would be extremely useful for me. Thank you.
LikeLike
Hi Deanna… just noticed I hadn’t answered your comment.
There are a couple of possibilities in your situation. One is to simply trawl the internet looking for club contacts and email them. The second, and probably best, is to work through an agency. http://www.bringitusa.com is one that works for many players at a lot of different levels, from the highest level pros to players who are looking to fund some life experience. I suggest you check out their website.
Good luck
LikeLike
Hi Mark.
I was watching foxtel in Australia, Berlin Vs Karzan
and wow i recognised the coach for Berlin. Great to see you
obviously enjoying yourself tho there was a few head scratching moments, feelings of nostalgia of a time i played under your guidance
for north adelaide bears. believe it or not im still playing. Im in WA Perth
now with work but manage to fit in some beach volleyball now and then.
Just wanted to say hi and congratulate you on your coaching achievements.
Regards Tim Oats
LikeLike
Great to hear from you. Was walking into the video meeting for the return game against Kazan when I saw your message. Made me happy. Keep smiling
LikeLike
Hello sir,
I’m a student (20 years old) from Morocco, i love to play volleyball (in fact i was a team captain in high school). And i was wondering if it’s possible for me to play for teams in Europe. If yes, how can i do that?
Thanks
Good post by the way!
LikeLike
Hi there
There are many opportunities to play in Europe at every level, not only as a professional. It is important to determine at which level you could play. If you are a good enough level to be a professional, then look for an agent who can help you find a team. If you would like to study/work and play at a lower level, it is probably easier to contact clubs directly. You can find a lot of information on the internet, or on facebook.
Good luck.
LikeLike
So happy I found this blog! I played volleyball in high school and got hooked on it, started to play it again at 40 with some 25 kgs extra weight. I am looking forward to read all your materials.
LikeLike
Coach Mark,
I am junior club coach in Colorado and have been for 17 seasons now. I am always looking for new ways to approach training and how to improve the process. I enjoyed the podcast excerpt you posted today from Coach McCutcheon concerning perfectionism. I have subscribed to your blog and look forward to reading more form you!
Thank you for all of your insight and thoughts on the game we love!
Shane
LikeLike
Hi Mark, this i s a very good web project, I like to read your stories, comment and specially stories concerning great coaches like Platonov.
Well done!
Hopo to read you soon
Alessandro
LikeLike
Thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy it 🙂
LikeLike
Hello Mark, We met briefly in Ottawa last June at VNL. (I would not expect you to remember). I have been trying to break into the coaching scene at a higher level. I am looking for opportunities to learn/grow and network. Do your mentor or allow coaches to come into your Gym? I am looking for opportunities and I am willing to travel. I can be quite forward and pursue every and all angles, sometimes with success and more time than not…failure. Let me know if you are open to this Idea. I can send my resume etc so that you have some back ground. Cheers, Nathan Wareham
LikeLike
Hi Nathan. I welcome all coaches in my gym. You are more than welcome. If you are in Poland, you are welcome to spend some time with me. You will find that most coaches are also open to guests.
LikeLike
Hello Coach.
Actually, I main focus to find answer how to block perfectly. I read about propper position of the players, about footwork transition, I know about block centralization when we set up the block for a start.
Obviously thing is they are informations which are known by every coach. But they are varies teams which block is better or worse.
Thus, my question is what is the diffrence which decides about quality of the block? What is the hiden factor which makes block better? What is Your opinion? I’d really like Your advice about it.
Regards
Mateusz Koziński
LikeLike
Salve Mark, mi chiamo Amedeo Capannini, sono un ex giocatore di pallavolo, fine anni 60 fino al 1974. Ho giocato in serie A con la Buscaglione Roma Club. In questo Club giocò anche un Jaroslav Frundl, lo comìnosci ? Ho visto che è presente nella prima formazione indicata da te. Puoi mettermi in contatto contatto con lui?
LikeLike
Ciao Amedeo. Mi dispiace. Ma non conosco Jaroslav Frundl. Ma vedo che si è trasferito in Australia. Chiederò ad alcuni amici se lo conoscono.
LikeLike
Hey Mark,
I’m curious if there are any (still available) books that have been written about the 1984 US men’s gold medal team? Or anything at all to read or watch about them.
LikeLike
Hi Bryan. There is one book on that team. It is long out of print but you can sometimes find it on Amazon. I wrote about it in a couple of places, here is the most prominent.
https://marklebedew.com/2014/03/07/spike-interactive-guide/
I also posted some videos and analysis which you can find by searching the site.
Have fun
LikeLike
Hello
LikeLike
Rkenter
LikeLike
Hi Mark. I knew your father Wally in Adelaide.
Lovely gentleman .I played for Cheetahs , South Australia . Vostok and NSW
Also played for Monad and Act.
Had a few games in the National team with Joe Hiller as coach.
Wonderful memories with Volleyball.
Regards from Jorma Soininen.
LikeLike