Oregon Juniors Volleyball Academy uses Hudl to paint a clear picture of performance and growth opportunities for athletes and their families.
Oregon Juniors Volleyball Academy (OJVA) saw the benefits of being a bigger club—more competition in training, access to greater facilities, longer development cycle for athletes, and more—and committed itself to training and playing big.
In 2021, OJVA extended its reach to a combined 32 schools across the Oregon State Activities Associations (OSAA) and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), as well as 47 middle schools and 59 elementary schools.
For clubs of any size, leaders have to work hard to communicate clearly and often. Not just about dates and times for typical club activities, but also about athlete performance, development plans and club philosophy.
But the bigger the club, the bigger the challenge to communicate effectively. It's hard to get everyone moving in the same direction.
OJVA leverages Hudl to harness energy into growth and development. Coaches use video and data to provide straightforward feedback to help athletes reach their potential.
“I’ve been using Hudl from a statistics standpoint for the girls, showing them their hitting ratios to their passing ratios and having them understand a little bit more what it takes to be a better player. Not only on the physical end but also on the analytics end,” said OJVA 15s coach Juno Cruz.
Now we’re able to actually inform them and say ‘Hey listen, this is how this works and this is how we’re doing this.’ Now the parent-coach communication is a lot better.
Juno Cruz, OJVA U15s coach
“It helps with the coaching aspect. So now instead of us having to focus on players individually, we can focus on the entire team and then the players individually to make them better. It makes the team better and the player better as well.”
Cruz and the other OJVA coaches view data as an avenue for objective feedback. It’s a starting point for tough conversations. Stats offer a clear picture of on-court performance and afford coaches a springboard for teaching.
Data helps athletes who are hungry to improve and evaluate themselves while providing parents direct insight into coaching decisions. Altogether, these elements create more trust and confidence throughout the club.
“Now we’re able to actually inform them and say ‘Hey listen, this is how this works and this is how we’re doing this.’ Now the parent-coach communication is a lot better,” Cruz said.
Meaningful conversations around athlete performance, backed by video and data, give parents an avenue to be contributors. Cruz said parents are active in Hudl, oftentimes filming drills and tournaments, or submitting video to Hudl Assist for post-match analysis.
With Hudl Assist, every stat is linked directly to video. From the reports page, anyone can view key outputs at a team and player level. Then, clicking any stat—like kills, blocks or digs—creates a playlist of clips for each moment where coaches can add their feedback or instruction. From there, coaches share the playlists with the whole team, specific groups or individual athletes for review.
Paul Scott is affectionately known around OJVA as a “Hudl dad.” His daughter Sophie is a middle blocker committed to the University of California-Berkeley. Paul and Sophie watch film and review stats together to help her learn, outline areas for improvement and to achieve her goals.
“It's been really, really great how we've learned to use it better and better each year. To be able to see specific video and statistics tied to video so quickly, you can really just sit down with your daughter and go through it really efficiently and then talk about what she needs to work at the next practice. And we just kind of reinforce that, you know, after games and tournaments and stuff like that,” Scott said.
As much as it is a performance analysis platform, Hudl is also a communication tool. It’s a place where teams can go for honest conversations on how to challenge each other and grow, without biases or agendas.
OJVA learned how to use video and data to build trust. Hudl helps coaches like Cruz as well as athletes and parents like Sophie and Paul Scott be invested and included in success.
No matter what size your club, everyone has big dreams. Having trust and open communication builds confidence. Hudl can help.
