The first of four American Volleyball Coaches Association clinics targeting ethnic-minority coaches drew a record number of participants last month.

The 55 coaches who turned out for the AVCA’s "Volleyball: Live It! Love It! Coach It!" September 30 in Washington, D.C., represented the largest number of participants for one clinic in the brief four-year history of the program, said Jason Jones, director of marketing and education at the AVCA. The turnout is a solid first step toward the organization’s goal of exposing at least 250 participants to the program during the 2006-07 academic year.

Live It! Love It! Coach It! clinics also are scheduled for November 16-18, in conjunction with the Texas High School State Championships; December 12 during the AVCA’s annual convention in Omaha, Nebraska; and June 22-25 in San Diego in conjunction with the Starlings National Championships.

The program, which is aided through funding from an NCAA matching grant, primarily targets ethnic minorities at all levels of the sport, including recent graduates and senior student-athletes, though non-ethnic minorities and men are a secondary focus.

"The purpose of the program is to provide current and aspiring ethnic-minority coaches with professional development opportunities and to encourage more ethnic-minority coaches to enter the sport," said Jones.

Because organizers try to tailor sessions to the needs of participants, each clinic is different. Most time is spent on tactical elements and skills specific to the sport such as passing and setting, practice planning, and game strategy. Educational sessions on topics such as the role of parents and ways to keep players involved with the game beyond high school also are included.

"For the most part, the reality of what we’re trying to do is equip those coaches to better do what they do on a daily basis," said Sharon Clark, head women’s volleyball coach at Butler University and a frequent program clinician. "We’ve had some good success and we’ve been from coast to coast. With the time constraints and the financial limitations, there are so many communities that we have not served yet. But when we’ve had the clinics, we’ve had great success in terms of the turnout so we know the need is there."

Clark said the level of experience among coaches who attend the clinics has varied.

"We get quite a mix of college coaches who help with the clinic at different times. It’s great to actually pull a collective group together and get ideas flowing back and forth from some seasoned coaches to some new coaches. I think, that’s the best part," she said.

For more information or to register, contact the AVCA at 866/544-2822 or e-mail members@avca.org.

The Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has discovered a unique way to bolster school spirit and help the surrounding community.

Earlier this month, the Southern Illinois SAAC launched the SIU Pride Initiative. As part of the effort, whenever a student-athlete spots a fellow student wearing apparel promoting a different university, the student-athlete will offer to exchange it for a new Saluki Pride hooded sweatshirt or pullover, free of charge.

The group plans to give away 300 of the sweatshirts that were specially designed by the SAAC in conjunction with the campus bookstore. Christian Spears, an assistant athletics director at the school, said most students have been receptive to the exchange.

"It’s been good," Spears said. "I would say 95 percent of the time it’s been very positive."

Saluki starting quarterback and Southern Illinois SAAC President Nick Hill spearheaded the effort after picking up the idea at the NCAA Leadership Conference this summer in Orlando, Florida.

"Nick came back really gung-ho, ready to do something, and he wanted to figure out what we could do immediately," Spears said. "The NCAA Leadership Conference deserves a lot of the credit for developing people who come back with some good ideas and who are willing to get involved."

Non-Southern Illinois items collected will be turned over to two local Carbondale charities, including a home for battered women.

Spears said that once the fall-season sweatshirts are gone, they will be gone for good. However, plans are underway to launch a similar outreach with T-shirts in the spring.