What It Actually Takes to Run a Volleyball Club with Al Patterson & Rob Conley

What does it actually take to run a volleyball club? Not the polished version — the real, behind-the-scenes, phone-calls-every-morning, budgeting-over-a-year-in-advance version.In this episode, I sit down with Alan Patterson and Rob Conley, the Club Director and Assistant Club Director of Dynamite Volleyball Club out of South Lyon, Michigan. Al founded Dynamite — not because he set out to build a club, but because he wanted to give his daughter a better volleyball experience. What started as one local team has grown into a competitive club with nearly 170 athletes across national, premier, and local level teams.We get into all of it — what it costs to run a club, how they find and keep great coaches, what goes into hosting tournaments, how they handle drama and conflict on teams, their approach to recruiting, their reasonings on maintaining a smaller club size, and what kept them afloat during COVID when so many clubs didn't make it.Whether you're a volleyball parent trying to understand what actually goes on behind the scenes, a coach looking to grow, or someone who's ever thought about starting a club of your own — this conversation is for you!