Sophia Sladic

Passionate volleyball coach who has experience leading a high school JV program with principles centered around competitive drive, technical skill development, empowerment, respect for teammates, and growth mindset. Coaching philosophy centered around building upon athletes individual strengths to help instill self-confidence. As an educator, I utilize methods from my classroom with my athletes. To meet my students where they are currently at, I have meetings with them at various points of the year to assess where they have grown and where they need more support. I do the same with my JV team as I incorporate individual monthly check in meetings with each athlete to assess pre-determined goals. In addition to goal setting exercises, I incorporate mindfulness training and daily journaling. My technical skill development and instruction centers around a balance of closed and open system drills, game-like scenarios, and points based competition drills. I am committed to fostering a supportive and competitive environment that maximizes team potential and individual growth.

• Impact: Volleyball Head Coach Certification (2024)
• USA Volleyball: Fundamentals of Coaching Volleyball Training (2024)
• NFHS Certifications: Concussions in Sports, Heat Illness Prevention, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (updated 2025)
• Hanover County Public Schools: CPR, AED, and First Aid Training (updated 2025)
• Virginia Department of Social Services: Child Abuse and Neglect: Recognizing, Reporting, and Responding for Educators (updated 2025)

Gold Medal Squared Richmond Volleyball Club Coach Clinic hosted by Rose White (Summer 2024)

-Attended summer training clinic program that was focused on developing high school coaches through training them on offensive and defensive systems, practice formatting, effective drills and games to do in practice as well as lineup formation tips

Training through Art of Coaching Volleyball Clinic, Harrisburg Pennsylvania (June 7th-8th, 2025)

-Two day clinic led by Russ Rose and Dan Fischer focusing on serve receive and ball control drills, practice organization, training defenders and aggressive servers, taking stats, blocking techniques, as well as training outside hitters.