About Us

We are a USA Volleyball-affiliated junior volleyball club offering training, competition, and mentorship opportunities for boys ages 13-18.  Our club was founded by Shane Davis, the Head Men's Volleyball Coach at Loyola University Chicago, and his wife, Andrea.  Since 2007, we have run teams out of both Palos Heights (D1 Southside VBC) and Skokie, IL (D1 Chicago VBC).  D1 Southside teams practice exclusively at Palos Courts in Palos Heights, IL, and will cater to the 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 & Under age divisions. D1 Southside VBC has all the benefits of the D1 program-- professional, collegiate-level coaching, organized administration, and a family-like atmosphere-- with added benefits of a local practice location and affordable membership fees. 

• The hallmark of the D1 program is our unparalleled caliber of coaching.  We are one of only a handful of Loyola Men's Volleyball Head Coach Shane Davisclubs in the country where you can find current Division I and II men's collegiate volleyball coaches actively leading junior boys teams.  On staff we have Shane Davis and Dan Friend (Head Men's Volleyball Coach at Lewis University), along with many other current and recent collegiate volleyball athletes.  The vast majority of our coaches are current or former collegiate players or coaches-- they know what it takes to compete at the highest level of the game, and they have the knowledge and skills to lead athletes to their fullest potential.

• We are great at what we do, and our membership growth shows it.  As a first year club, we had 42 athletes play for us.  In our second year, we nearly doubled that and fielded seven teams.  In 2009-10, we had eight teams competing, two of which qualified for the Open (highest) division at the 2010 Junior Olympics.  At this event, our 18 Green team finished higher than any other team in the midwest, tying for 5th Place in the Gold Division.  One of our players, Matt Phillips from Minooka High School, was named to the Junior Olympic All-Tournament Team, the only player to represent the entire midwest region for this prestigious award. In 2010-11, we fielded eleven teams, with four of these qualifying for the Open division at Nationals and two more competing in the club division, making for another strong presence at Nationals. 

• Our players and parents are ALWAYS in-the-loop with practice and tournament schedules, travel details, special camp and collegiate volleyball news, you name it.  Our dedicated director, Andrea, is always available to answer questions and she keeps things running smoothly all year long (just ask anyone who's played for us)!

• We believe young athletes look to their coaches for more than just volleyball training.  Our athletes often want to talk with us about their college plans, how to balance their high school academic and athletic responsibilities, etc., and they can come to us-- our coaches are positive role models both on and off the court.  In addition, if your goal is to play volleyball in college, you likely have a million questions about the process.  Luckily, at D1, no question has to go unanswered, because we have years of collegiate volleyball playing and coaching experience behind us.

• Aside from all the volleyball-related benefits of playing for us, there's one final aspect of the experience D1 parents and coaches out to dinner in Atlanta, Georgia (July '09)we can't leave out.  You're part of the D1 family when you play for us.  We can't deny it-- as much as we are strong and competitive-- we are warm and welcoming.  Our weekend travel tournaments are always a blast for our parents and coaches to mingle outside of the gym atmosphere, and we are certain many of the friendships we form through the club will last a long, long time.