Assistant volleyball coach duties and how to share the work
The short answer
An assistant volleyball coach plans and runs part of practice, keeps score and tracks substitutions and time-outs on match day, and talks with players. Agree up front who owns what. In Koach you both work in the same team, and on the Coach plan the second coach pays nothing.
What are the duties of an assistant volleyball coach? A lot more than feeding balls and flipping the scoreboard. Below you'll find what an assistant does before, during and after practices and matches, how to split that work with the head coach, and how the two of you run one team in Koach, even when you're in the gym on different nights.
Assistant volleyball coach duties at practice and on match day
The role of an assistant coach in volleyball goes beyond helping out. An assistant is the second coach who sticks with the team all season: not a parent who fills in once, but someone with their own share of the work. What that share looks like, you agree on together. These duties come up on almost every team:
- Planning and running part of practice. The warm-up, a separate block with the setters, or a station while the head coach works with the rest of the group.
- Attendance and equipment. Keeping track of who's there and who's late, and making sure the net and the balls are ready.
- Watching a few players closely. The head coach watches the drill, the assistant watches two or three players and gives them short, specific feedback.
- Score and stats on match day. Who scored, how the point was won and where the errors come from: work a coach can't do while coaching.
- Tracking substitutions and time-outs. Under the international rules, a team gets six substitutions and two time-outs per set. The assistant knows how many are left and who is on the court for whom.
- Scouting the opponent. Where do they serve, in which rotation do they go on a run, and who scores their points? That gives the head coach something concrete to say in a time-out.
- Talking with players. A quick chat after practice, or noticing that someone is not doing well, is part of the role, as long as it gets back to the head coach too.
- Stepping in. When the head coach can't make it, the assistant runs practice or coaches the match.
On match day itself there is a limit. Under the FIVB official volleyball rules (2025 to 2028 edition), the assistant coach sits on the bench and does not intervene in the match: the coach requests time-outs and substitutions. If the coach has to leave the team, the assistant can take over the coach's functions while they are away, once the game captain has confirmed this to the referee. Leagues can set their own rules for their competitions; US high school and college volleyball, for example, allow more substitutions per set.
An assistant is also not the same as someone who only practices with the team. That kind of player trains with you without being on your roster, and in Koach you add them to the team as a player, not as a coach. How that works is explained in guest players: joining practice without being on the roster.
Splitting duties between the head coach and the assistant
A coaching duo is more likely to get stuck on work nobody owns than on too much work. Two people both taking attendance, and nobody writing up the practice. So give every responsibility one owner, moment by moment. A split to start with:
| Moment | Head coach | Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Before practice | Picks the focus and sets up the plan | Prepares their own block and gets the equipment ready |
| During practice | Runs the main drill | Takes a group or a station and takes attendance |
| After practice | Writes the session report or reads it over | Adds their observations to the players |
| During the match | Coaches, subs and calls time-outs | Keeps score, counts subs and time-outs and scouts the opponent |
| In a time-out | Gives the team the message | Passes on one fact beforehand, such as the weakest rotation |
| After the match | Reviews the match with the team | Makes sure the stats and the note are saved with the match |
Feel free to flip it: an experienced assistant next to a young head coach may be exactly the right person to handle the player conversations. What matters is that every row has one name. If the assistant takes over the whole team because the head coach steps down, that's a handover with its own approach; see handing a team over to a new coach.
One team in Koach: inviting your assistant coach
In Koach two coaches can work in the same team. Your assistant doesn't get a copy of your data and you don't share a login: they get their own account with the coach role in your team. Here's how:
- Open your Profile and go to My teams. Your team's card has a Coaches section.
- Tap Coach, the row with the plus sign, and then Invite a coach. The app tells you what happens next: You get a link to share. Whoever opens it becomes a coach of this team, even without a Koach account yet.
- Send the link to your assistant. Once they open it and log in or create an account, they appear under Coaches with their own name.
Only the team owner sees that button. From then on your assistant can manage the team and also sees notes and absence reasons, just like you. How you share the roster, the schedule and the drills is covered in working with multiple coaches on one team.
14 days free, no credit card. Add your team, invite your assistant and write the report together after your next practice.
Try Koach with your assistantOne practice plan, and a report the other coach actually reads
The practice plan lives with the session, in blocks with a set duration. You both see the same plan, so the assistant adds their block and the head coach sees it before walking into the gym. A setup that worked, you keep with Save as template.
Afterwards one of you writes under After the session what went well and what's still open, with the Focus for the next session field below it. Underneath the report you see who last updated it. For each block you mark whether it was Done, Partly done or Not done, and at the top of the Training tab sits the Previous session card, with attendance and the number of blocks completed. If the assistant runs Thursday and the head coach runs Tuesday, each of them starts with the other's report instead of a text message. What belongs in that kind of report is covered in the practice report after each session.
Player notes: who saw what?
A note is attached to the player, with the date and the name of the coach who wrote it. So you can see that a comment about someone's passing came from your assistant, and ask them about it. A note you make during a session also shows up under Notes from this session, and with Needs follow-up you flag that something still needs doing: a conversation, an extra drill, a question for the parents. For matches there's the Match note, which the app marks Only visible to coaches: the place for what the assistant noticed about the opponent. What to put in a note and what to leave out is covered in keeping notes on each player.
Live scoring: one device keeps score, the other coach coaches
On match day, keeping score is often the assistant's biggest job. In Koach you pick the player under Who scored the point? for every point, and then how: attack, block, serve or an opponent error. If the point goes to the opponent, you pick who made the error and what went wrong, or Good ball by opponent. After the match the stats for each player are ready. Tap Time-out when you call one, and the app lays out what happened Since the previous time-out (for the first one: since the start of the set): points won and lost, Most faults and Weakest rotation. From that, the assistant picks the one fact to pass on to the head coach.
Do agree on who keeps score, though. Each team has one running score; if you both score, you overwrite each other's points. The app warns you itself: Careful: this match is also being scored on another device. Keep scoring on one device, otherwise you will overwrite each other’s points. If the other coach has to take over halfway, say because a phone dies, they open the same match on their own device with an internet connection. Koach shows Already being scored with the current score, and with Take over they carry on from there.
No assistant beside you? Then a player with their own Koach account can keep score on their phone, for example someone who is sitting out that day; see letting a player keep score.
Group chat and a shared doc, or one team in an app?
Many coaching duos start with what they already have: a group chat for the two of them and a shared document with the practice plan. That usually costs nothing, and for quick back-and-forth it works fine. It starts to pinch once player notes, match stats and session reports come into it: half of it ends up in messages that scroll out of sight. A shared login doesn't solve that either, because then everything sits under one name.
| What you need as a duo | Group chat and shared doc | Koach, two coaches in one team |
|---|---|---|
| Quick back-and-forth | Yes | No, there is no chat |
| Seeing the same practice plan | If someone keeps it updated | Yes, with the session |
| Report per session, showing who updated it | Track it yourself | Yes |
| Notes per player, with date and author | Track it yourself | Yes |
| Live scoring with stats per player | No | Yes |
| Warning when you are both scoring | No | Yes |
| Cost | Usually free | Coach €2.99 per month; the second coach pays nothing |
To be fair: you don't talk things through in Koach, because there is no chat and there are no private messages. For sorting out who runs the warm-up on Thursday, your group chat is still the quickest route.
Who is this for, and who is it not for?
- A good fit: a head coach and an assistant on one team, even if you coach on different nights or the assistant only comes along on match day.
- A good fit: a coach who wants to bring a young assistant up to speed. The assistant reads back the reports and sees why each decision was made the way it was.
- Not a fit with Coach: a staff of three or more on one team. Coach has room for two coaches, the owner plus one; more coaches is only possible on the Club plan.
- Not a fit: anyone mainly looking for a place to chat with their assistant. That's not what Koach is built for.
What does coaching together in Koach cost?
You can try Koach free for 14 days, no credit card needed. After that, Coach costs €2.99 per month for one team with two coaches, or €2.49 per month if you pay yearly. In the App Store and on Google Play you pay the store price in your own currency. The team owner pays; the second coach doesn't. As long as the owner's subscription is active, your assistant sees You coach under [your name]’s subscription in the app, followed by As long as it is active, you pay nothing yourself. The amounts are on the pricing page, and how this fits into the rest of running your team is covered in managing a volleyball team as a coach.
Start with one agreement: who writes the report? Agree that whoever ran the session adds a few lines under After the session afterwards, plus one sentence under Focus for the next session. After a few weeks you'll be reading each other's nights back instead of calling to catch up.
Frequently asked questions
What does an assistant volleyball coach do during a match?
Usually they keep score and stats, count substitutions and time-outs, and scout the opponent: where they serve and in which rotation they go on a run. In a time-out they pass the head coach one fact. Under the international rules the assistant sits on the bench and does not intervene in the match; the coach requests time-outs and substitutions.
How can you be a good assistant volleyball coach?
By taking work off the head coach's plate without going your own way. Agree up front which duties are yours and stick to them. At practice, give short, concrete feedback that fits what the head coach is asking for, and raise any disagreement afterwards, not in front of the team. Write down what you see so the head coach can read it back. And after a few weeks, ask what you could do differently.
Does an assistant coach have to pay for Koach?
No, not if the team owner has a subscription. On the Coach plan at €2.99 per month, two coaches work in one team: the owner and one colleague. The second coach coaches under the owner's subscription and pays nothing. You can try Koach free for 14 days first, no credit card needed. Player and parent accounts are free.
Can two coaches score the same match at the same time?
No. Each team has one running score, and if you score on two devices you overwrite each other's points. Koach warns you about this itself. So agree on who keeps score. If the other coach needs to take over, they start the match on their own phone with an internet connection and choose Take over when the Already being scored message appears. They then carry on from that score.
Can my assistant coach see the notes I make about players?
Yes. A coach in your team can manage the team and also sees notes and absence reasons. That's the idea: what you write on Tuesday, your assistant reads on Thursday. Each note shows the date and the name of the coach who wrote it, so write observations you'd also say out loud in a coaches' meeting. Players themselves can't see the coach's notes.
Start coaching your team as a duo
14 days free, no credit card. After one week of practice you'll both know whether it works.
Get started with KoachOr read first what the volleyball coaching app does.