Vienna Elite will be fielding a team of (11 or 12)* highly skilled U13 players.  Our program is expected to be one of the most rigorous training programs in the Region.  The team is expected to be a competitive "OPEN" level team which will compete in selected multi-day tournaments and local CHRVA tournaments (Refer to tentative schedule below).

The U13 team is expected to practice twice per week.  During the training months of November and December as well as on non-tournament weekends from January thru May, the Club may also hold "Academy" which will focus on specific skills (i.e. serving, passing, setting, team defense etc). Academy will be run by special instructors or by Vienna Elite coaches.

Our club strives to be the best club in Northern Virginia when considering competitiveness of teams, level of coaching, club fees, number of tournaments and overall access to court time. Our players love to play volleyball and want to compete at a high level!

* At the discretion of the club 1 or 2 "practice players" will be considered depending on the circumstances of the team.  Practice players will not participate in any matches or tournaments unless specifically called upon by the Head Coach. 

Bob Abels (USAV IMPACT and CAP I Certified) has played volleyball for 30 years playing in professional beach tournaments, competing in open six man tournaments against national team players and winning gold, silver and bronze medals in the World Police and Fire games while representing Customs and Border Protection in international events in Australia, Sweden, Canada and the United States.  After a 30 year career with CBP he retired in 2011, turning down the world of consulting to become the assistant volleyball coach for the junior varsity team at Bishop O’Connell in 2013.  In 2015 he was asked to coach the first freshman team formed by Bishop O'Connell while still helping with the Junior Varsity and the Varsity teams. 

Seven seasons ago Coach Bob started with Vienna Elite as a floater coach but shared in the duties as U13-2 Head Coach before the season was over.  The following season he took over the U13 co-Head Coaching responsibilities with Pat Hogan.  Fast forward six years and the first two 13 teams he coached has produced four All Met first team players, one state player of the year, six state champions and two AVCA high school national team second and third team players.  Six of the first nine players from the first year went on to play college volleyball as freshman in 2021 or will play next year.  In 2021 two of the nine players that played for him in his first wo years were voted to the Washington Post High School All Met team.

Coach Bob also coaches the JV at Bishop O’Connell and assists with the varsity.  In 2021 O’Connell won the WCAC for the first time since 1995 and finished second in the Washington Post rankings for high schools in the DC area.

Coach Bob believes in combining the two most important elements for why we compete in sports - to win and have fun while doing it.   Contact: bob.abels@viennaelite.org