About Steve Canfield
Coach
First Assistant Florida A&M University Volleyball, with 30+ years of coaching volleyball and basketball, boys and girls of all ages.
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Steve Canfield – My Story
I am an incredibly hardworking coach, a loyal husband, as well as the father of four highly successful daughters.
I have over 30 years of coaching and training experience in varying levels of athletics. My love of people and passion for sports aid in creating lasting relationships and have made me a successful leader. My coaching skills translate into a highly effective management style, and also grant me the ability to organize and foster teamwork and success.
I am currently the First Assistant Coach at Florida A&M University (2016 – present). FAMU finished first in the MEAC Southern Division three years and Runner-Up at the MEAC Conference Championships in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, FAMU earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC). 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID. 2021 was a break out season for our staff, we finished 25W-7L (4th best record in school history), we won the SWAC Championship over Jackson State and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years! We won the Auburn Invitational with 3 victories to include a 3W-2L upset over host Auburn we also defeated Big South Champions Campbell University. 2021 FAMU had three SWAC “Player of the Year Selections” Overall MVP, Setter, and Libero.
The 11 years I coached Florida high school sports, as well as my founding of the USA Volleyball Club – Club Fusion Panama City, have allowed me to create solid relationships with a vast number of high school, club, and college coaches throughout the entire state and southern region. Apart from the contacts I gained as the CEO of Club Fusion, I acquired experience in directing a large sports organization with a large coaching staff and many teams of various age levels.
I am professionally experienced with schedule creation, travel budgeting, and fundraising. In the community and on campus I feel that I am skilled with generating excitement and reaching out with my programs. I have held many successful youth summer camps, developed players through club volleyball, provided training sessions at middle schools, and expect my players to mentor younger athletes. I have handled all financial aspects of my basketball, volleyball, and club volleyball teams – including internal accounts with the high school and college.
As a 20 year, retired Air Force, Honorably discharged Veteran, I feel as though I have a deep seeded drive for discipline and becoming the best person you can be. I strive to instill these ideals into my players in hopes to transform them into strong, independent individuals. I am an incredibly detail-oriented person in every aspect of my life, with the improvement of my teams always in the forefront of my mind. I make each team a daily practice schedule that is specifically designed to include drills which target the skills I find necessary through countless hours of observing game film. I am also extremely dedicated to managing my athletes’ academic progress and do so with utmost care. Every team I coached at Mosley high school (19 teams in total) won the award for Bay County High GPA. FAMU volleyball has maintained unprecedented 3.3 team GPA and volleyball APR has been at 1000 for the last 4 seasons.
“I am currently the First Assistant Coach at Florida A&M University (2016 – present). 2021 was a break-out season for our staff, we finished 25W-7L (4th best record in school history), won the SWAC Championship over Jackson State, and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years! “
I hold a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sport Management from Florida State University (3.90 GPA, Magna Cum Laude). My degree covered a wide range of applicable subjects including:
Sport…Issues, History, Society, Management, Psychology, Diversity, Governance, Economics, Law, Human Resources in Sport, Sport Facility & Event Management, Event & Project Promotion (Marketing), Principle & Problems in Coaching, Human Movement Studies, Foundation of Teaching, and Management Concepts. My official college transcripts are available upon request.
My wife, Marta, has a bachelor’s degree with a double major in Business Administration and Accounting from St. Michael’s College in Vermont; the same university that she received a scholarship for volleyball. Our family also includes four highly successful daughters. Cristina (33 years old) is a Mechanical Engineer who graduated from Florida Institute of Technology on an academic scholarship and also has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Strathclyde. Stephanie (32 years old) is the Chief Executive Officer of the business she founded, Ignite Digital Marketing, and graduated from Stetson University on a full-ride volleyball scholarship. Deanna (28 years old) holds a degree in Sports and Leisure and graduated from the University of South Alabama on a full ride volleyball scholarship. Melanie (22 years old) is a graduate student on a full-ride volleyball scholarship at Embry Riddle University (selected as freshman and newcomer of the year, Sunshine State Conference 2017-2018), where she plans to obtain a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. We feel that our parenting and assistance in helping our daughters achieve their dreams demonstrate our skills as mentors and our ability to drive others to attain their maximum potential.
At Mosley High School, both varsity programs I acquired were in ruins. Through my hard work and coaching talent, I grew the basketball and volleyball programs into competitive powerhouses. My main achievements included district titles, plus coaching and assisting players in attaining college scholarships. At Florida A&M University, I am tirelessly recruiting great talent and working to create a high-performing team with a positive team culture. I am doing so by emphasizing work ethic, and by pushing all our players to graduate to ensure they are successful even after they leave the university.
COACHING PHILOSOPHY
My primary objective is to provide a safe, learning environment where players can work on skill development without fear of making mistakes. My focus is on improvement and everyone providing maximum effort. I aim to foster a competitive atmosphere where players are always trying their absolute best. I want players to worry about things they can control, not events out of their control…
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