"Shrimp tails...."

Lifelong Learner. That's a phrase tossed around like shrimp tails at a Benihanas. What is a lifelong learner and are they actually?

Lifelong learner is a student for life. They still get spring break off and they might blow off reading that chapter for a quick coffee with friends. But lifelong learners figure out, in their own way, in their own time frame what works for them to continue to learn more about what they are passionate about. In our case, volleyball, our athletes and coaching.

Lifelong learning has to be the comfortable jeans you slide on and feel good in. They can't be too constricting, too uncomfortable. Sometimes it's something that by pure accident you come upon and share. It's a tiny light that is always on, waiting to glow a little brighter. 

Follow the path below and perhaps some of these articles, videos and podcasts will get you to think a little bit more about the coach you want to be, the way you want your team to play and the way we want our sport represented. In no particular order and following a recommendation of several, please enjoy the following. 


The Secret to Coaching Success: How Long Is A Piece Of String? by Wayne Goldsmith.

Emotional Agility by Susan David and Christina Congleton.

How I stopped Dealing with Parents by Nate Sanderson

Growing the Love of a Game blog.

The Perception and Action podcast hosted by Rob Gray. 

Echoes beyond the game: the lasting power of a coach's words by Coach Reed. 

Regression to the Mean, or Why Perfection rarely Lasts by Adrian Barnett.

Derek Sivers Book Notes: where an Internet billionaire has jotted down the notes of the last 200 books he's read. Ones that you might pay particular attention to are Daniel Khaneman's "Thinking Fast and Slow" and "Ego is the enemy" by Ryan Holiday.

The Max Potential Playbook by Reid Priddy.

The Headwinds Paradox, or why we all feel like Victims by Jonah Lehrer. 

4 Career Lessons Bill Belichek wants all Millennials to Know, (Including his own kids) bySuzy Welch. (Watch the accompanying video too!)

Why Facts don't Change Our Minds by Elizabeth Kolbert

Coach your Brains Out podcast. Recently guests have included Hugh McCutcheon, Andrea Becker, Tom Black, Reid Priddy and John Dunning. It is hosted by John Mayer, Billy Allen, Andrew Fuller and Nils Neilson

How to get better at the things you care about by Eduardo Briceno.

A Note to my Fellow Working Moms as I near the End of My Life by Rachel Huff

The Confidence Gap by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

To Raise Brave Girls, Encourage Adventure by Caroline Paul. 

Why Young Girls don't think they are Smart Enough by Andrei Cimpian and Sarah-Jane Leslie

The Sitting Happens podcast hosted by Jon Aharoni and Dan Mickle. 

Tell us what you listen to, watch or read and help us continue our lifelong learning. We appreciate any and all feedback always and look forward to yours. 

There ARE little things....

For nearly every other day during the two weeks of the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil, on the sidelines of the Ginasio do Maracanazinho in Maracana, Mike Wall took his seat as the Assistant Coach of the USA Men's Olympic squad and watched the previous four years of work, research and instruction unfold before him. It's a long two weeks, one that drains everyone involved to the last drop each day, requiring a prodigious revitalization of both body and spirit. 


There are no off days in the Olympic Games.

Mike has signed on for another quad and will be one of John Speraw's confidantes through Tokyo 2020. In this exclusive interview with the Arizona Region, Wall talks about his beginnigs with the sport, his Hall-of-Fame Coaches and what he took from them, his work with Gold Medal Squared and his recollections of the Bronze Medal winning Men's team from last summer.

https://soundcloud.com/user-142600181/mike-wall-interview