Getting in the way...

In December of 2021, the Az. Region hosted our "Education Weekend." Despite over 1000 coaches in the region, only 22 attended and only 16 finished the 2 1/2 day clinic. One of these 16 was a young coach from Tucson, a former player, who had just started working with her middle school team. 

With an open mind and willing to make changes, you can read here what it has brought her and her program.

I wanted to let you know that the school season started a little more than a month ago and I have been implementing what I learned at the coach training from back in December. Practices are dedicated to either playing speedball or doing full bump/set/spike practice, which is very different from what I was doing before. 

The girls are not only getting in maximum touches, but they absolutely love practice! I haven't heard "When can we...." which I did get in the past. We are still working out the logistics, but we have mostly figured out how to get two nets between the basketball hoop poles so there are practically no lines anymore. Not only did we not cut any players this year (we have 21 on the team), but they all are getting the entire practice at a net.

This season we are also 4-1 with still more than half of the season to go, where in the three previous years our best season winning record was 3 games total. There are a few reasons why they are doing so well that are out of my control, but I feel like I am now supporting their experience instead of getting in the way of it. 

I can see exactly what they have been doing in practice applied in the game and they are even running plays now, which they never did before because I was so focused on bumping lines. 

Because of everything I learned, I am finally feeling like I have some idea about what I am doing as a coach. I want to thank you again for organizing the training and to let you know that even almost a year later, it is still extremely impactful and was without a doubt worth the time and expense to attend. Also please pass along my thanks to John, Marouane, and all the other presenters.

PS We had an unfortunate season ending ankle injury with one of our players and I am planning a practice dedicated to sitting volleyball so she can play with the team again. I would not have thought about that without having heard from Whitney!

...The Same River Twice...

 "Alexa, make me a better coach..."

Why wouldn't this work? 

We can ask Alexa to play me side 2 of Pearl Jam's Vs. album in it's entirety at the volume we want, when we want by just asking loudly.

We can get on the phone and order pretty much any food we have a hankering for and it will be delivered to us within the hour to our front door.

We don't have to  wait for next week's installment of our favorite television show, we can just download all the episodes and watch them in class, or on our bathroom or lunch breaks. 

We don't have to take the film down to a photo processor to get our prints an hour later. We can just pull up the thousands we have on our phone right now AND send them to anyone in a split second.

We can jump into a group text and sit in the comfort of our bedrooms while we chat with our friends without all the messy facial expressions, voice inflection or learning how to read people. We can just chat on our terms.

We can hop on a number of social media spiderwebs to see all the good things that happen to our friends or teams, but not nearly as often do we see the losses or bad moments. These are too traumatic. Losing isn't in the playbook!

"Alexa...I'm waiting..."

It's not anyone's fault. We are in a society based on me, my time, my comfort, my likes and dislikes and my tolerance for those around me.

Not just the kids you are coaching, or the Parents you will be involved with this season, but your co coaches, your assistant coaches, your Club Director.

So if no one will tell you this, it's time someone did.

Watching a video is a miniscule part of being a better coach. Listening to podcasts is a step. Volunteering to assist a coach or a team is a step. Reading is a step. Not just coaching books, but science journals and asking questions are steps. 

The good news is that all the things we talked about up top are also things that can help you in your quest. It's easier than ever to hear great coaches talk via podcasts and YouTube. It's never been easier to read a book or listen to it. You can watch volleyball online at almost every level with minimal cost and high speed internet. 

But Alexa isn't the answer.

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher born in 544 B.C. said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

Experience is the ultimate teacher, in both success and failure. But it can't be gathered from inside our bedrooms or inside our cars or all from our phones. 

Meet us halfway. If there is a clinic you think will help, find the excuse TO go. If there is a coach you want to see or a team that interests you, make the effort. 

We ask so much of our athletes all season and beyond. Why shouldn't they expect the same from us?

Magic Beans and Fairy Dust...

Bill coaches a medium sized high school team in New Jersey. He did a 4-day camp the week before tryouts and two scrimmages to see his team together, experiment with some different line ups and situations, try to find leadership and help solidify some decisions going into week one with as much concrete information as possible.

Camp ended and he was ready. His outside hitter was a beast, and she was also a team leader. Although she had only been playing for just barely a year, she had blossomed as an athlete in volleyball and the team was better because of her.

Two days after camp and one day before tryouts, the outside hitter was playing football with her brothers. A hard pass, a late hand and she broke a finger on her attacking side. She was done for a good part of the season.

Bill was angry, then disappointed and then in reorganization mode. What to do now?

On February 4^th, the Phoenix Mercury became one of the betting favorites to win a WNBA title even though the season was still months away. They had acquired a seasoned post in Tina Charles to a one-year deal with the pure intent of this being an all-in go at the trophy. All Stars Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi and Skyler Diggins-Smith were ready to lead this team to it’s fourth Championship with the deep and star studded talent fashioning the box score.

Two weeks later it all began to unravel.

Center piece Brittany Griner was arrested in Russia where she still sits today, at the writing of this blog, in a Russian prison, found guilty of drug charges. The team was distraught and played distracted and affected for their new coach. Charles asked out of her contract after just 17 games because she didn’t think she was getting the ball enough. Taurasi suffered an injury and despite, somehow, still making the playoffs, Diggins-Smith also left the team the last two weeks of the season. What had begun with such high hopes crashed into a 2-0 sweep in the playoffs.

 

As Coaches AND Parents, we have stories we tell ourselves. “This team is good enough to win it all.” “My daughter is the best player on this team!” Rarely do those stories flesh out into reality and yet we continue to tell ourselves these fairy tales over and over.

As coaches, we must prepare for the worst. In 1988, Paul Westphal was a 37-year-old ex player looking to get some experience and coached Grand Canyon College to an NAIA Championship. What is forgotten is that late in the season he suspended two of his best front court players and highest scorers for team violations. Despite being short AND shorthanded, Westphal used what he had and beat the favorite Auburn-Montgomery 88-86 for the Championship.

Did Westphal expect to lose two crucial players as the playoffs loomed? Probably not but he did what great coaches do: he prepared for the worst! He had plans ready just in case.

If your best player goes down tomorrow, do you raise the white flag and cry foul? Or do you have another option? Do you have back up plans after back up plans ready? Are your players ready to play one position or volleyball?

The chances your high school or club season will go exactly as planned is a winning Lotto ticket. Think, as coaches and Parents, all the things that could DERAIL your season, then work backwards to help stem those tides. Bad grades, family emergencies, injuries, burn out, Parent over involvement and disruption, coaching change, etc. And in all of these, you an still not account for everything and anything that might happen. Life is random.

Your expectations of the narrative we tell ourselves is just that, a narrative. Our lives are full of them, daily. When things don’t meet the expectations of our narrative, we become disappointed, even though often our expectations are rooted in magic beans and fairy dust.

Be realistic, see beyond the obvious and understand that which has become clear to every great coach and parent in the world. 

Life teaches us humility.