On Sundays, I coach.
There is a noon session and then I head a bit south to handle the fitness aspect of a friend's club in Cooper City. I work on the weekends. Sure it doesn't help my social life... but it doesn't phase me cause I have a goal in mind.
It has become clear to me over the years that you must be constantly learning if you want to improve. I'm a student of the game. You must be...
Between said Sunday sessions you can usually find me sitting at the Coop City Bolay or if its a cheat day then I’m having pizza at Lucky's market. I only have about an hour, so I study, read, search through volleyball articles or try to write something profound.
Today I found a particular article on the website of a coach I follow.
The purpose of a (Carolina Juniors vb 16's) Team: a blog I found published by Chuck Rey, Head coach of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It’s a short bulleted list of ideas... and I loved them. It’s simple and he nails the concept.
Here is the original post:
The Purpose of Carolina Juniors Volleyball 16s Team
1. To cultivate a nurturing learning environment that teaches life lessons though volleyball.
2. To encourage a positive and fun volleyball family that focuses on the team without distraction.
3. To establish an unwavering team chemistry from a group of individuals of varying backgrounds.
4. To challenge the team to reach beyond personal comfort zones to achieve something extraordinary.
5. To promote an internal motivation within players to pursue a passionate team mission, superseding all personal agendas, on a daily basis.
6. To empower players to be self-reliant, responsible, discipline, and independent.
7. To consistently train and challenge the team in a way that creatively adapts to individual learning styles.
8. To maximize the team’s physical potential while continually increasing its volleyball intelligence.
9. To develop well rounded athletes, beyond fundamental skills, through conditioning and proper nutrition.
10. To guide parents in daily practices that promotes a healthy living environment and instills positive lifetime habits for their daughters.
11. To offer recruiting advice and opportunities for players with the desire to play in college.
12. To have each player come out of the program with a positive experience and be a more well rounded individual.
13. To be the example, in which other teams and clubs look-up to.
14. To treat others that we encounter (officials, line-judges, opponents, convention staff, restaurant waiters, hotel housekeepers, etc.) with class, dignity and as equals.
15. To respect the game.
Let’s break it down from my perspective shall we?
The Purpose of a volleyball team
1. To cultivate a nurturing learning environment that teaches life lessons though volleyball.
This sport can ask so much more of us than just physical movement. It can demand emotion (which I see as presenting the opportunity to control your emotions…) It offers trouble shooting tutorials, lessons in team work, applying peripheral vision, and even the occasional breaking language barriers if you're lucky enough to play in another country. These are all wildly off the beaten path of things you would expect from any sport, but I want to help people understand the bigger picture of what this sport is capable of.
Psychology is something that plays a HUGE role in how you perform on the court. Your skills can even be defined or subdued by your personality. This sport has definitely helped shape my personality over the years.
2. To encourage a positive and fun volleyball family that focuses on the team without distraction.
We always start off each season with the idea that we will unite on and off the court; of course thats the goal. This sport can form lifelong friend ships that do turn into a family like bond.
If its doesn’t… there is nothing wrong with that… it just has the potential to.. Don’t fret if you’re not still friends with your high school or college teammates.. Life just took you elsewhere!
3. To establish an unwavering team chemistry from a group of individuals of varying backgrounds.
I think the term unwavering is a reach for the stars, but when each player is on board with the team's goals this sport provides the possibility of major accomplishments.
4. To challenge the team to reach beyond personal comfort zones to achieve something extraordinary.
Learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.... that's a future post all its own.. ;)
5. To promote an internal motivation within players to pursue a passionate team mission, superseding all personal agendas, on a daily basis.
Motivated individuals accomplish more. I think as coaches we try to find ways to "motivate" athletes... but the self motivated ones... the ones that understand how much work in necessary to get the result they're searching for.. those are the leaders.. those are the highly successful ones down the road.
6. To empower players to be self-reliant, responsible, disciplined, and independent.
THIS is my #1. It is everything. As a coach your #1 job is to teach understanding of the sport. But if you can somehow initiate their responsibility for everything volleyball related, it will spill over into their lives and give them a better understanding as to how to be a more successful adult.
7. To consistently train and challenge the team in a way that creatively adapts to individual learning styles.
Problem solving is much deeper than those long drawn out math problems we read in the text books…
8. To maximize the team’s physical potential while continually increasing its volleyball intelligence.
Team work comes into the real world. The experiences kids go through together teach them how to lead, how to follow, and how to manage problems with coworkers.
9. To develop well rounded athletes, beyond fundamental skills, through conditioning and proper nutrition.
I wish athletes would pay more attention to nutrition! It is everything.
10. To guide parents in daily practices that promotes a healthy living environment and instills positive lifetime habits for their daughters.
I’m not yet a parent… so this is where I lose people, but If we can teach kids at a young age good habits, then they will carry over to adulthood.. in theory...
Also, I just want it to be public knowledge that I believe if you aim to be a parent, your goals should be to make your off spring bad ass… why would you try to raise a kid to be less?
11. To offer recruiting advice and opportunities for players with the desire to play in college.
I unfortunately don't get enough questions as a coach about this process... but hey. college also isn’t for everyone!
12. To have each player come out of the program with a positive experience and be a more well rounded individual.
Obviously no club owner wants players to have a bad experience… duh. But your experience is what you decide to make it.. for yourself as an athlete, or for you athlete as a parent… [See previous blog post ;) ]
13. To be the example, in which other teams and clubs look-up to.
I think everyone talks shit. Thats in our DNA… or maybe just south Floridian’s DNA… regardless of location, there is a club environment for everyone. Small clubs, Big clubs.
14. To treat others that we encounter (officials, line-judges, opponents, convention staff, restaurant waiters, hotel housekeepers, etc.) with class, dignity and as equals.
This one gets tricky…. Cause in alot of people’s eye ref’s are just the absolute worst.. But you know that old quote, “I treat the janitor with the same respect I treat the CEO”… thats the concept here.
15. To respect the game.
A lesson from the ocean… When you try to fight the waves you get pulled under.
Sometimes my thoughts are nonsense, but if I can teach just one person something they didn’t know about this sport, then my mission is a success.
Any comments are welcome!
In Volley,
~ Coach A.Y