Category: Volleyball

My first season as a high school varsity coach went pretty much as I expected. We finished the year with an overall record of 3-20. I predicted 4 or 5 wins on the year and of our 20 losses there are easily two matches that we were more than capable of winning. I knew there would be days when the boys exceeded their potential – a set one win over Zionsville in our first ever home match followed by a set 2 loss where we scored 23 points proved that point. I knew there would be days when the boys would look like they had never seen a volleyball – that point was illustrated in a late season match against that same Zionsville team.

All-in-all, I accomplished most of my goals for the first year of our program. I wanted support and respect from opposing coaches for my boys and for our program. I wanted to be taken seriously by the athletic department and school administration as a varsity sport. I wanted the extended CRHS family to support our program. And finally, I wanted the boys to see themselves as varsity athletes in a program for which they could be proud.

The support from opposing coaches came immediately upon joining the IBVCA family of coaches and programs. Never have I felt such support in a professional endeavor. The support was then followed by respect from several of the coaches as well as the officials that we saw through-out the season. Their kind words about our progress as a team as well as individual athletes were high points in our season. I especially appreciated comments about “my libero” from people who had no idea that he was not only my player, but my son.

The extended CRHS family was wonderful. We had over 30 different individuals volunteer to assist us during the season. Many of the volunteers had a tie to the girls volleyball program. It was fun to see the reaction of high school girls watching high school boys play for the first time. We also experienced great attendance at our home matches, especially our inaugural match and senior night. Again, the reaction of some of the student fans was priceless as these students witnessed great athleticism from boys they presumed were not exceptional athletes.

It wasn’t until our season was complete that I was able to determine where my program stood from the perspective of the athletic department and school administration. And while I wished for clarity on this point sooner, I am thrilled with the results. At Spring Awards Night volleyball was the last team to present our awards and the only team to receive an introduction by the athletic director that specifically talked about where we came from, how far we had come and what a great addition we were to the CRHS sports family. I was humbled by the applause we received when I indicated that of the 6 new teams in the state in 2015, we finished with the 2nd best record win/loss record and one of our wins was against the team with the best win/loss record.

My players seeing themselves as varsity athletes and taking pride in their program is the goal that still has a lot of room for improvement. I hope that with a year of experience and a general understanding of what to expect, some of this will naturally improve in year number two. It was frustrating that neither my overall MVP, nor my mental attitude award winner attended Awards Night. Hopefully my senior class in 2016 will have enough pride in our program to show-up for awards night. Guess I will do a better job of communicating this goal through-out the 2016 season.

…and so it continues…

My boys volleyball team is 1-4. Veteran coaches tell me that already having a win under our belt at this point in the season for a first year team is great. In these first 5 matches we have only seen 3 different opponents and both coaches we have played twice say that my boys have shown good improvement. For all of this I am grateful.

And while I do appreciate the win we got over Lawrence North and the set we managed to take from Zionsville in our home opener, what has struck me the most over our first 5 matches has little to do with wins and losses. It has to do with the boys themselves. I have two senior captains, neither of whom have ever played competitive volleyball, who are working really hard to make sure that all of the boys remember that they are part of a team and that everyone has a role to play. They only let me go into one match without a prayer, before they politely pointed out my oversight. Now we pray before and after every match. And both captains have things to say in the pre-game and post game huddles. They have taken responsibility for “their” team, something I didn’t think I would find in this first year of the program.

Another thing that I was not expecting to find in this first year of the program, is respect for the different roles that individuals play and a true appreciation of the fact that everyone has to be doing their respective role well, in order for the team to be successful. And that all jobs require talent and athleticism. I have been pleasantly surprised by how appreciative my hitters are of the role that my passers have to perform. In fact, during one recent match I asked the middle hitter who was currently on the bench if he could play a few points on defense for me, he looked at me like I was crazy and (politely) asked why? I told him that the libero needed a couple of minutes to collect himself. My middle hitters response was priceless, he moved to the edge of his seat and repeatedly gave extremely positive encouragement to the libero. He looked at me a few points later and explained that was the best way he knew to support his teammate.

I did not expect to have to inform a freshmen that his grades were not good enough for him to play for at least the first 4 weeks of the season, but even that has turned into a positive experience. That young man has continued to practice with the team and attend the matches. He is able to see the game from a very different perspective and has been asking a lot of really good questions. He is extremely positive from the bench and goes out of his way to encourage his teammates regardless of the score. He could have simply given up and quit, but instead he has chosen to remain engaged with this team and his teammates. Yet another thing I did not expect to find in this first year of the program.

And finally, I have been blessed with some really great parents as well. I hardly have a need articulated before I have at least two parents offering help. Sometimes they are so pro-active that I haven’t even realized there is a need until after they have already handled it for me. Guess it shouldn’t surprise me that I have great parents, great kids usually start from great parents. Here’s to a great start of the boys volleyball program at CRHS!!

Open gym for boys high school volleyball started a couple of weeks ago. I have seen nine different boys and believe that I have at least a couple of winter sport athletes that will be joining us in time for our first competition. My suspicions that these boys know little to nothing about real volleyball are spot on. However, in many other ways these young men have been a very pleasant surprise.

My boys are incredibly respectful. They respect me as an individual as well as their coach. They pay attention to what I have to say and attempt to make the adjustments they are given with corrective instructions. They have done a great job of interjecting just enough humor to keep the mood light, while working hard. I have constant reminders of the many ways they are different from the girls I have coached over the years, but those differences are neither good nor bad, they still are.

We have had one classroom session and I was pleasantly surprised by how much they talked in that session. They talked to me, they talked to each other. They listened very attentively to what I had to say. They are asking good questions. I am starting to see a team personality emerge and so far I am very excited with what I see.

Maybe the next post will be more of an assessment of their playing ability 😉

So, I’m a high school volleyball coach. Not the close friend of a high school coach, not the wife of a high school coach, not the sister, mother or cousin of a high school coach, but an actual high school coach. The varsity, high school, boys, volleyball coach at CRHS. I don’t have an official assistant coach and my unofficial assistant coach goes to school two nights a week and coaches her own girls club volleyball team two other nights a week. She’s more of a sounding board or trusted advisor than actual coach. But not to worry, I am 85% sure that a senior from the girls volleyball team at CRHS is available to help me. So, no worries, it’s all good, I got this.

I got confirmation from my AD today that I can feel free to schedule all of my own matches. I was given a very short list of dates to avoid and I was reminded to schedule as many home matches as away matches. I can only manage to get 3 hours of gym time in a 6 week period of time in January/February for conditioning/open gyms, but I can feel free to schedule home matches in that same gym?! I forgot to ask who schedules the officials for home matches, and how do officials get paid, hmm? And don’t forget about game balls. I haven’t had the opportunity to tell the AD that boys game balls are different than girls game balls and I will need at least two boys game balls if we are to host any home matches. And uniforms, I am absolutely going to need to think about uniforms. And if we only get one set of uniforms I am going to need to get a couple of extra uniforms in a different color (and different numbers) for my libero to wear. But, no worries, it’s all good, I got this.

Speaking of scheduling my own games, after only 26 hours on the official website that tracks boys high school volleyball teams and coaches I have “met” a couple of great coaches who have already been incredibly helpful. In fact, I scheduled our first match this evening. On Thursday, April 23 my boys will be traveling to the far north side of Indy for a volleyball match, game time 6:30pm. I was so excited to be able to confirm this small, important step that tears (accidentally) appeared in my eyes. And then it hit me, that overwhelming moment of panic. Boys don’t cry! At least not while they are competing, unless they are severely injured. But under no circumstances are they going to understand why their coach (accidentally) tears up during a practice or *gasp* a game. Especially when the likelihood of my tears increases in an inverse relationship to the likelihood of boys crying. I’m a big ‘ole softy, I won’t cry if they make me mad or if I get hurt. I will cry when they do something awesome or say something wonderful or exceed my expectations. I will cry when they make me happy. Gulp, start worrying, it’s not good, maybe I don’t got this!

It’s gonna be an awesome season!