Your Yes I Can VB Gold Gift Message
February 16th, 2008 at 12:06 pm20
Things Coaching Volleyball Has Taught Me
-By Dave Cross
I was tooling around the web the other day and
checked out what was new on this neat site I found
awhile ago called mentalfloss.com. It's one of
those sites that chronicles a lot of little known
historical facts,etc.-sometimes I find it fun to
read that kind of stuff. Anyway, I found an
article on there entitled "20 Things I'm Glad
Life Taught Me" by Andrew Galasetti. It's a nice
article about some simple "facts of life" this
guy feels he has learned. So, you guessed it, I
thought I'd put something together for volleyball
coaches along the same train of thought:
1. If you are coaching in a school system, always
make friends with the custodians. Actually, this
is something my old high school basketball coach,
Dave Majick, taught me back when I was first
graduating college. Your school's custodians can
make your life easy, or they can make it really
tough. But one thing has rung true every time
concerning this for me, if you treat them well,
they'll do anything they can for you.
2. It doesn't matter how much talent a kid has,
if their attitude is in the dumper, get rid of
them. Yes, probably as it is with most of you, I
had to learn this one the hard way. And yes, it's
always tempting to try and "ride out" the rough
spots to keep the talent on the court-but, in the
end, your team will be much better off and you'll
sleep a lot better if you just "bite the bullet"
and send them on their way.
3. You must realize you care much more about your
program than anyone else does. Administrators,
parents and players will come and go-and so will
their concern and support. You need to keep this
in mind and make sure you get things done as they
need to-it's the only way to keep your program
strong annually.
4. Nothing matters more than loyalty-never burn a
bridge that leads to home. Stay loyal to your
coaches and kids-and those parents that support
you. Then, when it really matters, the support you
need will be there in mass. Take care of your
players whenever you can. As your players graduate
and move on in their lives, they may not be able
to help out whenever you ask, but they will be
there when they can be-which is what truly
matters.
5. Club season has to be fun. Make sure if you
coach a club team that it's going to be fun. We
have enough pressure and stress in our school
programs to deal with-getting into a club
situation that brings more of the same is just
going to wear you out more quickly. Pick the right
age group-and then the right kids to play for you.
Winning is nice, but it isn't the ultimate goal
of club ball in my opinion. Club ball is necessary
for kids to improve for their next school season.
6. Your kids must play club. As I mentioned above,
it's how they improve the most before your next
season. Do everything you can to get as many of
them playing as possible. If you don't, you are
selling your program short of what can be
accomplished.
7. Teach your kids to always play to the whistle.
Volleyball officiating is incredibly inconsistent-
always has been-always will be. Don't let them
officiate while they play-nothing good can come
of this. It upsets the official and causes your players
to lose focus on the immediate task at hand-making
sure they win the point on their own. Points won on
the other teams ball handling errors are an unexpected
bonus-because you really never know when you are
going to get a call.
8. Limit your "inner circle" to the people you
absolutely trust 100%. Rarely can a parent be
trusted this much-it's just the nature of the
situation. Confiding in someone you shouldn't can
come back to bite you big-time. We always had a
policy that the only people whose opinions
mattered were the people in the gym every day-your
players and coaching staff. Keep internal matters
just that- internal. This includes when your
players confide in you. Unless they are
endangering themselves in some way there is no
need to include their parents. If you do, your
players will lose confidence in being able to talk
to you about the things that matter the most to
them-and you will lose the ability to help them
when they need it the most.
9. This "circle" also needs to include your
closest coaching colleagues. We all need someone
to bounce our tough situations off of-but they
must be those you know will keep things "in
house". Coaches are human and love to gossip just
like anyone else.
10. Make sure you get your kids to "quality"
camps. Not every traveling camp is a quality
one-some are just money makers for the college
program conducting them. Make sure their staff is
conducting the camp- not their players. And stay
away from the big school's overnight camps-many
are simply "meat markets" to supplement the
staff's income.
11. Always keep learning. Pick the brains of your
coaching colleagues. Don't let your ego stop you
from asking for help. The bottom line is that you
find a solution to the problem-not that you come
up with the solution yourself. Keep attending
coaching clinics-you can always pick up something
new that will then become part of your own
"mental library".
12. Always help other coaches when asked. Then
when you need help, they will be there for you.
I've coached many a rival's players during club
season-and it has never bothered me because I knew
they would help my kids, too. If they won't, then
don't put yourself in a situation where you have
to help them.
13. Ex-players make the best assistant coaches.
They will coach the way they were coached
themselves and will be loyal to you and the
program. Be very wary of hiring any assistant's
who have children in the program. This can
work-but not very often. You need to make sure
they don't have their own "personal agenda"-and
unfortunately they do more times than not.
14. Make sure your teams are always outfitted as
they want. If it's going to be expensive, then
get the fundraisers going. Your kids work hard for
you-and their uniforms, warmups, sweatshirts, etc.
mean a lot to them-much more than they will ever
mean to you. And always take care of your
managers-they get everything the players do-no
exceptions.
15. Always run any potential problem point past
your A.D. before dealing with it. If you have to
act immediately, inform them of your decision and
actions as soon as possible. It's very important
they are aware of what is going on before they get
a phone call about it. Even when you make a
mistake-just tell them. They can't defend you if
they don't know what is going on.
16. Very rarely is it a good idea to get on your
team after a loss. Yes, there are times for this.
But 99% of the time it is better to cool off and
address it the next day. Remember: You will never
regret the things you don't say!
17. Make sure your kids going off to play in
college are going to play for the right kind of
coach. Playing at the college level is a major
feather in the cap of any young person-and
sometimes they don't stop to think about the
"nuts and bolts" of it. Guide them the best you
can. Then, if they don't listen, at least you
know you did everything you could for them.
18. Stay out of the local restaurants and bars.
Sure, there are times you will be the
"celebrity". But that will fade as quick as the
sun goes down when things aren't going well.
There is nothing worse than getting jumped by an
irate parent in a public place-and if you aren't
there-it can't happen-it's that simple.
19. Make sure to take time to re-charge your
batteries. Yes, it is very important to work
hard-that's a no-brainer. But you also have to
stay away from burning out. If you need a day
off-take it. Whatever doesn't get done today, can
be done tomorrow most of the time.
20. Finally, never take the day off after a loss.
Man, this can be tempting after a disappointing
defeat-but it sends the wrong message to your
kids. You can't expect them to get up and go to
school after a bad night if you are going to call
off. It also teaches them a very important life
lesson: It's just a game, and the sun will come
up tomorrow.
-Dave Cross
National Director
Yes I Can Volleyball
-By Dave Cross
I was tooling around the web the other day and
checked out what was new on this neat site I found
awhile ago called mentalfloss.com. It's one of
those sites that chronicles a lot of little known
historical facts,etc.-sometimes I find it fun to
read that kind of stuff. Anyway, I found an
article on there entitled "20 Things I'm Glad
Life Taught Me" by Andrew Galasetti. It's a nice
article about some simple "facts of life" this
guy feels he has learned. So, you guessed it, I
thought I'd put something together for volleyball
coaches along the same train of thought:
1. If you are coaching in a school system, always
make friends with the custodians. Actually, this
is something my old high school basketball coach,
Dave Majick, taught me back when I was first
graduating college. Your school's custodians can
make your life easy, or they can make it really
tough. But one thing has rung true every time
concerning this for me, if you treat them well,
they'll do anything they can for you.
2. It doesn't matter how much talent a kid has,
if their attitude is in the dumper, get rid of
them. Yes, probably as it is with most of you, I
had to learn this one the hard way. And yes, it's
always tempting to try and "ride out" the rough
spots to keep the talent on the court-but, in the
end, your team will be much better off and you'll
sleep a lot better if you just "bite the bullet"
and send them on their way.
3. You must realize you care much more about your
program than anyone else does. Administrators,
parents and players will come and go-and so will
their concern and support. You need to keep this
in mind and make sure you get things done as they
need to-it's the only way to keep your program
strong annually.
4. Nothing matters more than loyalty-never burn a
bridge that leads to home. Stay loyal to your
coaches and kids-and those parents that support
you. Then, when it really matters, the support you
need will be there in mass. Take care of your
players whenever you can. As your players graduate
and move on in their lives, they may not be able
to help out whenever you ask, but they will be
there when they can be-which is what truly
matters.
5. Club season has to be fun. Make sure if you
coach a club team that it's going to be fun. We
have enough pressure and stress in our school
programs to deal with-getting into a club
situation that brings more of the same is just
going to wear you out more quickly. Pick the right
age group-and then the right kids to play for you.
Winning is nice, but it isn't the ultimate goal
of club ball in my opinion. Club ball is necessary
for kids to improve for their next school season.
6. Your kids must play club. As I mentioned above,
it's how they improve the most before your next
season. Do everything you can to get as many of
them playing as possible. If you don't, you are
selling your program short of what can be
accomplished.
7. Teach your kids to always play to the whistle.
Volleyball officiating is incredibly inconsistent-
always has been-always will be. Don't let them
officiate while they play-nothing good can come
of this. It upsets the official and causes your players
to lose focus on the immediate task at hand-making
sure they win the point on their own. Points won on
the other teams ball handling errors are an unexpected
bonus-because you really never know when you are
going to get a call.
8. Limit your "inner circle" to the people you
absolutely trust 100%. Rarely can a parent be
trusted this much-it's just the nature of the
situation. Confiding in someone you shouldn't can
come back to bite you big-time. We always had a
policy that the only people whose opinions
mattered were the people in the gym every day-your
players and coaching staff. Keep internal matters
just that- internal. This includes when your
players confide in you. Unless they are
endangering themselves in some way there is no
need to include their parents. If you do, your
players will lose confidence in being able to talk
to you about the things that matter the most to
them-and you will lose the ability to help them
when they need it the most.
9. This "circle" also needs to include your
closest coaching colleagues. We all need someone
to bounce our tough situations off of-but they
must be those you know will keep things "in
house". Coaches are human and love to gossip just
like anyone else.
10. Make sure you get your kids to "quality"
camps. Not every traveling camp is a quality
one-some are just money makers for the college
program conducting them. Make sure their staff is
conducting the camp- not their players. And stay
away from the big school's overnight camps-many
are simply "meat markets" to supplement the
staff's income.
11. Always keep learning. Pick the brains of your
coaching colleagues. Don't let your ego stop you
from asking for help. The bottom line is that you
find a solution to the problem-not that you come
up with the solution yourself. Keep attending
coaching clinics-you can always pick up something
new that will then become part of your own
"mental library".
12. Always help other coaches when asked. Then
when you need help, they will be there for you.
I've coached many a rival's players during club
season-and it has never bothered me because I knew
they would help my kids, too. If they won't, then
don't put yourself in a situation where you have
to help them.
13. Ex-players make the best assistant coaches.
They will coach the way they were coached
themselves and will be loyal to you and the
program. Be very wary of hiring any assistant's
who have children in the program. This can
work-but not very often. You need to make sure
they don't have their own "personal agenda"-and
unfortunately they do more times than not.
14. Make sure your teams are always outfitted as
they want. If it's going to be expensive, then
get the fundraisers going. Your kids work hard for
you-and their uniforms, warmups, sweatshirts, etc.
mean a lot to them-much more than they will ever
mean to you. And always take care of your
managers-they get everything the players do-no
exceptions.
15. Always run any potential problem point past
your A.D. before dealing with it. If you have to
act immediately, inform them of your decision and
actions as soon as possible. It's very important
they are aware of what is going on before they get
a phone call about it. Even when you make a
mistake-just tell them. They can't defend you if
they don't know what is going on.
16. Very rarely is it a good idea to get on your
team after a loss. Yes, there are times for this.
But 99% of the time it is better to cool off and
address it the next day. Remember: You will never
regret the things you don't say!
17. Make sure your kids going off to play in
college are going to play for the right kind of
coach. Playing at the college level is a major
feather in the cap of any young person-and
sometimes they don't stop to think about the
"nuts and bolts" of it. Guide them the best you
can. Then, if they don't listen, at least you
know you did everything you could for them.
18. Stay out of the local restaurants and bars.
Sure, there are times you will be the
"celebrity". But that will fade as quick as the
sun goes down when things aren't going well.
There is nothing worse than getting jumped by an
irate parent in a public place-and if you aren't
there-it can't happen-it's that simple.
19. Make sure to take time to re-charge your
batteries. Yes, it is very important to work
hard-that's a no-brainer. But you also have to
stay away from burning out. If you need a day
off-take it. Whatever doesn't get done today, can
be done tomorrow most of the time.
20. Finally, never take the day off after a loss.
Man, this can be tempting after a disappointing
defeat-but it sends the wrong message to your
kids. You can't expect them to get up and go to
school after a bad night if you are going to call
off. It also teaches them a very important life
lesson: It's just a game, and the sun will come
up tomorrow.
-Dave Cross
National Director
Yes I Can Volleyball