Should there be higher education for coaches at the youth level?

Should club or travel team coaches have higher education? Often times in travel or club volleyball, coaches are chosen based off of playing experiences or past coaching experience. This can range from playing at the highest level in the USA which would be playing on the national team or international play to only playing in middle school. Most commonly coaches have played in high school. Coaching experience ranges from coaching in NCAA to coaching recreational team for the local boosters club. According to the USA Today article by Jason Smith (2017), Paying to Play: How Much Do Club Sports Cost?, travel or club volleyball can cost upwards of $8000-$10,00.00 a year for the elite teams. These are teams that do national tournaments and do travel out of the state a lot. To look at an average team. Not the elite top teams nor the less competitive teams but at a team that is ranked middle of the road so to speak.  The cost is between $3000-$6000.00 a season. 

Should club or travel team coaches have higher education? A normal club volleyball season runs for 6 months. These 6 months are filled with tournaments and practices. The article by Smith (2017) adds that most parents (40% of them) believe that their child will get a college scholarship that will pay for half of the students tuition. With these numbers wouldn't it serve to reason that higher coaching education should be required to coach club or travel teams? Parents are paying coaches to equip their child with skills to get them money for being an athlete and not only an athlete but a top athlete at that. There are many factors that play a role in an athletes ability to on a college roster. DNA makes up most of the factors (tall, explosive quickness, self-motivated, etc,) however, coaching and skills make up the rest. 

Club or travel coaches should have higher education. The reason is you get what you pay for. Does education make a coach good or bad? That is based on the person who is the coach; What education does is take a good coach and prepare him or her to be a better coach. A coach who understands methods of coaching past X's and O's. Knowing the game is highly important to teaching an athlete how to play but what about rest and recovery methods or off-season workout plans that are sport specific? There is more to volleyball and being an athlete than just sort of knowing how to play the game. There is more to coaching than being willing. Parents should call for higher education among club and travel coaches. Parents should get their moneys worth.  

http://usatodayhss.com/2017/paying-to-play-how-much-do-club-sports-cost

Volleyball 101

Top terms I believe every volleyball player needs to know and understand.  

• In System: The setter gets the ball in target. He or she is setting from target which allows a team to run a full offense.
• Out of System: The setter gets the ball NOT in target. This forces the setter to set limited options. This can also cause a easier ball to defend from hitters. 
• The Corners: When a coach refers to "put the ball in a corner" he or she means to hit, push, or pass the ball to deep spot 1 (right side) and deep spot 2 (left side). Getting the ball to this spot can cause a team to get out of system or give up the point.
• Seam: The seam can be used in two different ways. The first way is with blockers. When a team is blocking with two or three blockers, a seam is created between the blockers bodies. The space in between the blockers is what is called the seam. The second use of the word in volleyball is for serve receive. The space between the passers is referred to as the seam. Putting the ball in the seam means serving the ball in between the two passers so there is confusion as to who gets the ball. 
• The Pins: The antennas. 
• Read Blocking: Read blocking means the blockers are allow to set their block based on their read of the hitter. 
• Set Blocking: The block is set based on what the coach has told the blockers. It is pre-set and not changed by where the hitter moves.
• The BIC: A back row attack that goes over the middle front hitter. The set is tight to slightly in front of the ten foot line to allow the hitter to hit the ball close to the front row.

These are just a few terms. As I see the need for this list to grow I will add to it. 

#ccvc #volleyball #setsinthecity #volleyball101 #girlsvolleyball #boysvolleyball #volleyballterms 

Getting stronger

I have been a gym rat since I was 12 years old. I love being in a gym and I love working out.  I have always been strong and from a very young age I knew I was strong. Going to the gym a few times a week as been apart of my life since I was 18 years old and working with a trainer. In college I worked out and even took classes in it.  Since starting out coaching I have noticed that most athletes don't have a proper workout routine and most players don't see the need in making their athlete get stronger. I am not sure why not. Everyone can be stronger. No one to my knowledge as ever said "I would do some much better in sports or life if I was weaker." That is crazy to think about! You may not want to sell tickets to your "gun show" but being stronger is always better. Shoulders and arms are a key element that I feel gets overlooked. Basic arm and shoulder workouts can be simple. Push Ups.

I watched last night young male athletes who are in good shape struggle with push ups. They were different kinds of push ups but they struggled through them. The trainer went push up for push up with them but the 10 years plus young males still struggled. The one athlete who is in weight training in high school sited that his problem was he ran a lot during weight training but the truth is he just wasn't very strong. This isn't okay.  We need to bring back strong! I encourage you to do some push ups today! Be stronger!

100 wins

February 13th, 2017 could be a record setting day for women's sports and really sports in general. The University of Connecticut is women's basketball team goes for 100 straight wins in NCAA D1 basketball.

   What an amazing feat. As a coach I am always happy with back to back wins but to think about 100 in row! Wow. This record didn't happen over night. UCONN just didn't win 99 games in a row in one week or even month. We are talking since 2014 they have been working hard to get these wins. UCONN has graduated players, added new players, and are playing in big games or normal games. 

The coach is one thing that has remained the same. Coach Geno has become one of the best coaches in the sport of basketball if not the best. If he coached men he would be the all time greatest coach of basketball. Sadly, he coaches women therefore may people say he doesn't have competition he would have if coaching men.  That just sounds like sour grapes to me. He has played within the same rules and guidelines that all other teams both male an female have in the NCAA. 100 wins. Just take time to count to 100! Even that takes time. If UCONN wins tonight they will have won 4000 minutes of basketball.  Let that set in. Good luck tonight UCONN! 

Kind of like picking out fruit

When selecting a travel team for your child what should you look for?

A question I get asked a lot of times just reworded. Volleyball is my thing so I always get parents asking me to tell them about my club or my favorite way it's worded... "so what do ya'll do?" I am in the south so we get the "ya'll" thrown in there. I am never sure how to answer this question. The sales rep inside me wants to give an answer fitted to who I am talking to but the coach in me wants to tell them about all the smart hard work we put in to volleyball. I end up giving the parent a general overview of what my club does and gives to the athletes.  The reason for that kind of answer is parents don't know or don't know how to phrase what they are looking for in travel sports teams.

Recently I learned about the joys of cooking with bananas.  I knew about banana bread or banana pudding (again, I am in the south) and like everyone else I knew about just eating them! For the three ways I just listed to use bananas for cooking or eating, all require a ripe to very ripe banana; therefore, when going banana shopping you would look for the ripest ones the store offered. What about soup? Banana fries?  There is a whole world of dishes that require green bananas and would require you selecting the greenest bananas the store had to offer. If you didn't find the kind of banana's you wanted at one store you would simply switch stores till you found what you wanted or made a compromise.

Bananas are a easy metaphor for us to see. When picking out a travel team you have to know what end product you want to make. You don't pick up green bananas and make banana pudding with them.  If you want your child to be a great shooter in basketball then you have 1. ID that is what you want. 2. Find a team that has coaches that focus on shooting. 3. Will allow your child the chance to get to shoot. 4. Alumni or teams that scored a lot of points. 5. Will take your child.

Figure out what you are looking for in a club. Ask your child what he or she wants to do with the sport. If they are just wanting to be a team and have friends... don't waste $$$ on that. Look for cheaper clubs.  If your child wants to be the next Mad Bum (MLB pitcher) then you better find a team that has good pitching coaches. Don't just ask directors or coaches what they do in general terms. Ask particular questions and have reasons for asking. Picking a travel team is kind of like picking a fruit. You don't pick the rotten ones and you know what you want to do with it when you buy it.

Blaming the wrong people

"Our coach just sucks"

Many parents get upset when their team isn't winning. They get mad at the coach for not winning. The coach gets blamed for not pushing the players harder and sometimes for pushing the players to hard. He or she gets undercut and verbally chewed out by frustrated parents in shadows or in the bleachers. The coach maybe can't focus on the right fundamentals or maybe doesn't know the game... I will even agree that the coach might play favorites the whole time BUT why be mad at them? If club, you are paying to be there so after the season ends move on to another club. In school, go to the AD or administration.  The school administration is who hired the coach in the first place right? The coach maybe doing the best job he or she can do. There is no point to be angry at the coach. Demand better from the AD. Chances are all he or she does is hid from anything that might make them uncomfortable or look like work. You don't like the coaching choice and you complained then pull your daughter. Vote with your feet. Let the school know that you don't need them or care what the heck happens the program. I know most of you won't do that.  "My daughter just likes playing" will be the defense for allowing her to play on a team that you think the coach is a moron. Complaining to kid about it doesn't help either. The only people who can help you in the time of frustration is the AD and administration. 

Here is the key to all that I am saying. The school thought that who ever they hired to be the coach was good enough for your kid. They didn't go find a good coach. They found a warm body to do it. They most likely didn't care much about what knowledge of the sport the person hired had or how they would man the helm of the program. They wanted someone to do the job. So don't be mad at the coach you are convinced of can't spell libero much less knows what one is. Go voice your anger on the people who made a poor choice. Remember, they would never hire a high school football coach who was a volleyball player in middle school. Let that sink in. 

Just not impressed

This fall, I have been officiating middle and high school volleyball. This has given me a great chance to see players from all over the area. Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland, Iredell, Burke, and Caldwell Counties in NC have I been in. So far... I am not impressed. The most impressive team I have seen all year was a middle school team who was spot jump serving. They crushed the little team they were playing but I truly believe they would beat ALL the high school teams I have seen this year. Here is why I have not been impressed overall. Let me state up front that there are good players on teams but I am addressing the WHOLE team not being impressive.

        Reason 1. Clubs: I watch familiar faces in warm-ups and I know these girls play club. I know they have played for years yet these players are still struggling with the basics. Passing, serving, talking, and moving their feet. Serves should always be made. If you aren't up by 5 plus then you better not be serving the ball out or in the net. There is never excuse NOT to talk while playing however I see team after team chalked full of club players that will not talk. I say that the clubs these girls play for are a reason the teams aren't impressive because they should have taught these skills. 

         Reason 2. Coaches: There was one coach I dealt with as an official that if I could have thrown a rule book at I would have. Sadly, in high school the coaches just aren't the best in every school. Big reason in that is schools don't want to pay these coaches anything and they expect them to deal with tons of drama.... that is another blog for another day.... Coaches are allowing players to be lazy. They maybe don't have the best players but they can make their players hustle to the ball. Allowing players to be lazy to the ball is going to give you poor results.

          Reason 3. A mix of players: Players that haven't sold out to volleyball enough to play all year are always on a high school roster. Nothing wrong with that except most of these players who add in are called upon to be key roles in starters. These girls might be great athletes but they don't have fine tuned volleyball skills. Sloppy play as in net calls, carries, two hits, or four hits can happen more offend with players who don't play yearly vs ones who play do play yearly. This goes back to the coaches and they have to get all players on the same page to prevent sloppy play.

I gave three reasons why I am not impressed with teams this year. I hope we can all work to bring about better volleyball next season and that starts now.