Coach’s Note
Hi VVA teams,
Hope you all had a nice spring break and are ready for the final push in the club volleyball season for many. I’ve got one thought and a few announcements…
Changing The Game in Youth Sports (credit to Coach Kelly Winter for sharing this with me)
Please take a few minutes to watch or listen to the Ted Talk above. Our constant mission is “to develop the athlete in everyone” and improve the youth sports experience in our community. A big part of that is continued parent and coach education (this is sent to parents and coaches), as we set the environment our kids grow up in. So as the season goes, please continue to support your kids by telling them how you “love to watch them play.” One of my favorite coaching lines is – “what kind of team would we be if everyone was just like you?” I use it a lot with athletes who are being selfish or being negative. I’ll also use it in regards to attendance and commitment. As the seasons go, commitment often wanes as you’ve being committed to something for a while. What kind of team would we have if no one is committed to attending practice? What kind of people are we raising if we aren’t committed to finishing what we started? We often complain about team performance when losing or people not showing up for a full practice. We have to be the change we want to see.
I think the same often applies in parenting, as you can see from the video above is – do you you want your kids coming to your place of work and telling you how to do your job or criticizing your golf game? I promise you that most kids feel enough stress from the score alone to drive performance, anything extra just causes negative performance. We know that athletes and teams play best when the stress is lowered, be a part of that solution to help them feel empowered and confident through the stress of the unknown outcomes that exist in sport.
A few schedule things:
1. Friday Fours! This was a blast last year and we hope everyone has a team and signs up this year to make it an annual tradition. Here is the link again, please sign up ASAP.
2. I’ll be coaching and running the VVA Summer camps. Those will be July 17-22. We’ll do lots of skill clinics and then have the club prep series. The club prep time is really helpful as we get to work with everyone as we make teams for the next year. Those will be on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd.
3. Tryouts for 15s-18s teams next year will be one day on July 30. More information to come on this, simply wanted to get it on everyone’s radar as you all make summer plans.
4. Save the Date of May 15 in the late afternoon/early evening for a ground breaking ceremony at the new building. We’d love to have everyone out (parents, players and friends). We’re planning it all out right now and will send more details soon.
5. Roots and Juniors is coming up in a few weeks, along with small group training. Please make sure to share it and sign up for those in May!
Good luck in the final Heat League tourneys, WCVBA, and Reno Far Westerns Tournament. And a special good luck to our 18s who play in Columbus, Ohio in a few weeks at their National Championship to conclude their high school playing careers!!!
Jonathan