Coaching Problems

Tonight was challenging. Tensions were high among the Celtics (our team hehe). It felt like teamwork and support were in low supply, and I saw a lot of standing around on the court. I decided to change the line up for our last game, which helped a lot! The girls who I put together worked well and stayed positive. I decided to keep the same lineup on for the second set, which I normally would not do, but I wanted to keep the momentum going.

Unfortunately some of the girls gave me some attitude when I made this call and told me that if they aren’t going to play then they would rather go home early. I was disappointed and not totally sure how to handle this situation. In that moment I was concerned about parents and creating a war, so I let the girls on the bench go in for the second half. However, I discussed this incident with some parents after the match who reminded me that they support my decisions as the coach. Looking back, I would have stuck to my original decision.

I noticed that one of the other coaches seemed quite experienced and his girls were very cohesive as a team. They were communicating well and consistently making three passes and spiking the ball. I asked if he would share some coaching insights about how he demonstrates leadership with his team. I have connected with him via email and I am looking forward to meeting with him to discuss coaching tips and learn from his style and experience. I also reached out to an experienced volleyball coach friend of mine who lives in Korea (thanks Facebook!) She shared some great tips for team building which I plan to implement in practice tomorrow morning!

In other news, here are some action shots of my team! (with their permission)

Thanks to Kelsey Sims for being our lovely photographer. Yay for my personal learning network (PLN)!