Talent Code author, Dan Coyle, talks about the principle of "Ignition" in his book. He describes it as a hot, mysterious burst, or an awakening. A lightning flash of image an emotion. A set of forces that create our identity. The moments that lead us to say "That is who I want to be".
Ignition can summarize my experience as a volleyball coach. My short coaching career has been fueled by many moments of ignition and they have made me what I am today. And they will continue to change me into what I will eventually become. I'd like to share some of those with you.
My first Ignition moment came in May of 2010. It was after my daughter McKinley's 15U volleyball team had just finished competing in the Western Canada Nationals. After the season was over, her team had a parent and athlete meeting to discuss their plan moving forward. The club she belonged to had a couple of different teams per age class. At the meeting, we were told the focus of the club moving forward was to change that approach. They would be focusing on a single team per age class and giving the extra practice times to those teams. Their objective was to be more "Elite" and better compete with the other clubs in the Calgary area that were doing the same. The net result for that club was the elimination of 8 teams for the next season. This meant that about 96 athletes would have no where to play next season.
Being that my daughters are vertically challenged, we realized this meant they would probably not make a team the following season. The moment of ignition, or perhaps reverse ignition, came one evening when my wife and I were talking about what we could do to become part of the solution rather than complain about the problem. We looked into what is involved in starting up a club and decided to go for it. We made lists of everything we didn't like about the club volleyball atmosphere in Calgary and decided to do the opposite. The next season, the Calgary Sparks Volleyball Club was born and we were able to field three teams.
I was so excited to be a volleyball coach. My daughters loved the game and I have seen them learn many life lessons through participating in the sport. Never playing competitive volleyball, I decided to start right at the beginning - coaching 13U girls. Although I had never coached before, I had been observing volleyball and volleyball coaches for 4 years by this time. The basics didn't look that difficult to teach and I began going through the coaching certification process to prepare myself. The first year I probably learned more that the team I coached. But it was a phenomenal experience. My team (a group who were basically chosen from all those who were cut from other clubs tryouts) ended up winning the Bronze medal at the Provincial finals and finished 3rd out of 21 teams in the province.
My second Ignition moment came during McKinley's 11th grade. She made the senior volleyball team at Centennial High School and played the position of Libero. Volleyball, and the skills required to play well, did not come to McKinley easily. She worked very hard to improve. As a result she is a phenomenal defensive player. On the Centennial 2011 team, McKinley had two amazing teammates who forever changed my perception of what a volleyball player can become. These players were Alexa Gray and Kacey Otto. Alexa and Kacey have moved on to play for different university teams. Alexa plays for BYU and Kacey for the University of Alberta.
Through observing them, Alexa and Kacey showed me that by focusing on relentless, aggressive play, players and teams can overcome the ups and downs of a volleyball match, and usually come out ahead. They showed me how important it was to focus on defense first. They showed me how important it was to never fear going for the kill, time after time, even when you may have made an error on the previous play. And probably most important, they showed me how the truly great volleyball players are not overly specialized, but players who are good at all skills and great at a few.
To demonstrate the last point, I was talking to one of the coaches of the team during the season. We were discussing the setting situation on the team and what the coaches were going to do if their setter was ill, injured, or unable to play for some other reason. The answer took me by surprise. The coach told me that the backup plan all along was to move Alexa from being an outside hitter or a middle blocker to setter. This surprised me because together, Alexa and Kacey probably accounted for 90% of the team's offensive production. But, Alexa was such a solid all round player that the coaching staff felt no apprehension in moving her to setter, even though she never practiced in that position or played in it. Additionally, due to a back injury during the club season that followed, Alexa participated by playing Libero because she could not jump and hit.
My eyes were opened. I realized how much of a disservice we do to our athletes when we force them to specialize at a young age. If arguably the best youth female volleyball player in the province of Alberta was so good in all positions, that's what I decided I needed to train my team to be. I wanted my team to be a 7 out of 10 in all positions and then naturally become a 9 or 10 out of 10 in what they showed a natural aptitude for. I made a list of what made McKinley, Kacey, and Alexa great volleyball players and came up with a profile of the type of player I wanted to coach. And moving forward, my goal has been to help shape the athletes on my team to become as close to that profile as possible.
My third Ignition moment came when my wife introduced me to John Kessel and his Growing the Game Together blog. Because I was never a competitive volleyball athlete, I have never had a mental picture of what a volleyball coach should be. I have no preconceived ideas about what a practice looks like or how a coach should interact with athletes. As I reflect on that fact, I think it's a good thing. The more I learn about coaching, I see a lot of coaching styles that rely on "Old School" techniques that follow tradition rather than proven science. I'm grateful that I don't fall back on those because they were never a part of who I am or was.
When I started reading all of the material that John has produced, it was like I had been lost in a desert without water for years and I had finally stumbled upon the most refreshing oasis in existence. I simply cannot get enough. John has helped me build my coaching foundation on sound principles of learning. I have learned to coach with techniques founded in reality and science, not tradition. John has introduced me to the wonderful writings of people like Carl McGown, Dan Coyle, Teri Clemens, and many others. Not only have I benefited from all of the wonderful insight provided by these fantastic people, but so has my team and the club I run.
So, to all those who have directly or indirectly been involved in my evolution from volleyball parent, to coach, to president of a volleyball club, to referee, thank you for all you have done to enrich my life. Thank you for letting me be a part of parenting and teaching your child. And thank you for all you have taught me and continue to teach me about volleyball and life. I hope I can give back in some small way by sharing parts of my journey on this blog.
