Part III: We're here to play volleyball
I'm competitive. It's not a secret. In the Army, I refused to let my size slow me down. I took on and beat many challengers in different contests, and bested one drill sergeant (story for another day). My nemesis here was my roommate, Val. We both snore. It's a contest to see who can fall asleep the quickest. Every. Night. I win most nights (thanks to Uncle Sam) except on nights we have matches. There's something about re-watching the match and replaying it in my mind that keeps my brain from relaxing. It's a habit I have from working with my collegiate teams. The turnaround is quick and most of the staffs I've been on, it's just me working film.
This team was assembled late. The roster changed a few times due to last minute schedule changes, injuries, and other stuff. Regardless, the team we fielded with little preparation time together (we practiced 5 times before competing) was good. I didn't have expectations until I saw them play their first match. I knew we'd make it to finals. I wasn't sure if we'd be playing the Chinese team or Vietnamese team from Pool A but I knew we'd be in the finals.
Reasons I think we were successful (I don't mean wins, that's an outcome you can't control):
Our Head Coach, Joe kept it simple. With limited prep time identify your best players, your team's strengths, and build a strategy around that. I sometimes get stuck thinking of all the angles and scenarios when sometimes the simplest thing is the best choice. I imagine there's a time and a place for preparing for multiple scenarios, but a 3 match pool, and 2 match playoff is not it. I attribute this attitude to my previous life as an OR technician and software nerd where it's helpful to know the possible outcomes, and steer the scenario to more favorable conditions.
Our athletes know themselves pretty well. They know how to prepare mentally and physically. They do the things that help them play well. From the music they choose, the way they warm up, to the routine they have the day before. They know what they need and they ask for it. As a coach I know that happy athletes play better. Make sure you know what it takes to get yourself to that place where time slows down, and you can see everything happen before it happens.
We don't make excuses. It's hot for everybody. The calls are bad for everybody. We owned our mistakes and took action to correct them. Pass the ball less tight, dig a ball a bit higher, press the block a bit longer, these small changes are often unseen by the casual fan. But when executing we take advantage of the second chance we've been given. It just so happened in the Final against Jiangsu we ran out of chances. If the last set was played to 25 who knows what the outcome would have been. [shrugging emoji]
I think every athlete on this roster had something special to offer. I also think every athlete on this roster will move on to bigger and better things. One thing I noticed that was different from my collegiate teams is that when we talk to the athletes, they really latch on to the message and not the delivery. This is not often the case in my experience. The message gets muddled in the delivery and the intent is sometimes lost. Some athletes mistake the instruction as criticism for not doing the thing we are asking them to do. Some athletes will take it a step further and infer that they don't measure up to the standard. I want to bash my head against the wall when I ask an athlete on my college team to wait and be faster on an attack approach or block move and their response is to take it personally or as a criticism of what they are currently doing. It was a relief to be able to speak with athletes about volleyball and not have it become a personal indictment on their performance or character.
I've never been very expressive. That's one of my quirks as a coach. I see everything for what it is and set aside my emotion so that when I talk about, I can do so calmly, and quickly. That compartmentalization is important when you're working on a compressed timeline. Compartmentalization allows me to be objective and present. The lack of emotional expression is not a lack of empathy or sympathy (yes they are different) on my part, but genuine effort to set feelings aside in order to make the best choice for the team. In conflict with the typical INTJ profile, I am mindful of my feelings and they don't confound or fluster me. It is just my policy that my feelings can be dealt with at later date.
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