Feel Bad First Theory.

First, I need to discuss our weekend.  It was another first for the program.  We went into the UBC T-Birds War Memorial Gymnasium and finally won.  They haven’t lost there since 2010 season.  This win was a total team effort and was a great snapshot of how the team is developing this season.

We lost the first set as they came out firing on all cylinders.  We fell down 7-1 but manage to fight back to tie at 18 before the T-Birds kicked in another gear to win.  The second set we started to find our range with our serving game and put pressure on them.  Winning the second set was a great feeling on the bench.  Our 3^rd set has been difficult for us all season.  Something happens between the break. Friday was no different.  We made every kind of error we could. At 16-6 technical timeout we subbed in some of our younger players, hoping they would battle and try to get some energy back in to our group.  Down 21-10 things changed.  Our rising star rookie Regan Dahl got a stuff block. Everyone was really excited for Regan it was her first in her CIS Career.  She has been primarily used as a serving defensive sub this year. 

Then Shanlee Mclennan went back to the serving line and put  pressure on them.  She served 9 serves in a row and got us tied up at 22. The team was rolling and you could see the stress on the T-Birds.  This doesn’t happen to them very often.  It was as if they relaxed just a bit when the subs went in.  Not expecting them to battle as hard as we did. We won that set 25-23.  It was an amazing comeback that showed the resiliency of this group of athletes.

The fourth set we fell down again, but this time we had lots of confidence in our serving and defensive game. We double subbed to try and get our middles open more and they took off.  Lexi and Meaghan were blocking everything.  With the final point coming on a Meaghan Robertson stuff block to win 26-24.

Saturday was a different match.  I believe we came to play a volleyball game and UBC came to prove a point.   A point they did prove.  They controlled every aspect of this match.  We struggled from the serving line and never gave our self a chance to gain any momentum.  The match was filled with long rallies and good volleyball. We would win one of these long rallies and then go back and serve the ball into the net. Totally crashing all the effort we put in to the point before.

There was some shining lights in this match though.  Rookie Vaovai Aiono was .348 efficiency at leftside. This was the best she has played and to do it against the top team was awesome.  Lexi Loewen in the middle also scored over .350.  We know if we can get the rest of the team on the same page we do have a fighting chance against them the next time we play.

With our the amount of travel we have done in the last couple of weeks, it always allows me time to read.  One of my favourite blogs is the Talent Code by Daniel Coyle.  This week he discusses the “Feel Bad First Approach” of the Green Berets.  Here is a sample but the whole article can be read here. http://thetalentcode.com

Teams spend weeks training for a mission (most of which happen at night). On the day of the mission they follow a two-part routine.

First, they spend the entire morning going over every possible mistake or disaster that could happen during the mission. Every possible screw-up is mercilessly examined, and linked to an appropriate response: if the helicopter crash-lands, we’ll do X. If we are dropped off at the wrong spot, we’ll do Y. If we are outnumbered, we’ll do Z.

After some hours of doing this, the team takes a break and has lunch together. They socialize, relax, and maybe take a nap.

Then they spend the afternoon in phase two, talking about everything going exactly right. They review each move, visualizing each step, and vividly imagine it going 100 percent perfectly.

You might call this Balanced-Positive Approach: equally split between negative and positive, and ending on the positive. Notice the complete wall of separation between the two phases. They don’t toggle back and forth between positive and negative. The two phases are kept as separate as night and day: first comes all negative, then all positive.

I find that most coaches I talk too are engaged in this approach, we are always looking for plan B,C,D,E.  Most matches I start out hoping we will win one set.  If we win one set then we can win 2.  If you win 2 then 3 only seems natural. But when I address the team it is from a position of confidence.  We spend a lot of time making sure the team is prepared so that they feel this confidence and when things do go wrong they have the confidence to try something different to solve the problem.

After covering all the possible things that can go wrong we are then prepared as a coaching staff to make adjustments that will bring confidence to our group.  So we go from bad to great. Just like we did in the 3^rd set last Friday.

Recruiting

A large part of the season for most coaches is made up of recruiting.  For myself and our BU program recruiting never really stops. When we finally get our recruits finalized for the next season we have to turn our thoughts on to the next set of grad classes. Since  last January most of our coaching staffs attention is on the 2014 grads and beginning to identify the 2015 class.

In discussion with some of my NCAA colleagues I found that our recruiting process as a Canadian University is very different.  For most of Canadian schools, finding potential players is often through word of mouth and by building of a reliable net work of coaches and friends. We can contrast that to most NCAA programs who have one or 2 assistant coaches where that is a large portion of their workload.

 I rely heavily on other coaches. My first set of eyes are often coaches from Brandon High Schools, Derek Richels and Kevin Neufeld.  Derek has been an assistant coach with us since the beginning of the program and is highly respected in Manitoba. Kevin has been an assistant coach but now primarily acts as a consultant for us. Kevin is a very successful high school and club coach in Brandon. Derek runs one of the top club team in western Manitoba. They often see the athletes for the first time and create our first evaluations.

We have many other friends of the program who will take time to recommend a player or will answer questions about players they know. WE use this network a lot in other provinces where it is harder to watch the athletes in person.  A lot of the recruiting time is talking with these coaching and to start developing a data base of who fits our needs.  Once we get a list of potential athletes we take time to  narrow it down to the type of athlete that will fit into our program and school.

At Brandon University we look for a specific type of player.  We want fast dynamic athletes.  Size of the athlete is not as important to us as the height at which they play the game.  All of our middles and most of our outsides were over 9'9" or 298-300cm on their measured spike approach. The athletes on our team that don't jump that high have special skills, they are very strong in ball control, and/ or hit a heavy ball.  When we are narrowing down our data base for recruiting grade 11 we first look for speed, then spike touch.  It is common for athletes to put 2-3 inches on their spike in their first two years.  Usually the growth happens because of  the athletes commitment to fitness.  

Once we have determined they are athletic enough to play at a Canada West level we then turn to the process of finding out what kind of person they are. We all want strong character players and athletes that will get along with the team. We will discuss the potential athletes with their coaches, opposition coaches, teacher and other parents of athletes on the team. Of course we are in discussions directly with the player and her parents

At the beginning of the recruiting process we are involved a lot with the parents. But I feel the sooner we can work directly with the athlete the better.  This allows us to learn more about the personality of the recruit at a faster pace. After the athlete joins the program our interactions with the parents will drop off to quick visits in gyms or restaurants.  We rely on the athletes to keep their parents informed on what is happening with in the team.  When a parent speaks for the athlete a lot during the recruiting process it often slows down the process more than it helps it. We really don't get a feel for the athlete's personality. I personally believe the athlete should make the decision (with the parents input) of where they feel they fit the best.  I know the parent will do their jobs and will make sure the athlete is safe and going into a good situation.

At BU we hope the parent feel as much a  part of our program as the athlete does.

Every coach will talk to many different players in a certain position.  We have our dream list of who we want but we also have back up plans.  Coaches understand that not all athletes will end up at your school.  WE have to talk to many athletes.  When an athlete decides to join our school we make a big deal out of it.  Luckily for us we have very supportive media.  It is big news in Brandon when we sign a recruit. It will be in the paper and on the radio.

So far this year we have signed 3 prominent players from Manitoba.  Nikki Majewski an outside hitter from Winnipeg, Sara Barker another middle from Winnipeg and Jamie Campbell a libero from Brandon.

The International Trip

I am waiting at the Vancouver Airport. We have been delayed for 17 hrs because of a cancellation of our flight. I am getting heckled by Shayne White from Ontario to post a new blog.

We just returned from a tournament in Barbados over the New Year.  We try to do a warm trip every three or four years.  This particular trip started two years ago at the National Team training camp. Olivier Trudel from University of Montreal was explaining his experience in Barbados the Winter break. We decided then we would join them.

We find that there are many benefits to the international trip. The first benefit is that it creates an "us against the world" mentality.  When we travel within Canada most of the time the athletes will have family and friends that will come and watch. But on a trip to Barbados it is just our team. We had 8 days to really connect.  I always enjoy watching the different groups head out together. When I was first starting out in coaching I would plan every waking minute for the athletes, but now I leave a lot of free time.  I find that this is the time when true bonding takes place. This is because people are choosing to do things together  A perfect example was Donata and Regan taking surfing lessons together. They both had fun and really grew to know each other as they struggled and succeeded together.

Second benefit is that we can work on different volleyball situations without the pressure of league involved. We can play different people in different positions or use different subbing combinations.  This tournament was set up perfectly for us. We would practice in the morning have lots of time for beach and exploring. Then play a match at night.

The third benefit is learning to adapt to different situations.  We are pretty spoilt with are ability to maintain routines. But on this trip a bus driver showed up 40 minutes late, humidity was incredibly high and we went through more practice clothing than we thought.  There was a party on the deck of the hotel and we just had to roll with it.

We also learned a lot about responsibility and respecting the game of volleyball. The idea of managing their time in the sun, getting enough food, making sure each other is in a safe situation.

This was the best team trip I have taken. I have been on a lot of great ones in the last 20 years. Even though we finished 3rd the benefits heading into our second semester is tremendous. This is going to be a grosz finish coming up.