Trinidad Match 3 Pan Am Cup

We started the day with a training session in the practice gyms. It was mostly ball control and serve and pass. Just an opportunity to get moving and a good feeling before the match. After practice Lupo met with the setters to go over some situation from the night before. He asked a lot of questions to guide them to the answer he was looking for. I was really impressed with the honest answers from the setters. You can tell there is a strong connection between Lupo and his athletes.

The rest of the afternoon was again used for treatment and a quick nap.

We started the match with Kelci French at setter, Lisa Barclay at right side, Becky Pavan and Marissa Field in the middle, Kyla Richey and Britt Page at left side. We used the two Libero system again. This was a little in doubt in the morning as Tesca wasn't feeling well, but was way better by game time. The first set were found our stride on offence. It felt like we were scoring at will, but when ever I checked the score Trindad was close. We were able to find some rhythm in blocking late in the set and create some spread in score then cruised to a 25-23 win. Trinidad chipped away but set never felt in jeopardy.

The second set we started out where we left off jumping out to a big lead. Our block and defence transition created a lot of points in this set. The Lisa Barclay started to dominate the match. Britt,Kyla and Tesca are passing really well allowing many options freeing Lisa up. We knew everything was falling into place when Marie Sophie scored on a free ball deep to 5. Lupo noticed the Libero was started to cheat in as most of our free balls were going 1 or 2. Marie fried a ball deep 5 and caught their lib flat footed.We won that set 25-14

The third set Lupo started Dani as setter. Dani has a great connection with the middles and we wanted to establish that again at the first technical time out we were up 8-4. Lupo decides to rest Kyla and replaced her with MP. Mp played so well last night in relief of Britt we expected the same. We were playing really well then we lost our sense of urgency and relaxed. Trinidad battled back to tie the match up at 23. We then found our discipline again and used our block defence to win 26-24.  It is good we can win those kind of matches but need to stay more disciplined in the middle of the match. But we have been really good after 20.

Lisa Barclay led the team with 15 points. Next was Becky Pavin with 10 and Marissa Field with 9. Becky also received the Canada Hat for impact player of the match. Janie said she won it for her attitude on and off the court as well as her fine play as both a right side and middle. I will try to get a photo of the hat on the next winner.

Up next is Cuba and their 6'3" 14 year old player.

Peru...Pan Am Cup day 3

I want to apologize up front for spelling and grammar, this blog are is basically being written in one draft on the bus.

Today was a pretty good day. Started out with breakfast, then Adam Toffan, our strength and conditioning coach, worked the team through a activation session.  They found a grassy spot and did some body weight and tubing excercises. 

After the session the team met for video and watched Peru from last years Pan Am Cup. We focused on two of there top players showing some tendencies. The reality is we will have to adjust during the match as we learn information about each player.  The basic serving scheme was pressure then location. If we serve too easy they will side out well. We need our serve to create an out of system opportunity.

We had a couple hours before lunch then heading to the gym. Once we arrived at the gym we warmed up in the practice facility. Teams only get 22 mins on the competition court for hitting and anthems.

We started Kelci French setting, Kyla Richey and Britt Page at left side, Lisa Barclay at Rightside, Lucy Charuk and Marissa Field in mids.  Tesca Andrews-Wasylik as libs. The first set went fairly well for us. Peru came out serving short,our middles did a great job passing and being available for an attack. The first set we scored a lot in first tempo. We won the first set 25-18  

The second set error flu hit us.  We started making errors all over the place. One person would make an error then another person would make an error. It felt contagious.   In the first technical timeout Lupo noticed Britt Page was looking tired, he asked her how she felt.  Her answer was I feel really tired but I am good to go. A great honest answer and also a good example of wanting to fight through it. Britt had been sick for the first two days and finally ate more than soup at lunch. Considering that and the altitude of Mexico City she should feel exhausted. Lupo subbed Marie Pierre Methot into the match for Britt. Marie did a great job passing ans blocking as soon as she got in. 

At one point we were down by 7. A double sub really changed momentum of the match. Dani Smith setting and Becky Pavan at Right side.  (Marie Sophie Nadeau is at the hotel with the flu. Couldn't make it out of her room without being sick.)

Becky matched up really well with one of Peru's top attackers. A couple of slow downs and one monster block with Lucy  made Peru  go to another attacker and we were able to dig her then score transition points.

Kelci and Lisa came back in and finished what that group started. As we came back to win 26 -24. A great lesson to know this group is never out of it, plus was a good example of being in the moment and not allowing the score to dictate mental state.

The third set started off much of the same as second. We missed a lot of serves and hit some shots out of bounds or into the net. Peru continued to serve short to our left side bUt now they also served some deep to one. Trying to put us on a bit of a yo yo situation but our passers held fast.  We dug a little to big of a whole, we battled back again on the arm of Kyla Ritchie and MP. The Peru team started releasing out to left side any time our middles went behind setter,trying to put more pressure on the two players. Our middles were effective in front late in the set but we came up just short. Losing 23-25. 

The players ran the break in between the two sets encouraging each other to bring more of a push in the fourth.  Kelci started out again running our middles. We jumped out to commanding lead at the first technical time out.  The middles had scored enough that Peru had to honour them again and that opened the three outsides again.  Another effective double sub and another huge stuff block just to show everyone our depth. We then cruise to a 25-20 victory. 

Marissa Field had a huge day with 22 points and she passed 7 balls for a 3.3 average. Kyla Ritchie had 14 points and passed a 2.9, Lucy Charuk had 13 pts. 

At the end of the match Bryon Bahniuk introduced the impact player of the game hat. Most NHL hockey teams have the same tradition, our Winnipeg Jets have a fighter pilot helmet. Our first recipient was Janie Gumond for her defence and poise on the court.  The remaining time Joey and Byron will select the winner but the previous winner has to present it to the next winner. I think this is a great team building idea.

After the match the team stayed and watch 1 set of Trinidad and Dominican play before heading home for supper. The coaches stayed with Shane Smith (ours scout) for the remaining of match and 1 set of the Cuba vs Mexico match.

Pan Am CUP Day 2

Today was our first chance to see and practice in the venue. Again transportation is a problem. We planned on the 45 minutes that it took yesterday,but because of construction it took a little over an hour.  

Practice started this time with 1 v1 tennis with 2 balls. Just a continuous drill switching sides. Good chance to get moving also to see sight lines and learn the court. After Adam again did dynamic warmup with. Foot speed and core.  

This practice involved a lot of serve reception and setting. As mentioned in an earlier blog depth perception varies in each gym so this is important to do tons of reps and from both sides of the court. I get the feeling the team is very focused and confident. I really like the feedback and communication they give each other.  At the end of practice Lupo gives 10 minutes to work on what ever they want. The athletes discuss with each other and head out in groups. One group of spin servers work with libs, a few attackers work with setters. The two groups fall into rhythm alternating each time so they can get the most out of their ten minutes.  The rest change and get ready for weights

In order to maintain power and strength over a 10 day tournament they need to continue their strength and conditioning. The girls worked hard for the 45 minutes. Adam worked and help modify the workout for each player.   After the workout waiting happened again.

 Lupo, Byron (athletic therapist) and Maren had to go back for the preliminary inquiry. In this meeting they show passports and jerseys to make sure they fit code.  Since the three of them had to take our bus back we had arranged to travel back with Team Mexico on their bus. This meant waiting an hour after we finished weights. The group found a spot in the sun and relaxed.  The bus ride back to hotel took 75 minutes because of construction, making our lunch quite late.

Tomorrow we were scheduled for an 8am practice. With the time between travel it wouldn't allow for much rest before our 3pm Match with Peru. Lupo decided that we would be better off sleeping in and doing an activity with Adam. Just too tight of timelines and the Peru match will be a fun one.

We then had a team meeting at 5:30pm. In this meeting Lupo laid out our roles. He explained to each player what their strength were and what we expected of them. A great example of this is Captain Britt Page.  In the World Qualifier Britt was asked to be a passing right side player , this tournament she is switched to left side. She accepts what ever comes her way. This is a great lead by example captain. We are going with the two Libero system again. Tesca Andrew-Wasylik will be in on serve reception and Janie Guimond will be in on our defence. This will be the first time I am part of the two Libero system will be interesting to watch.

Lupo went through roles in coming off the bench, what to expect and mindset to have. It was very clear that this will be about the team and living in the moment. Playing what is happening now. If your not starting and are subbed in expect to play for awhile. It might be one point, it might be a remainder of set or it could be rest of tournament. We can't waste energy worrying about the coaches thoughts. Lupo also reminded everyone that the team also consist of the athletes back training in Winnipeg. They are very important to our overall success. He explained to the team each role that the coaches will fulfil and how it will affect them. Joey Martins From Niagra will be working with middles and keeping track of opponents trends and shots. I will be working with passers and outsides as well as making sure the substitution paddles are ready to go for the team. He explained how timeouts will work. Basically Lupo talks and coaches stay out of the way.  If he takes the setters then we can give some feedback if necessary.  Basically using the do no harm theory and don't try to over coach.  There was a study done in Canada involving hockey, they found that poor coaching decision affected the outcome of the match more than good decisions. Don't make change just for the sake of change.

At 8pm Lupo, Maren and Bryon had a technical meeting. This meeting they go over all the rules and protocols and answer any remaining questions. This meeting finished around 10 pm. We then had every teams roster and we proceeded to I put it into our data volley program. It also gave us a chance to compare who was new on each team.

Tomorrow will be a fun day to be a part of.

PanAm Cup Day 1 Resiliency

Our day started at 5:30am in Toronto. We arrived the night before at 12:30 am from Winnipeg. Had a few hours of sleep and we were back on the road.  The Brandon Wheatkings Hockey team coaches believe 1 hour sleep in a bed is better than 2 hours of sleep on a bus or plane. Even though the team might have got 5 hours of sleep it would still be more beneficial than just staying up, or sleeping in an airport.

I am always impressed with the resiliency of these athletes. They just roll with the punches. By the time we got through security and to our gate it was 8:15am. 2 hours and fifteen minutes from when our hotel shuttle left. We were constantly waiting in line. We Waited to check in, waited through security and waited in line for Tim Hortons or Starbucks. 

The athletes use this wait time very productively. Some use it to get some last second contact with family and friends. A couple of athletes used this time for treatment. One was hook up to a battery pack and was stimulating her back muscles. Others use it to catch up on reading. One athlete has online classes she is doing as we travel. 

 Once we boarded the plane we had a 4.5 hr flight to Mexico City. I slept for most of the way. I had the luck of sitting beside Lucy Charuk and got to know her better. She has a tremendous sense of humour and laughs lots. Most of the athletes got some shut eye as well, but they also took turns heading to the back of the plane to do some stretching. Trying to minimize the effect of the flight. 

On arrival in Mexico City we waited once again to clear customs and grab our luggage. Some of the girls were stopped by passers by and asked to pose for pictures. We were then shuttled to our hotel. Once we arrived, we were told we didn't have enough rooms and the ones we did have weren't ready. The team just found couches and chairs and made themselves as comfortable as possible. Flex for success seems to be the model. Be as flexible as you can and worry about what you can control. They could do nothing about the rooms so they tried to make the best of a situation. Maren Hansen our team leader showed great patience as she had to deal with the front desk and try to get what we requested. Her role is to handle all the outside administration allowing Lupo and the rest of the team a chance to focus on the matches themselves.

We had a chance to practice in the warm up gym. The trip there was an adventure, what was advertised as a 30 minute trip turned into an hour. We actually had to drive around the facility twice until the organizers could clear enough room for the bus.

The practice after a long trip isn't very intense. Adam worked the team through a longer than normal dynamic warm up. This warmup included some core and foot speed training. We then played 3's 2 ball tennis. This is a Queen of the Court style drill. 3v3 two balls served at once,one to each side. One contact per side which ever ball ends first determines winner. Lupo thinks this is a fun active drill, but also acquaints the team to the court. 

We then did a quick dig and set style drill. 3 players in back court coach hit ball at one of them. They then dig it high to middle a player sets it to a coach hitting out of the front row wing positions. The coach hits the set ball back at a defender. The player who dug the ball must be the next setter.  After the set they are replaced by one coming off the court. Next was a hitting warmup and then a little 5 v 5 drill. 

Over all it was a good day, the team showed incredible resiliency and patience. It will only get better from here.

National Team Week 2

We are fast approaching our end of week 2.  Lupo and Scott have split the groups up. A group preparing for Pan Am Cup, and a group preparing for World Grand Prix.   We now have some A players training with the B team.  This is an interesting summer as there are lots of playing opportunities for the team.

Lupo has been very conscious of making sure all the players are going to be fully prepared for this summer. After the World Championship Qualifier, Lupo let Shanice Marcelle, Dana Cranston and Jaime Thibault have an extended break. Those three returned quickly from their pro teams for the qualifier. A rest was well earned and appreciated.

Playing in the Pan Am Cup, World Grande Prix and the World Championships is quite different then what a lot of these athletes are used to. Most of them come from situations where you train all week, controlling energy levels so you can be your best for 2 or 3 matches max on a weekend.  In contrast to 7 matches in 11 days, or travelling from Peru to Belgium and back to Argentina in 3 weeks.  The big difference is fatigue. The athletes have to learn how to generate their own energy, play when they are tired. Find away to stay fresh. 

The trick is to try to mimic this in practice and still have the athletes healthy and fresh for the actual competition. The ability to have a ice bath on the road is difficult. There is a study out of Australia using net ball teams and the use of cold showers as therapy. The premiss of an ice bath is that the blood flow slows down to the extremities and protects the core. When the athlete leaves the icebath blood flow returns and helps clear our waste. The study in Australia suggests and cold shower on the core of the body will achieve the same thing. The benefit is more when the body is still warmed up from playing. It could possibly help with volleyball who are playing many matches over a short term.

 Every athlete here is extremely competitive and want to contribute when they get a chance. There is a fine line between learning and performing in the matches. Every 6 vs 6 drill has had stats taken. This goes back to the point of trusting our eyes or the stats.  Lupo will be announcing the travelling 12 later this week. This also adds more stress to the week.

Also this week the University of Central Floirida is up here training and playing matches against the B team and scrimmaging with the A girls.  It is a chance for the B girls to wear the Maple Leaf in a competition for the first time.  It is a feeling they will never forget.  A fun side note to this competition is that Central Florida is playing NCAA rules and the B Team is playing FIVB rules.  This is definitely a contrast in styles. I am pretty sure this is the first time a Libero has served in an official match in this gym.  

National Team

I have accepted a short position with our National A team.  I have an incredible opportunity to work with Lupo and the team for three weeks then head to the PanAm Cup in Mexico City. I am hoping to blog more often trying to keep a journal of this experience. 

The team is coming off qualifying for the world championships in Italy. There is a super positive vibe with the group.  

Our first responsibility is to help select a B group of athletes to help train with the A squad. We had 47 athletes tryout for 8 spots. This was going to be a difficult selection process as a lot of athletes were close in levels. There were 8 NCAA athletes, 5 CCAA athletes, and 34 CIS athletes. In this group there were 9 Liberios, 17 outsides, 8 setters, 13 middles.  This includes 4 A team players who had commitments before the world qualifiers. 

The first session is always testing. http://bit.ly/L0jxtD. Here is a link for Volleyball Canada testing protocol. They also added some basic fitness levels that athletes can use as test for themselves. The first test was taken from the Canadian Military. The athletes are required to do 30 military push-ups in 2 minutes. The second test was taken from Bobsled and skeleton national team.  There is a tremendous amount of crossover between sprinting and jump training.  The athletes were asked to complete 200 skipping double unders in 5 minutes. This test always shows quick improvement as there is technique that improves fast.  The last test was 75 second side planks. If the hip dipped twice they were eliminated.

The rest of the sessions were game like.  Either a type of wash or just straight games. Lupo wanted us to stat everything. I once heard the expression you can't trust your eyes. I once saw a rabbit been pulled out of a hat, not sure how it got into a hat.  The stats help show what really happens.  I know I personally see players that jump high and hit a hard ball. That sticks in my mind, when you see the whole story sometimes we're surprised.

The first meeting we had as a coaching group, we were asked to select our top 10 athletes regardless of position. After we submitted our list then we were then given the stats to compare with. That was an eye opener for a lot of us.  After we got a group of maybes Lupo and Scott designed drills that focused on the outside attackers hitting against a trouble block.  We wanted to isolate this group and get a feel of what each brings.  Over the years of working with the national team one of the main topics that comes up is that we needed to hit the ball harder. That is one of the reasons VC started to implement the radar gun on attacking.  I found the athletes who hit the ball harder on the gun also had more success in the out of system drill.

In the end Lupo and Scott take our suggestions look at their needs and select the group. It is a really positive experience and hearing the groups discussion is always great professional development. 

Why we should encourage outside interests.

During our individual year end meetings we  always discuss life balance with our team.  We asked about the outside interest they have. We ask about friends they have met that aren’t involved in the university athletics.

I recently read an article out of Australia  by Nathan Price, Nadine Morrison and Sharyn Arnold titled Life out of the Limelight. Understanding the Non-sporting Pursuits of Elite Athletes. It made me think about how we train and teach life balance.  There is a perception that the athletes have to be totally committed and passionate to have success in their sport.  In this article they suggested the opposite.

I personally think during their sporting careers most athletes see themselves in relationship to the success they have on the court.  If I am successful on the court, then I am a success as a person. They have an extremely high sense of identity from sport. At BU we are trying really had to have the athletes understand that being an athlete is just one of the roles that they play in their lives.  The characteristics that they demonstrate in training and playing can help describe them but are not all of who they are.   Cresswell and Eklund’s (2006) study has shown that players not engaged in something meaningful outside sport were less likely to experience instances of positive accomplishment and self-esteem from sources other than sport; which they argued can attribute to player burnout. Price and his colleagues from the paper I read found the vast majority (90%) also stated that these activities helped to lengthen their sporting career.  In the study they found that the athletes felt they gained a better sense of team work and patience as they had to interact with different personality types than those typically found in sport.

If a player or a coach only has friends within the team when things don’t go well they feel very lost. By having other interests outside sport this can help them focus on other success when things aren’t going well within the sport. It will often help transition into a different life when the sporting ends.  Many athletes after they finish their 5 years of eligibility are lost for awhile as they try to figure out how to fill their time. We try real hard to help the athletes with this transition. This year we actually had some of our athletes goal set meeting people in their class that aren’t involved in BU athletics.  Not just someone to borrow notes off of, but to truely invest some time into them and learn about their lives.  In our year end meetings they have found that having this new group of friends has allowed them a break from the intensity of being around the team.  The athletes on our team truly like each other and have fun together.  They believe in the same things and have the same experiences so it is easy to want to hang around each other, but it is nice to get away and talk about other things.

This semester two of our athletes decided to take a pottery course.  This was a real challenge for them, as they are typically very deft with their hands. In the pottery class they had to spend many extra hours struggling to get the project completed.  But when it was finished it seemed they were proud that they accomplished it.

It is my hope that when the athletes finish at BU they leave feeling fulfilled whether they set new records or just played a role. We hope that they find lifelong friends, are in love with sport and are constant learners.