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.