Where’s the line?

How do I deal with bad behaviour without reaffirming it? In all of the coaching classes I’ve taken they recommend not punishing your team too hard for negative behaviour. But what is ‘too hard’?

At practice on Sunday I had four girls show up late. Three of them arrived within fifteen minutes and the fourth arrived an hour late. I struggled with how to deal with their tardiness. I pulled the four of them aside and asked them individually why they were late. I told them that it is important to always keep your coach posted when you are going to be late out of respect for them and for their team. The three athletes that were fifteen minutes late then ran two sets of wind sprints along with 20 push-ups and the athlete that was an hour late ran 10 wind sprints and did 25 push-ups.

In the end I’m not sure if I did the right thing or not. I do know that by doing nothing I would’ve felt in the wrong. I hope that the girls learned their lesson and that I didn’t cross a line…but then again…where is the line?

My online coaching guru…

As a first time coach I’ve been turning to many people and resources for guidance. This website (www.myonlinecoach.com) is one of the best resources I have found to date. It features streaming videos of defensive and offensive plays, coaching suggestions, and examples of great volleyball drills. Unfortunately this website does not allow you to view the videos for free. You can sign up for a full-site membership at $99.00 USD which gives you access to all the videos on the site, or you can sign up for a sport specific membership which gives you access to a specific sports videos. The volleyball specific membership cost me $39.95 USD. Other sport-specific memberships available include: baseball, softball, basketball, football, golf, tennis, soccer and special topics. You also have the option of viewing up to 3 videos for free if you register with the website. The video below is just one example of the many videos you can view on this site.

Beginning of the anxiety….

What an experience it was having to ‘cut’ girls from try-outs. It was as if I was reliving my personal volleyball try-outs all over again!

On the last day of try-outs we split the girls up into four teams and had them play eachother while the four coaches went into a separate room (which ultimately was labeled the ‘cutting’ room). Each girl came into the ‘cutting’ room individually and we told them the outcome of their try-out. I was nervous for the girls coming into the room – it was as though someone had taken me out of my own body and placed me into theirs. It was really tough having to present a strong front as we told girls whether they made the team or not. When it was a girl that I was excited to have on my team, it was tough to keep a straight face because I wanted to get up and dance! And when it was a girl that I really liked but I knew they just didn’t have what it took to make the team, I wanted to get up and give them a big hug. Someone must have been watching out for us that say because we didn’t have any ‘criers’ – girls that cried when we told them they were cut.

Once we were through the anxiety of telling the girls whether they made a team or not we had to face the next demon – the parents. There is only one thing worse than telling someone they didn’t make the team, having to tell their parents that their daughter(s) didn’t make the team. The feeling of dealing with the parents is completely different than that of dealing with the girls. With the girls I felt vulnerable and nervous. With the parents I felt on the defense. I felt as though I had to defend myself twofold. One because I had to defend my decision to ‘cut’ their daughter, and two I had to defend my credibility as a new coach.

All in all, my first try-out and ‘cutting’ experience went well. It was a day full of mixed emotions and completely stressful! But I made it through my first hurdle and I’m quite proud to say “I’m still here”!

Welcome!

Welcome to my site! Glad you’ve decided to come along for the ride! I am excited to be blogging about my coaching experiences and hope you enjoy them as much as I do!