Warning: before reading, prepare to clarify/redefine how you measure success for your children and our CIViC teams.
What I hope we achieve as a club and as Carroll's varsity coach with our young teams may be at odds with what parents, other family members, and even the little girls want. And please allow me to say, more often than not, I am speaking to fathers about this. I hope we win, but I am not cheering and reinforcing actions that allow us to win at the cost of teaching and developing skills.
What I hope we achieve as a club and as Carroll's varsity coach with our young teams may be at odds with what parents, other family members, and even the little girls want. And please allow me to say, more often than not, I am speaking to fathers about this. I hope we win, but I am not cheering and reinforcing actions that allow us to win at the cost of teaching and developing skills.
What I never want to hear from the bleachers or overhear in passing is, "Just get it over." No! Wrong! Never! If the mentality is to “just get it over,” we are in essence penalizing a young player from taking a big swing, being aggressive in passing, or trying to serve overhand.
We are teaching a skill base and attitude to encourage a young player to risk passing to target and not just over the net, to set the ball to a teammate and not just over the net, and dog-gone attack that ball. Hit it! Three touches are gold to me as coach.
However, at the younger ages, three contacts multiplies the opportunities for errors. And with these errors, the opportunity for the lower skilled team to win increases. What happens when teams win? They receive praise, smiles, ice cream, etc. That is all fine and dandy if they passed, set, and attacked. What if they won by simply tossing the ball right back at the other team? They won, but at what cost? Our CIViC teams and coaches, will try for three contacts leading to three times the opportunities to make a mistake compared to a team touching the ball once and passing it straight back across the net to us.
Please, what I am asking for and want us to cheer, praise, smile and offer ice cream for is a pass, a set, and an attack regardless of the outcome! That is more success than winning.
Please help encourage those three contacts. Too often our elementary kids fear an official's whistle, teammate's moans, and parent's negative reinforcement when trying three contacts. It is hard to control a ball to a setter, so too often kids just trampoline it back across the net. Too often kids do not learn to set because they fear being called for a double contact. Kids do not learn to hit because they fear hitting a mile outside the court or never getting it over the net. Combine these fears and suddenly a free ball war breaks out. In all of the above scenarios, safety and caution and winning are rewarded. It is our responsibility as coaches and parents to reward behaviors that encourage taking the risks for growth. Even if the winning is sacrificed.
We are teaching a skill base and attitude to encourage a young player to risk passing to target and not just over the net, to set the ball to a teammate and not just over the net, and dog-gone attack that ball. Hit it! Three touches are gold to me as coach.
However, at the younger ages, three contacts multiplies the opportunities for errors. And with these errors, the opportunity for the lower skilled team to win increases. What happens when teams win? They receive praise, smiles, ice cream, etc. That is all fine and dandy if they passed, set, and attacked. What if they won by simply tossing the ball right back at the other team? They won, but at what cost? Our CIViC teams and coaches, will try for three contacts leading to three times the opportunities to make a mistake compared to a team touching the ball once and passing it straight back across the net to us.
Please, what I am asking for and want us to cheer, praise, smile and offer ice cream for is a pass, a set, and an attack regardless of the outcome! That is more success than winning.
Please help encourage those three contacts. Too often our elementary kids fear an official's whistle, teammate's moans, and parent's negative reinforcement when trying three contacts. It is hard to control a ball to a setter, so too often kids just trampoline it back across the net. Too often kids do not learn to set because they fear being called for a double contact. Kids do not learn to hit because they fear hitting a mile outside the court or never getting it over the net. Combine these fears and suddenly a free ball war breaks out. In all of the above scenarios, safety and caution and winning are rewarded. It is our responsibility as coaches and parents to reward behaviors that encourage taking the risks for growth. Even if the winning is sacrificed.
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