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City University London Coaching Reflection 2019-20
City University London
This has been my seventh year coaching volleyball at City University London and my fifth season since coaching the women’s team in Bristish Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competition. You can read my first, second, third and fourth season reflections here.
Overall
We had a rough start to the season with two losses in the first three matches. At that point, I was just aiming for not being in the bottom two and relegation. However, finding the best system for the team you have takes time and we played better and better as the season went on. It was a massive turn around as we ended up being one match away from possibly being division champions once again. Things could always have been better but I was very happy with how the season finished.
Competitions Report
BUCS South Eastern Division 1A – Second Place (Before Suspension)
We are in second place with a 7-3 win-loss record. Queen Mary have 3 matches in hand (currently 5-2 record) and they theoretically could overtake us if they played and won their last three matches. As I said, we had a slow start but we finished strong to the point we were one match away from possibly being league champions. In that match, UCL was the better team but if I had the full team (or even one player), it would have been a much closer match.
BUCS Trophy Cup – Quarter Finals
We had a fifth set loss against Anglia Ruskin University in the quarter finals. It was a close match that could have went either way so I wasn’t so disappointed in the loss.
Volleyball England Student Cup – 8th Place
The focus was on the league (specifically the second match agasint UCL) so I wasn’t too bothered about the result. Eighth place is actually our joint second best result in the Student Cup so it’s not bad. I was happy that I rotated the team more than I normally have done.
Varsity 2020 – Cancelled
It is usually our last event before the season officially finishes. It’s a nice event for the team so it is a shame it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Things I Learnt
There’s always something I learn during the season, even something little, and it’s always helpful to write it down and look back on it periodically.
* . My co-captain suggested it instead of using printed sheets. It was great because we had three devices logged in, so it didn’t slow down the registration process. I could also copy and paste the details into my own spreadsheet when making my own player evaluation (as opposed to trying to read messy handwriting). What I liked best was I could view the player details, such playing history, in real time as they were being typed in. This process will definitely will be used next season.
* . I thought having 12 returning players, knowing how they play and the stats to back things up, would make it easier to find the best system of play for the team. This wasn’t the case. New players (and players who’s left) changes the make-up and balance of the team and you basically need time to see what works.
* . I never had an assistant coach before and this year I had two! I found them was quite useful (duh!) It gave me additional options when planning drills for training. They were particularly useful when I did the full game drills. I always had players on the sidelines so I got the assistant coach to do something with them, whether ball control or conditioning drills, so they were always touching the ball. I got them to warm up with the libero during the hitting portion of the match warm-up so the libero got some reps with passing. It was also good to have the asssistant coach take the second training session on Fridays, which is supposed to be “uncoached”. I’ve seen uncoached sessions before and it is bad. There’s no direction and the effort and quality is just not there. So having the assistant coach there helps with the direction and sustain a level of effort and quality.
* . My thinking behind this system is because I found non-middle blockers don’t have much impact at this level so it is logically better to have them defend rather than block. They can theoretically defend more area of the floor rather than the area they would blocking. So I did try this in training and I found a big flaw. When the opposition was hitting left side, the back row setter had to defend deep line with the front row opposite had to defend tip attacks. The transition from defence to setting is too long and we didn’t have the quickest setters in the first place. I didn’t have any good solutions to this so I abandoned this idea. It would also have taken a long time for the team to execute this block-defence system properly and there might not be any real benefits in the end.
Next Season
I can’t wait for the new season. I like to see what new players turn up for trials, especially if I get any monster players coming in. I also like the process of molding the team into my playing system and then finding the best system of play to maximise player strengths. I just hope the lockdown doesn’t extend into next season.
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