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City, University of London Coaching Reflection 2017-18
Introduction
I am currently the Women’s Head Volleyball Coach at City, University of London (CUL) and the 2017-18 season was the third season since they have been in in British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competition. You can read my coaching reflections in the second season and in the first season for the team.
This third season was vastly different compared to the first two seasons. We only faced three tough teams in the entire first two seasons in BUCS while the rest were pretty easy. This season in BUCS South Eastern Division 1A, every team was tough! The team I identified as easiest team in the division took us to five sets in the first game of the season! From there, the season was a whirlwind! It did end with me being named asso it can’t be all that bad. Below is my reflection for the season.
Team Selection Reflection
* . Nearly the whole team was solely selected by observation. It was enough to see how they played during the trials. However, I did have to refer to the trial’s video for the last spot on the team. It was between two players and the video showed both players were similarly skilled but one player had very good transition skills (moving from defence to attack and defence to setting). This was enough reason to chose this player for the last spot in the team.
* . I didn’t implement this from last season’s reflection mainly because I did feel it was just too harsh to cut players that early. It also had an additional unseen benefit: some players may just surprise you. For that one player who just made the team based on her good transition skills, she turned out to be a much better player than she appeared to be in trials. Her serves, which appeared weak during the trials, were suddenly like rockets in the first tournament we played. There were also other aspects of her game that really impressed me. I will probably still use the 75 minute cut in the trial session after the new year.
* . We only had one setter that trialled this season (needless to say, she made the team!) I wanted two setters on the team for balance in matches and in training so I wanted to convert one player to become a second setter. A libero and outsider hitter stepped up to try out setting duties. The libero did a better job so she become the designated second setter. Midway through the season, the converted setter became a libero again. It turned out she was a great passer and defender and she quickly become our starting libero. I could have used her in the first half of the season and she could have helped us edge out some matches! Upon reflection, it would have been better to train the libero and outsider hitter both in their natural position and as a setter (being flexible) and see how things play out.
Coaching Reflection
* . I entered the team in a Little Giants Club Competition at the start of the season and it was beneficial in so many ways. The team would get five matches worth of playing time in one day, which would only improve group cohesion. I could get a good look at the players in how they play in matches. It was also a good time for the team to get to know each other socially. The biggest benefit for me was filming the matches and then collecting performance data so I have a baseline of players’ performance level. I also entered the team after the new year as we had a seven week break and I wanted the team to get match sharp.
* . The coaching plan for the first two seasons was fairly stable. Coach systems first, technique second and advance plays third. We didn’t face many tough matches in the lower divisions so it meant I could stick to the overall coaching plan for the season and only adjust when those tough matches came up for any opposition analysis. As I said, all the matches in Division 1A were tough! We lost many matches and it felt like I was constantly trying to fix problems I saw from matches in the next training session. I will have to rethink the coaching plan/ training session where there’s a blend of coaching systems properly and fixing problems from matches.
* . Linked to the above, I spent five weeks coaching systems of play. I have may rushed it because there were many instances throughout the season where when I asked players about where they should be in certain situations, they didn’t know. This was disheartening because my priority is coaching systems of play so the players play as one cohesive team.
* This is again linked to the above. I only bought in the Mikasa Tactic Board once and I found it was a great way to explain positioning and to test player’s knowledge of positioning. So this will help properly explain coaching systems of play. I only now need to find a way to attached it to my bag (it’s too big to fit inside) when I cycle to training.
Competitions Report
I aimed for third place and we got third place with a 5-5 record. This was a great result for us because having done some opposition scouting at the start of the season, fourth place would have been a more realistic target. Like I said before, the league was hard. Four matches out of ten went to five sets! Some matches we could have done better but in some matches, we did do better. So in the end, I was happy with third place.
I aimed to go beyond the 1st round because it meant we had another match after the new year and we could work towards that. We got knocked out by Cardiff University 1st in the first round. I was miserable on the trip back home but City played well and the match was incredibly close. A couple of points our way and we would have won the match.
I aimed to reach the Last 16 Finals again and we achieved that with 13th Place overall. We got through to the Last 16 Finals in the most backdoor of backdoors when three teams dropped out and we were next in line to get in. We snatched at the chance! We could have placed a little better in the Finals itself but 13th Place was probably a fair result in the end.
I looked at their BUCS record and they were no match for us and the game played out that way.
The result wasn’t that important since the tournament was just a vehicle to get more playing time for the team and try out new team combinations.
Achievements and Records
* BUCS South Eastern Division 1A – Third Place * Volleyball England Student Cup – 13th Place * Varsity 2018 Winners (vs Kingston University) * Little Giants Tournaments – Third Place x2 * Overall win-loss record of 16-14-1 * Shortlisted for TeamCity Club of the Year * Shortlisted for TeamCity Inclusive Club of the Year * Won TeamCity Coach of the Year 2018
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