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Determining My Team Values
Coaching For a Greater Purpose Conference 2022
When I signed the contract to coach Boy Varsity Volleyball at The American School in London, they offered me the chance to go to a coaching conference in Brussels. I jumped at the opportunity because it was a chance to broaden my coaching horizons. They would also pay for everything so that was a bonus too. It was a great experience and there were a few valuable things that I took away from the event but there was one major thing that I really wanted to reflect on.
Coaching Life Values Through Sport
The big idea behind the Coaching for a Great Purpose conference is that coaching the technical knowledge of the sport is not sufficient – we should try and coach life’s values through sport. Just think of the inspirational coaches in Remember the Titans, Coach Carter and Ted Lasso. It does feel like an American ideal because I feel we do value technical knowledge in England. I mean, technical knowledge is the main stuff they cover in coaching qualification courses. But when we think of our favourite coaches/ teachers we had in our youth, it was likely it had nothing to do with their technical knowledge but how they made you feel. It was true for me.
Although I could just keep doing what I have been doing (I mean, I had a pretty successful season last season), I thought I should at least try to add this to my coaching bow. If I could have a positive impact on one of my student-athletes at the American School of London at one time in their life then surely it would be worth it.
Defining Your Team Values
I did feel the burden of this responsibility. How was I going to do this? Where do I start? Could I even do it? I felt the best way was to start small. At the conference, they talked about building a team culture and having four key values that you want your program to be. So I thought deeply about what are the key values that I can instill in my team. There are a lot of great values you can pick. The American School of London has five values of respect, responsibility, kindness, integrity and the courage to act. Those are great ones. However, I thought it was best to have values that are authentic to me, i.e. ones I already coach. It would be easier to refer back to them when I’m coaching. These values would probably be volleyball-specific values so I wanted to make sure they could be broadened out a little so they can translate to real life. I also wanted to use phrases rather than words because I think the players are more likely to remember that if they are to apply it in their outside lives. After a lot of thought, below are the five that I settled on for now.
Joy | I love the game of volleyball (this blog is proof of that) so this should be instilled in how the players play the game. It should be noted that this shouldn’t be related to winning. Life Translation: follow your passion.
Organise | This is the idea that players should understand the responsibility of each position so they can function as a part of a team. In coaching terms, this means organising the team. That is, coach the systems of reception system (5-1 system), block-defence, out-of-system play etc. This is because I feel this is the quickest and easiest way to improve a team. The more they play together, the more they know who everybody plays and the more trust that can be built. They should also understand that every player has a role to play and it may not always be as starters. It may also not be set in stone (see value 3). Life translation: we can achieve more as a team rather than as an individual.
Optimise | This is the idea of maximising our strengths and hiding our weaknesses. Of course, we need to know what they are. I do this by analysing stats and match videos. The strengths and weaknesses are unique to each team and this can result in some unique game plans. Click on this link to see how I have changed things to find our best game plan. Life translation: know what your strengths are and lean into them.
Hustle | One of the biggest things I don’t like to see is when players stop playing when the rally has not ended. One common example is when there’s an overpass and the player spikes the ball into the net and nobody moves. That rally isn’t over yet because the team still has two more touches. This doesn’t require talent, only a change in attitude. Life translation: never give up.
Aggression | Another thing I don’t like is when a player puts over a free ball (downball, volley or dig) when they could have been aggressive to jump and hit the ball. When I say aggressive, it doesn’t mean hitting hard, it means jumping and trying to do something, whether tipping, rolling or hitting hard. The main reason is to win matches, you need to score points and most points are won via the attack. So if we keep putting over free balls, it reduces our ability to score points. Life translation: attack life head-on.
I think the first one is a given. You have to do what you love doing. The next two values are really my process of coaching. I organise the team first (my first priority since 2015) then I use stats and videos to find our best game plan, which is specific to each team (the raison d’être for the blog). For example, I had a game plan of serving tough for Flaming Six Coyotes but the game plan for UCL Men was just to serve in. The next two values are always in the best game plan. I realised this was something I coach to every team I had and I can’t see a situation where it would be different.
Final Thoughts
I feel pretty good about these five values. It really aligns with how I coach. As the technical coach, it’s nice to have these values written down and listed. As the greater purpose coach, these are good values and I’ll be a happy man if any of my players can apply them to their outside life at least once in their life. I am intending to use and refer to these values. I will reflect on them at the end of the season.
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