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Reflections and Triumphs: Coaching and Scheduling the All Nations Juniors 2024
tl:dr
I coached Asia Girls to All Nations Juniors 2024 Championship gold! I chronicle how I did it (including turning a libero into a setter) and reflect on what I learnt from the experience (including trying to find the best system with players you don’t know)
I reflected on my scheduling experience, including the perennial issues of late matches and how to combat it (e.g. having an early registration time so the first match starts on time), seeding the teams, and having Google Sheets for live updates
I will probably not reflect too much on All Nations Juniors in the future as there isn’t too much to reflect on as it’s only a one-day tournament
All Nations Juniors Since 2022
All Nations Juniors is a tournament where players aged 18 and under register individually and the organiser places them in teams according to where they’re from. It is the juniors version of the All Nations Tournament. It started in 2022 and I have been a part of it since as a coach and scheduler. I was surprised that I hadn’t written anything about this since I like to reflect and learn from experiences. So I am here to rectify that situation.
Competition Report
Asia vs Americas | Pool Match | Win 25-7
It was a dream start as we beat Americas 25-7. I was happy I could play all 12 players so they all had some playing time. I also realised that I had 3 outside hitters (2 said they were liberos) who could pass and defend well. It was going to be tricky to play all of them.
Asia vs Meds | Pool Match | Loss 19-25
Our second match was against Meds. We didn’t play well and Meds was solid. The main issue was we had a few balls close to the net and the two setters couldn’t handle it. They weren’t aggressive enough to transition and jump set to deal with them. It didn’t help that we had a four-passer system and they were taking each other’s balls. The other issue was a lot of early service errors. We couldn’t build any momentum and build any lead. We did sort out the service errors and we came back a little but we still lost 19-25.
After the match, the libero said to me that she could set. I thought about it and I realised it could be a game-changer. I have no idea if the libero could set so that was risky (she later reminded me she was my setter in the first All Nations Juniors). If she could, that would be a massive benefit. It also solves the three outside hitters conundrum. I turned one into a libero so I could have three solid passers and defenders on the court at the same time.
Asia vs Europe | Pool Match | Win 25-19
We needed to win our third and final pool match vs Europe if we wanted to win the Championship. My game plan for the team was to ensure your first serve is in and to go three-passer unit. A big change I made was to turn the libero into a setter and one of the outside hitters into a libero. It stemmed from the setter telling me after the last match if she could set. I thought about it and I thought it could work. If she can deal with those balls close to the net that’s already a plus. Also, I could turn one of the three good outside hitters into a libero and have all three of them on court.
I started the original first setter as I didn’t want to make too many big changes. It was close but then we started to fall behind. I decided it was time to put in the libero-turned-setter to see if she could change things. Again, I haven’t seen her set before so I had no idea how it would work out. It turned out that she was pretty good. She could deal with those balls on the net. The other thing I saw was she could set wide to the left side. It started to transform the outside hitters as they started to get more kills. I told the setter to set to them more often as we needed players who could kill the ball. I also found the outside hitter-turned-libero was a bit of a beast. I liked that she was loud in calling for the balls, which is what you like to see in liberos. We came back and won 25-19.
Asia vs Philippines | Championship Semifinal | Win 25-21
We thankfully finished first on our pool. Meds had the same win-loss record as us (2-1) but we had a better points difference. That 25-7 win over Americas really saved us because we didn’t want to face Poland in the semifinals. Instead, we faced the Philippines in the semifinals. They did have a superstar outside hitter. She was small but she would hit any ball. They also had a decent setter and good supporting players. However, I felt Asia had a stronger overall team. I don’t remember too much about the match except that it was close. I think we always had a couple of points lead and maintained that the whole way. I do remember setting to the outside hitters really worked because they were getting a lot of kills.
Asia vs Poland | Championship Final | Win 25-19
We faced Poland in the final. This was a repeat of last year’s final when Poland won it. Poland was probably the best team in the tournament so I knew it was going to be tough. The game plan was still the same: 1) solid serves/ first serve in, 2) set to the outside hitters, and 3) defend everything.
I kept the same line-up from the semifinals. I started the setter in zone 4 instead of the usual zone 3 because I had a good serve that I wanted her to serve first. It worked a treat because we got to a 7-0 lead! Poland did come back because they are a good team. It was definitely squeaky bum time. Maybe because it was a final but I found myself managing the match more. Every time we sided out, I told the player that the first serve should be in. I was also changing the passing unit, e.g. step forward, step back, opposite to pass, four passers etc.
In the end, we won 25-19. The match was a lot more close than the set score suggests. Going 7-0 ahead was big!
Coaching Reflection
Finding the Best System When You Don’t Know the Players
When I coach at the All Nations Juniors, I try to find the best system for the team and it’s tricky because you don’t know the players. It means you have to quickly assess how good they are (sometimes only in the warm-up), figure out the best starting 7, and formulate a game plan that maximises their strengths. You also only have a handful of one-set matches and no prior training sessions so you don’t have many opportunities to test different combinations to see what works best. I find it a fun exercise because it’s how I like to think.
Open Door for Ideas?
The biggest turning point in finding the best system was when the libero asked me if she could set. If she didn’t ask me and thus I didn’t make that change, I’m not sure if we make it to the final. It makes me think I should have a formalised open door for players to come to me or their captain for ideas like this. I may shoot a lot of them down but one good idea could transform the team. I know this is a bad idea because it would open a floodgate for players to complain. I’m sure there’s a good way to do this.
Manage Expectation of Minutes Played
I had a big team of 12 players and it was tricky giving enough playing time to them over the five one-set matches. I did address it when a player mentioned it but it would’ve been better to address it at the beginning of the tournament.
Scheduling Reflection
The perennial issue was massive delays. The medal presentation was supposed to start at 6:30pm but it didn’t start until 8:30pm and we left the hall around 8:45pm. It meant the schedule was late by 2 hours.
Early Registration to Avoid a Late Start
The first match was supposed to start at 9:30am. When I turned up for that time (my first match was at 10am), I saw all the players on the viewing balcony so no player was warming up. This was because the organiser had to organise shirts for teams. It meant that matches started 40-45 minutes late. Next year, I will include a “registration” time before the first match so teams and coaches can pick up their shirts. I can stagger the pick-up times according to who plays first. That should allow the first match to start on time and that would have saved 45 minutes.
Somehow Dealing with Warm-Ups
I stated in the schedule that matches should start 5 minutes after the last match. Pepper only and no going over the net. However, I saw some teams were still going over the net so warm-up was closer to 10 minutes. I saw some warm-ups going to 15 minutes! It doesn’t make sense, from a scheduling point of view, that teams have a 10-minute warm-up when the match lasts 20-25 minutes. I also don’t disagree with longer warm-ups so I’m not going to crack the whip to a strict 5 minute warm-up. However, I thought that we could save time by cutting out warm-ups if we had fewer but longer matches. If we had 2-set matches, we could save 90 minutes of court time per court by cutting the extra warm-ups. Having 2-set matches would mean teams only have three matches. This is probably not enough to have a proper tournament where you play different teams.
Seeding the Teams
I decided to seed the teams based on last year’s results and put the new teams on the bottom in alphabetical order. I did this for the Girl’s pools. I did change it slightly for the Boy’s pools. It was because there were two pools of three teams and two pools of four teams. The organiser suggested putting teams with the smaller squads (7-9 players) in the smaller pools, as most players will play a lot anyway, and the bigger squads (9-11 players) in the bigger pools, to make it easier for coaches to rotate players and play everybody. I think it was ok to make those changes.
Google Sheets
It was nice to have the schedule on Google Sheets. I could update it in real time. Most of the knockout matches were already worked out 30 minutes before so players and coaches can view them. There were some keen eyes too but two mistakes were pointed out, which I was able to correct.
Have a Copy of the Original Schedule
I adopted the Team SideOut practice of putting in the set scores where the referee should be then grey it out those cells to indicate they have been played. It’s nice to give you a visual update of how late the schedule is. However, when I started to grey out the cells, I should have made a copy of schedule in its original form. It’s a reference point if I make a mistake, e.g. if I put the 2nd in Pool B where the 2nd in Pool A was. Also, I want to have an original copy of how the schedule was before I made any changes.
Final Thoughts
It was great to win it for the second time in three years. I’m not sure how often I will reflect on the All Nations Junior tournament because there isn’t too much to reflect on as it’s only a one day tournament.
All Nations Juniors Record
Like with the adult version, I wanted my All Nations Juniors Record. I’m not going to lie but it’s pretty good. With Asia Girls, our record is Champion, Runners-Up, Champion.
2024 | Champions with Asia Girls 2023 | Runners-Up with Asia Girls 2022 | Champions with Asia Girls | Joint 9th Place with Asia Boys
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