Pass - Set - Spike

1.  A big thank you to all the VolleyFolks I was able to present the NCSA Volleyball Recruiting Education Talks to - IMUA Volleyball Club, Kahuku High School and McKinley High school.

2.  At each of my Talks, I was able to stay afterward and watch the practices of each program - The Hawaiian teams focus on ball control within the scrimmage environment; maximizing touches without having to have a coach implement every ball for the player to touch.  This is a tough concept for many mainland coaches (mainland = continental USA) to use because it can mean ugly practices early and too many coaches, myself included in this group, don't want to watch ugly early practices/trainings.

3.  Just a visual to send all of my VolleyFamilies into the weekend - There is just something magical about Hawaii; it is my definition of Paradise.

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  "The Virginia Commonwealth University Athletic Department announced that the contract of Volleyball Head Coach James Finley will not be renewed for next season."


      "East Carolina Head Volleyball Pati Rolf and Director of Athletics Terry Holland have mutually agreed not to renew Rolf's contract for the 2013 season.

2.  "North Carolina State has fired football coach Tom O'Brien.....Yow said O'Brien's buyout would be $1.2 million over four years."

"The University of Tennessee announced today that Derek Dooley will not return as the head football coach of the Vols. Dooley's contract runs through 2016 and includes a $5 million buyout."

3.  No college football coach ever coaches without a contract (including a specified buyout) and NEVER goes into the last year of a contract, much less the 2nd to last year of a contract.  

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  So glad the Pac 12 and Big 10 have their own sports networks, because we can watch volleyball instead of poker on sports channels.  I believe the key element is these conference sporting networks are only showing contests involving their membership, and are looking for programing to fill the time slots.

2.  I am getting ready to call What Not to Wear and recommend a number of power conference school's head coaches.  A wrinkled polo shirt or an open collared long sleeve shirt and faded looking pants is not the image which will help the professionalism of being a college volleyball coach.  The match is on television; the Holy Grail of what so many of the PTB's (powers that be) said we had to have to make our sport big time.  What do some of the power conference coaches do when there?  They look small time, minor league, club level, unprofessional.  Outside of Puerto Rico and Hawaii, when was the last time you saw a basketball coach in a polo shirt?  It is not hard to throw a tie on the long sleeve shirt, it is not hard to find a sweater or sweater vest to put over the polo shirt?  Is it really difficult to find pants that look nice - These same coaches are the one making the most money in college volleyball, and this is what they wear?  Image matters, image matters - Football coaches even look more professional running up and down the sideline than what I have seen recently.

3.  With 15 subs and using two setters in back row substitution patterns, we have gone back in time (que Pitbull please); the striking majority of sets to the left side, middles rarely running slides or anything behind, slow yet powerful.  The offense and transition attack has been slowed to the point of almost boring. Hitters stay in their defined zones and steam roll ahead to bang the ball. No wonder swing blocking is popular; easy to swing block when the attackers stay in the same place all the time.

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championship Television info:

Hey Coach,

I remember you asked about this way back when, we are airing the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship this weekend, Saturday, May 5, 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU, a few details here: http://espnmediazone.com/us/weekly-updates/2012/midweek_20120502/#C

Let me know if you have any questions, hope all is well!

Gracie Blackburn

ESPN PR: ESPNU, College Sports

2.  Title IX is 40 years old.  It is a good thing or bad thing that 40 years is no big deal?  A couple of interesting articles via espnw.  The first one is a shorter read specifically about T9, and the second one is a cautionary tale about becoming and staying as a female coach.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/title-ix/7729603/five-myths-title-ix

http://espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=theGlassWall

3.  Good news for Liberos/Defensive specialists, along with short setters....

http://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2012-01-24/rules-committee-backs-change

Pass - Set - Spike and Wednesday Webinar!

Wanted to remind VolleyFamilies of the Wednesday Webinar - Recruiting Reset.

Recruiting Reset will be on Wednesday, March 14th at 9 p.m. Central Time.  Follow these instructions to join:

Cut and paste this address into your browser address bar:


 http://connectpro96398706.adobeconnect.com/msonnichsen/

Click "Guest" - Type your name - Click Enter Room.

Very simple and a great way to get information about focusing your recruiting efforts as we are halfway through the 2012 club volleyball season.  This will be a live webinar, so you will be able to submit questions via the Chat Box!

=======================================================

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  Now is the season of Unofficial Visits.  I have a few Q and A's getting ready to post, which should provide some information. In addition, on April 4th, the Wednesday Webinar topic will be Unofficial Visits!

2.  VolleyPSA's must remember that every move is being watched when they have collegiate coaches evaluating talent.  The simplest advice I can give is this - Play Hard and Play Positive.  Not going after balls and watching them hit the floor, half jumping and coasting through a match and being selfish with emotions or attitude is a sure way to get rated as a poor prospect for a collegiate program.  Collegiate coaches don't have time for players who won't work hard in a 2 out of 3 game club match, and they absolutely don't want any poor attitudes on their team.  

3.  In the recruiting process, it is easier for a VolleyPSA to say "no" than it is to say "yes".  You want to be in the situation that you can say no many times because you only will say yes once.  Saying no is a function of reaching out to many different types of colleges/universities, and then determining which ones are potentially the best fit.

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  A College Coach's Newest paranoia - The Poison Pill.  That one Student-Athlete who looks innocent enough, but is so toxic that she can kill a season and a career.  You know, the player who is talented and says the right things to the coach, but behind their backs is talking trash, ripping team mates and complaining about everything; this SA turns the players who are mentally weak or indifferent into negative entities.  Too many good coaches, of good programs have talked about the Poison Pill, and it is a phenomenon which is insidious.  

2.  Bad new trend for NCAA Women's Volleyball - Athletic Directors are mandating that Volleyball teams carry a much larger roster, as to offset the number of walk ons in football.  This creates more work for the limited coaching staffs of volleyball, a hit to the budget (the budgets are not increased to offset the larger roster with regards to equipment and pre-season meals), and easily creates a negative team chemistry situation because no player wants to be considered just a number.  This was an issue at my last school, and I know a number of coaches who are also dealing with this demand.

3.  Two Requests, my VolleyFolk - 1)  Please keep sending me your Volleyball action and team chemistry photos from this club season;  a picture speaks a thousand words and I want to get more good photos for all to share!      2)  VolleyFamilies, please pass along the information about my Volleyball Road Camps to your respective high school coaches.  It is a challenge getting in contact with the various high schools, as I believe the number of high school coaches who read this site is limited.  I understand this is a bit self serving, but I also know that the Road Camp is a great way to get high quality summer touches in your gym. I appreciate your help!

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  NCAA Division I recruiting calendar is open, and the opening weekend is now in the rear view mirror.  If you missed my two preparation posts to empower your early season playing and recruiting success, please click here y aqui!  Not sitting at the end of the club volleyball court, after 15+ years of recruiting was a nice break; the recruiting season is too long in DI and I hope the Powers That Be (PTB unknown BTW) increase the weeks of Dead and Quiet Periods.


2.  Please take a look at this video clip of a Chinese professional volleyball match - Great rally and notice how the fans seem to take such a great rally as expected!  Thanks to T.G. (aka Al Scates Jr.) for sending this clip in!


3.  Disappointing article about the stance of the NCAA President, published on espn.com.  Seems to me that he is talking out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to giving extra money, equity and rights of non-power conference Division I schools.  Then, just to make sure everything is OK for the big boys, a little 'parliamentary procedure' is used here?




How about some pictures?  Not of me, but of you.  Well, not you but the Volleyball which you experienced these opening two weekends.  There are not enough action shots of Volleyball for all to see, so I am doing my part to compensate for ESPN's failings!  


Please send me your best Volleyball action shots or team karma photos, and I will plan on posting the Top 10 on collegevolleyballcoach.com.  By submitting a picture, you agree to have it published and I hope this turns into a fun feature for all the VolleyReaders!

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  NCAA Division I Volleyball coaches are curently in a restricted recruiting period  known as a Dead Period (no contact/observation other than permissible emails/phone calls) until the end of December.  From January 1st to the 13th, it becomes a Quiet Period (no off campus contact; unofficial visits are allowed).  January 14th, the gates swing open and the crazy college coaches will emerge!  To see all the Quiet and Dead Period dates for the remainder of this academic year, please click here.  Also, to see the NCAA Glossary of Terms, click here.


2.  This time of year is the silly season for collegiate coaching as a profession.  Each winter, there are terminations/transitions for which us in the business wonder what happened or why it occurred, and then later, we will all scratch our heads after a hire is announced with the thought of 'really'?  With the unsettled nature of today's collegiate athletics, the budgets and obtuse administrators, college coaching as a profession has changed.


3.  VolleyFamilies and VolleyPSA's need to get their mind right for the upcoming recruiting season.  The mentality needs to be one of jogging a marathon, instead of running a sprint.  I have found that too many families will either start going full tilt right now and mentally burn out early in the spring, while others will be too casual about the process, only to panic late spring when a moment of recruiting clarity occurs.  It is a long club season, and the VolleyFamilies which are steady in their efforts, have a game plan to follow, and use the resources and support available (recruiting service, club recruiting coordinator, friends with experience in the process) will manage this stressful time period much better.

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  I just happened to see an Official's invoice for a recent men's basketball game at my school.  $925.00 game fee, $250.00 per diem, plus the cost to travel to game.  There are three officials which are on the basketball court during a game, and the cost of this invoice was over $5,000.00.  For the basketball game alone, the cost of on court officiating is $2,775.00.  Early in my tenure, my administrator asked if there was a way to reduce the officiating costs of a home Volleyball tournament because they were around $2,000.00 (for 6 matches).  Amazing!


2.  This is the best time of the year for Volleyball and the worst time.  Best time because it is the championship season, seeing which teams will make a great run through the NCAA Championship, along with all the drama of seeding, who got in, who did not get in, etc.  But, it is also the worst time of the year because Volleyball can vanish from the sports media landscape with football going into its final week (and all the conference title and bowls scenarios), college basketball starting up with their various tournaments and made for media match ups, and lets not forget pro football, pro basketball and pro hockey.

3.  Every season there is one song I become so sick of hearing because it is played at every match, no matter where we are.  My all time "I am sick of this song" is from my pro beach tour days - Love Shack by the B-52's!!!  The "I am sick of this song" song for the 2011 season is.....In the Dark by Dev!  

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  A key to a non Power Conference Volleyball program enjoying support and success is if the Senior Women's Administrator (SWA) played Volleyball.  Just having any Administrator understand the challenges which Volleyball coaches face in running a program and hopefully building a successful team gets a coach halfway towards happiness. It will drive a coach to distraction, constantly having to 'educate' administrators on the protocols and routines and operating procedures of a NCAA Division I Volleyball team (or any college team for that matter).  Having a SWA who was a basketball player or coach, can send shivers of fear down a coach's spine!

2.  Superstitions are a funny part of sports and coaches have their own.  I remember one season, my college coach would suck/chew on throat lozenges during every match, no matter what.  As an assistant, I had one head coach who had a dress banned by the team because we never won when she wore that certain dress.  Mine is lucky hotels - If we play well (even if we don't win), then I will keep the same hotel for conference play.  If we play poorly, then we gotta find a new place to crash!  One year it was bus drivers; we had a lucky bus driver who we requested every time we could because we tended to win when he was behind the wheel!

3.  Here is a sobering (and depressing thought) - The typical Division I Head Football coach salary will be more than total expenditures on a the Volleyball team (salaries, annual budget, scholarships, etc).  

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  The recent craziness of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Series (any question as to the dominance of Football over the NCAA is clearly shown that NCAA athletic programs are categorized as FBS or FCS) illustrates an organization which has lost its balance and strayed massively from its intent.  Football only conference memberships, suggested participation in conferences which are coast to coast apart and now Senatorial intervention.  As written recently in a USA Today article, it is the Theater of the Absurd.

2.  Injuries are the silent killer of good seasons.  Losing one key player is the difference between a historic season and a 'next year will be better' mentality for a majority of programs.  A few programs have the depth to absorb such bad luck, but for others, it is just a crushing blow.  Like Football teams not having contact in practice to avoid injuries, aware Volleyball coaches are focused on creating training environments which allow for skill developments while drastically reducing the odds of competition injuries.

3.  College Volleyball programs must be aware of how their court looks on television.  For example, I watched a Cal Berkeley match and I could barely discern the court lines because they were white and the wood floor had a very light and bright surface.  If anyone is a Cal Bears supporter, please shoot them a note requesting blue lines because it is tough to watch a match and not know if a ball is in our out.  Small things in our sport make a world of difference and the small things can be controlled.

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  Does the Athletic Director attend Volleyball matches?  This is a key question to ask and to get answered by your eyes when you are a VolleyFamily on a campus visit.  NCAA DI Volleyball is a Head Count sport, which elevates it in status, and the confirmation or denial of this status is evident in the attendance of the Athletic Director.  An AD who does not show up or only for 10 minutes every 10 matches, is not someone who is interested in the sport of Volleyball.

2.  The trend of rude, abrasive and verbally confrontational fans at College Volleyball matches is disturbing.  I can't determine when and why this has come to occur in our sport, but it is certainly disheartening.  Having idiot fans verbally abuse athletes with loud comments about their looks, their physical build and ironically last of all, their play, and then to have the referees and match administrator accept this behavior is such a negative for our sport.  With a group of ten over-sized frat boys screaming abusive remarks towards a 19 year old female in spandex a mere 10 feet away, is unsportsmanlike like behavior and must be shut down by Administrators.  Football and Basketball players are a bit more protected by distance from the fans (football) or support staff floating on the sidelines (basketball), but not Volleyball.


3.  I suggest that Penn State Volleyball has been the most important Women's Volleyball growth vehicle in the last 10 years; not the AVCA, not the NCAA and not USA Volleyball.  Penn State showed that NCAA Women's Volleyball dominance was not a west coast annual event, nor a once in a while occurrence for non west coast teams (Nebraska, Texas).  A whole generation of youth Volleyball players from the Mississippi river east got to see a program they could more easily identify with be nationally successful.

Pass-Set-Spike

1.  The Athletic Department providing a Volleyball program envious support has no conference definition.  Sure, the power conferences enjoy large resources, bigger coaching staffs and marketing/promotions departments with more than one person, but I have seen many power programs which just receive hot air, while many mid major schools have created wonderful playing environments for their teams.  Most Volleyball teams are not used to playing in front of a larger crowd, so when a team is a visitor and walks into a loud and proud arena, it translates into points for the home team.  To create this significant (and all to often unique) home court advantage takes pennies on the dollar for what athletic departments spend on football and men's basketball.


2.  Rally Score Volleyball is much like Tennis.  In tennis, the announcers always put up the statistic of Unforced Errors when analyzing a match, with the player making the least amount of unforced errors being in the lead.  In tennis, the unforced errors are double faults (missed serves) and volleys into the net (hitting errors).  With a point awarded on each completed Volleyball rally, the team which makes the least number of unforced errors will win the match.  Today's game is not so much about positive or great plays (even though these are remembered and cheered by the fans), it is about reducing the unforced errors which lead to victory.


3.  Heard from our Track coach just outside my office, as he was addressing some members of his Cross Country team which were late to practice and had missed a weight lifting session, "This makes me think that you either don't care or you are dumb.  If you don't care, then I will cut you and get some guys in here that do care.  If you are dumb, well, I can work with dumb".  Gotta love that ending line; I can work with dumb!

Pass - Set - Spike

1.  NCAA Volleyball Officiating has been frustrating this season.  Lifts and throws on attacks are seldom, if ever, being called. I am talking about flagrant changes of direction and the ball literally coming to rest in the attackers hand and then being thrown.  The strange thing is that double hits on setting attempts are being called tighter this year than last. I don't know if the Officials have forgotten about the "athletic movement" when attempting a set.  Or, as in year's past, they received a 'directive or point of emphasis' from the national office which tells them to allow more throws and tighten up setting; trust me, this stuff happens without college coaches or players being informed.

2.  Saw Nebraska against Iowa State on the Big Ten Network the other day - Nice to see Volleyball on television.  I know I am critical, but it sure seems like Volleyball is on television less and less.  Maybe I just don't have the correct cable package or get the wrong channels, but I thought I was watching televised Volleyball a bunch more in year's past.  Oh, and by the way, web telecasts don't count, especially when they are just via the school's website.

3.  The economy is still rough, according the the media and stock markets, but when it comes to travel, the airlines, airports and hotels sure seem crowded.  If I was smart, I would invest into these industries because of my inside knowledge, but being 'experienced' enough in watching the craziness of the stock market, I think I will tuck my extra quarters under my pillow.