Celebrity coaches!

Dining Hall for resident athletes

 I had the great opportunity to be in Colorado Springs, at the US Olympic Training center for a High Performance coaching clinic this past month.  Spending a long weekend listening to Hugh McCutcheon (current US Women's National team coach), and his staff--Karch Kiraly, Paula Weishoff and other "celebrities" like John Dunning (current Stanford Women's coach), Shelton Collier (Wingate University, US Youth National team coach), and Anne Kordes (new head women's coach at University of Louisville) was just plain exciting!  I always feel wide-eyed and a little silly as I roam around recognizing coaches, and former Olympians.  Not bad company to keep.

My favorite two sessions were watching John Dunning work with one of his former athletes, Cassidy Lichtman, an amazingly talented, technical setter who just graduated from Stanford, and is among those trying for a spot on the US National team. 

The panel discussion with the athletes was also enlightening as they talked about leadership models on their various teams, and what coaches did well and what they valued the most in their experiences as collegiate student-athletes.  Almost to the player they talked about relationships and trust built between coach/player as well as teammate/teammate, being their strongest positive memories.  It was clear to me that all the time we spend as coaches is well worth it---because in the end this is what we seek to build; relationships that will far outlast a four year career. 

Panel of Olympic hopefuls and collegiate All-Americans

Exhibition men's collegiate match

A weekend is a short-time to take it all in, and I walk away with so many exciting new ideas for our program!  I can hardly wait until our non-traditional season starts after Spring break. The one thing I do know is when we get in the gym after Spring break we'll be using a speed gun for measuring the velocity of our serves! Right now we're in the weight room three days a week, doing some good work towards building a base of power and strength.  I'm putting a lot of thought into leadership, relationships, investing in the goals we've set as a program, and how I might best provide the framework for this team to realize it's amazing potential.  Watch out!!