What We Can Learn from Volleyball

During Monday night's NCAA men's championship basketball game, the cameras kept showing parents (of players) in the stands. Why? Several players' parents were accomplished athletes to some degree. One father was a gold medal triple jumper. Another was a professional tennis player. Others played professional basketball. Every time the camera zoomed in on one of the famous dads, you could see the anxiety any parent feels as they watch their child compete.

I had a similar experience last weekend as I watched my daughter's volleyball team win the Palmetto Regional Championship and a berth in the national tournament. To win a volleyball match, you must win two of three games. Each game is played to twenty five points. If each team wins one game, a third game is played to fifteen.

Her team lost the first game, won the second, and won the third (16-14; you must win by two points). The drama was beyond incredible.

As we start to appreciate the accomplishment, I realize how inspiring these thirteen year olds are to us adults.

Here we have a championship team. They did not win by accident. There are clear reasons why they will be going to Minneapolis in June and not any of the other forty something teams. Here are my observations: (Do these ring familiar?)

1. Talent: Every player on the team has a modicum of talent. No one player has significantly more talent than another. Other teams had better individual players but not as much overall talent.
2. Discipline: In the last match, the team had every reason to wilt under pressure. Their opponent had more fans who were extremely vocal. When they won the first game, they could taste the championship. But our girls never changed expression. We decisively won the second game and entered the third game will a calm assurance that everything would work out. The other team clearly tensed during the third game and made errors as the pressure started to mount. The discipline of our girls kept them in the right positions and stood as a barrier between the fragile teenage mind and the pressure. They just executed.
3. Trust: On the ride home from the match, I asked my daughter why they were such a great team. Without hesitation, she stated that they trust each other. I asked her to explain and she replied that all know that the other persons will do their job. They never doubt one another.
4. Coaching: The coach of the team is passionate about the sport. She has the girls in the best physical shape, the toughest mental shape, and is relentless in a drive to make them better. She puts goals in front of them and lets the goals dictate how they practice, how they behave off the court, etc. I could go on and on about the things she does to motivate and improve but here is one example: During a match, she and her assistant chart the performance of each girl according to multiple indicators. Some are offensive related and others pertain to defense. Each girl receives a report the Wednesday after each tournament. The report is part data, part opinion, and a mixture of criticism and encouragement. The girls look forward to the report to see how they improved (or did not improve) over the previous week.
5. Hard work: Every girl wants to be better. It is the culture of the team. So, there is a lot of positive peer pressure gluing the potentially big egos together. They push one another to be the best. At the start of the season, a few girls were getting extra help. Soon, they all were going to extra workout sessions.
6. Leadership: In the final game, two of the girls made play after play to keep us in the game. They were putting the team on their backs and carrying them to victory. This is leadership. When the chips are down, someone needs to rally the group, keep them focused, and move forward.
7. Confidence: I asked my daughter if she knew the final opponent and she replied "No". Several of the girls did not know who the other team was and to them, this was not relevant. They exude confidence. They know they are a good team and feel certain that if they play together, anyone will be hard pressed to beat them.