I am in my 6th year of coaching volleyball. The first few years I coached were on my own, unassisted. Then a Varsity player asked if she could help me with my team because she needed community service hours. I’ve had Varsity players help ever since. I’m now even at the point where I have to turn girls away because too many want to participate! Thru the years, I’ve realized everyone benefits - me, the team and the Varsity athletes.
Having Varsity players around helps me accomplish more in practice. I can do 2 drills at once, because the Varsity girls run one, while I run another. They also see and hear things I don’t. As a coach, it’s also just simply a blessing to have my former players come back and want to invest in the younger girls and spend time with me. It definitely makes me proud to see how far they’ve come since their Junior High days.
My team benefits because they see what they can become in the Varsity players. It gives them something to work towards and look forward to. They have a positive role model, receive more individual attention and have someone to cheer for when we attend a Varsity game.
The Varsity athletes benefit because it provides a community service opportunity, as well as gives them an opportunity to use their skills beyond their own practices and games. Their involvement provides an opportunity for them to grow as they help encourage, coach, mentor, lead and set an example.
The bonus for everyone is the connecting it provides for the Volleyball program.
Of course I have to provide direction and perimeters for the Varsity athletes. At times I have to correct and reprimand them if they are being a distraction, setting a poor example or are on their cell phones. I also just plain and simply have to put up with them and whatever they are going thru that day. So you could say it’s not always convenient or that it can create even more work for me even tho they are there to help. But isn’t this what we are supposed to do? Train up the next generation? Give them a place to use their gifts and skills? Let them learn with practical experience? Give them a safe place to fail? Give them opportunity to grow and surpass us?
Nothing brings me more joy than having my former players come back to help. Nothing makes me happier than when a Varsity athlete suggests and leads a drill. Nothing brings a smile to my face more than when I see a Varsity girl working 1-on-1 with a modified team member, giving them helpful tips. Nothing delights my heart more than sitting with my team at the Varsity game as they cheer wildly for their handful of Varsity friends playing on the court. Nothing is cooler than the smile that lights up the Varsity faces as they hear the support of the girls they have invested in.
It would have been so easy for me to be too prideful to let a high school student assist me with my Junior High, modified volleyball team. I could have easily said I didn’t need the help. And maybe I didn’t, but I’m sure glad I accepted the help nonetheless because EVERYONE wins.
Who are you making room for???