She Doesn't Look like a Volleyball Player (revisited)

Originally, "She Doesn't Look like a Volleyball Player" was the first volleyball-related article I wrote which was published in a large forum.  It was based off a blog post (on my other blog which somehow I no longer can figure out my access to...sigh) and revised so that it came out here:

AVCA Article

 

It then became a chapter in my book on volleyball as well.

 

I've added some notes down below that bring it up to date since it was actually written more than three years ago.  The new comments are in italics.  Thoughts are welcome.

I'm going to scream, I think. This spring, I heard the phrase "She doesn't look like a volleyball player," a total of five times in describing players, and in one case, it was followed by me clenching my jaw when the coach followed up with, "Wow, she can actually play!"

 

This hasn't changed.  I still hear the comment regularly, and there have been a few times when I've used the line to keep a 4-yr coach's attention, making sure to remind the coach--watch how she plays, what she does.  If I can't kill the phrase off, I might as well try and use it to the athletes' advantage.

Doesn't look like a player...that's great, but if I look through the rules (yeah, like a coach would ever read the rule book…), I don't think I'll find anything that gives my team bonus points or victories for 'looking' like volleyball players. Crikeys--what exactly does a volleyball player look like? Is it the 6-4 stringbean? The 6-1 stocky kid? How about the 5-8 girl who's built 'big', or the 5-4 girl who is a three-sport star? Which is it?

Some of the best volleyball players I have coached don't 'look' like volleyball players. Heck, some of the best results I've had as a coach have come from thinking outside the box--and really, that's the most important thing of my rant...don't stereotype! Not in sports, not in life. Back in '98, the 8th grade coach at Satan's School for Boys and Girls only played one kid at setter: "Jim, she'll be a star. She'll start for you. She's great." Maybe, maybe not. Of course, the girl’s decision to play tennis rather than play volleyball in high school made that moot. Her decision meant there was no JV setter. None of the kids "looked" like a setter either (I was young, forgive me).

 

So...the article doesn't mention Satan's School, but that was how I originally wrote it.  I've put it back in.  I'm frustrated still by that coach, as well as the coaches who followed me.  They started playing only the front six or seven kids and were shocked when the numbers of girls participating dropped.  In my last year at Satan's School, I had 32 girls out for high school volleyball and 29 for junior high.  Last fall, they had 11 in the high school program and I THINK have 17 for junior high. 

And that's a big frustration going beyond this article.  Coaches complain about declining participation, especially at younger ages--but then those same coaches don't ever let those kids actually play.  Why would a rational 14-yr old go out for an activity, put in 10-15 hours per week, and get no reward for it--other than watching the same 6-7 kids play all the time?  Answer-->they don't go out.  Duh.

 

Out of nowhere, a kid who'd been on the bench as a backup outside hitter in 8th grade volunteered to set and asked me not to laugh because she hadn’t ever done it before. She didn't look like much, but the kid had the guts to volunteer. Ok, fine--the job was hers. By the end of the season, she was dressing varsity.  She started three years on the varsity, went 24-6, 34-3, 30-6, she wound up in the state record books, and earned a scholarship to play in college. Not bad for a kid who didn't "look" like she could play! Funny thing is, by her sophomore year, she sure looked able to play.

 

Since I wrote this, that setter invited me to talk with her fifth grade classes about education, working hard, and how sports help when you are an adult.  The funny thing is--Katie's the best example of that I know.  She got into teaching so she could make a difference--I'd like to think that my "decision" to have her set and give her a chance helped with that (even though I know its more because her mom is a teacher as well...)

Here at Lincoln Land, my first year I inherited a player who was a DS for the previous coach...'too small' to play outside hitter. When I was hired, I asked what position she played and she "I'm a DS, I don't get to play front row". I'd learned my lesson by then (I wasn't an old dog yet)--I told her if she was one of the two most effective outside hitters, she'd play OH.

 

Her response, "I'm too short."

Mine: "I'll be the judge of that."

 

To her credit, she busted her butt and was absolutely BY FAR the best outside hitter her sophomore year. 5-4 and she wound up all-conference and all-region.  Height does not equal ability!

It happens in evaluating coaches, too. My current assistant played for me in 06 and 07...the first person I signed. No experience, not 'mature' (read: "She's too young"...bah...), she's still in grad school...all sorts of justifications for why I shouldn’t hire her and take someone else instead. I looked past those. She’s responsible, she plans out her homework, and from her days as a player, she listened, constantly searched for ways to improve...LOOK PAST THE OBVIOUS...

So here she is now, one year in, handling recruiting (and we have good recruits coming in), coaching a 16s travel club team, managing our non-traveling league of 12 teams--120 kids! She supervises their tournaments, practices, concessions...and oh yeah, she still has found time to revise and improve our strength and conditioning program.

 

Kelly's no longer my assistant.  She got a full-time government job and is in the process of getting married now.  But those recruits--Kelly's last year was the only time so far LLCC has gone to Nationals, so it worked out well.  She's been succeeded by Laura, who is also an alumni of the program.  Laura's doing the same work, though she isn't coaching a club team.  Kelly always insisted she wasn't working too hard/burning out, and then it happened POOF.  I've talked about all that with Laura to help avoid the same thing happening.  Laura had it worse actually--no experience in 2013 and then I got benched for a month because of a heart situation, so 28 days into her coaching career and she had to take over the program completely for a month....they went undefeated during that month, not bad.

And those are the examples that fly off the top of my head.

Others? We had an outside hitter named Anna Becker who became a top-flight libero by looking deeper into her ability and personality (same thing with our current libero,Emily Orrick--great hitter, better passer). Does a player’s reputation blind us as coaches to changes which may be better for both the athlete and the team? How do we avoid that dreaded evaluation: She doesn’t look like a hitter / blocker / setter / passer / volleyball player?

 

Orrick left LLCC as the program's first two-time NJCAA all-American.  She wound up at Illinois State where she was all-Missouri Valley twice, MVC Libero of the Year twice, and all-American as a senior.  Not bad for a two-year college kid, huh?  And to think--no one offered her a scholarship coming out of high school, other than community colleges.  That ought to be enough of a lesson right there--first, there's some high-level volleyball going on at the two-year college level; second, this 'doesn't look like a player' stuff matters...a completely overlooked kid went on to be all-American three times in her career!

What about off the court? What about real life? Who have you stereotyped lately? Have you looked past someone's skin to find a deeper answer? I'm not innocent of this, not by a mile. I'm chucking stones at my own glass house. But I'm trying...every day, I'm trying...