Volleyball’s Wizard of Westwood will be calling it quits
Al Scates is in his 50th year of coaching UCLA, with 19 NCAA titles and more than two dozen Olympians as his legacy.
By Helene Elliott, LA Times
January 19, 2012, 5:00 p.m.
Photographs cover almost every inch of wall space in Al Scates’ office, a gallery of faces forever young. Books, plaques and keepsakes from his travels cover his desk and crowd the ledge beneath a window framing the view he has enjoyed for 50 years.
Volleyball Magazine just came out with the Top 35 U.S. Players of All Time. I appreciate the list to bring these great players to light and recognition to the history of our game. I’m not sure if I agree with the order (especially Gene Selznick), but that’s half the fun of a list. How many of these great players do you know and recognize? I believe it is extremely important for the continued growth of our sport in the United States to know (and want to play like) these players. Continue Reading
Russ Rose was in Montreux, Switzerland to watch the USA Women’s Team. It must have been interesting for him to be a spectator to his former Penn State players.
Team USA took fourth place, losing to China in the bronze medal match. Karch Kiraly was acting head coach of the squad as Hugh McCutcheon must have been recruiting for his Minnesota team (I’m just kidding, Hugh deserves a break too). But the team, overall, is coming together as players continue to fight for their roles as they learn to play as a team. I’m sure Hugh will have them ready for the 2012 Olympics in London. Continue Reading
Coaching volleyball encompasses so much more than strictly coaching volleyball In fact, there are times I enjoy the overall process more than simple court time. The process includes many of the categories listed within my blog, such as mental, nutrition, statistics, and others that are not included: marketing, logistics, player/parent “counseling”, etc. I believe a piece of this website puzzle that I have omitted until this point is exercise. Exercise is comprised of many parts, weight training, conditioning, core training, plyometrics, etc… all to be combined with proper nutrition. Continue Reading
Remember the days when fluorescent was in (although it seems to be coming back around again)? Karch Kiraly’s trademark attire was a pink Speedo hat. Continue Reading
“To be true to one’s self is the ultimate test in life. To have the courage and sensitivity to follow your hidden dreams and stand tall against the odds that are bound to fall in your path. Life is too short and precious to be dealt with in any other fashion. This thought I hold dear to my heart, and I always try to be true to myself and others that I encounter along the way.” ~ Flo Hyman
In an individualized world, where ME seems to count most, blame is a topic that is often used, but rarely broached. Rarely do we take blame on ourselves, but rarely do we admit that we push blame on to others. Continue Reading
This past week in Kansas City at the AVCA Convention and Final Four was thoroughly enjoyable. It was 24 hours of volleyball. Blissful.
Even though volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world, we, in the United States, are fortunate it has not blown-up yet (it will). It provides us the accessibility for legends Continue Reading
For the past few days I was fortunate to travel to Tampa, FL for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Annual Convention. In addition, I watched the NCAA Final Four Championships and one of the best volleyball matches ever played between # 1 Penn State and #2 Texas. I hope you also had the opportunity to watch this amazing match and could imagine yourself on the court. Continue Reading
This is it…the Most Wonderful Time of the Volleyball Year. The NCAA VolleyMadness is in full swing, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight are this weekend. Certain matches of the Sweet Sixteen will be viewable online and the Elite Eight matches will be shown on ESPNU (NCAA Volleyball Championship Schedule). The following week is when volleyball mayhem Continue Reading
Marv Dunphy wrote a great article in the January 2009 Coaching Volleyball Magazine on how the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team won the Gold Medal. Much overall praise goes Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon’s vision and system.
Following are coaching points of interest by Marv Dunphy: Continue Reading
There is nothing natural about passing a volleyball. In fact, the sport of volleyball is very ‘un-natural’. We do not grow up bouncing a ball off our forearms or cocking our wrists in unison to set a ball. The closest childhood similarity is batting a balloon in the air. We grow up throwing, kicking, and shooting balls. Ever watch a group of football players get on a volleyball court and try to play? These talented athletes often look quite uncoordinated playing volleyball. Volleyball is an extremely technical game, it is the mastery of these un-natural technical movements that makes our sport so unique, so great.
Learning to pass a volleyball takes time. Through experience we learn the flight, the trajectory of a volleyball. Serve receive in particular is an art. It takes thousands upon thousands of repetitions to understand Continue Reading
So I offered a little insight into what Mike Hebert is like in an earlier post, so why not continue on with Karch Kiraly? “Working” at the U of MN offered incredible accessibility to the greats of the game. Continue Reading
By Helene Elliott, LA Times
In fact, there are times I enjoy the overall process more than simple court time. The process includes many of the categories listed within my blog, such as mental, nutrition, statistics, and others that are not included: marketing, logistics, player/parent “counseling”, etc. I believe a piece of this website puzzle that I have omitted until this point is exercise. Exercise is comprised of many parts, weight training, conditioning, core training, plyometrics, etc… all to be combined with proper nutrition. 
