A monumental day for NCAA Volleyball and volleyball in the USA. The first ever NCAA Women’s Sand Championship was held today in Gulf Shores, AL, yes Alabama. ”The Hawaii people and the California people were like, `Are you kidding? We’re going to Alabama to play beach volleyball?”’ said Kathy DeBoer, the Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, which is running the event. “But this is an absolute hidden gem.’ I guess it took the USA Volleyball Teams, four Olympic Gold Medals, for the US to wake-up and recognize the great sport of volleyball. It’s only one of the most popular events of the Olympic Summer Games and across the world. As a great French player, Winthrop Volunteer Assistant Coach and friend of mine, Francois “Frenchy” Hertwig, posted on my Facebook status, “It’s about time.” Pepperdine won the first ever NCAA Team Championship Trophy as well as the Doubles Trophy. Continue Reading

Today, I listened to an audio recording of USA Volleyball’s Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon’s Q & A presentation at last December’s AVCA Convention in Kansas City.  A question raised to Hugh was, “How does the world perceive the success of USA Volleyball when it does not have a professional league?”.  Hugh’s response was based on the United States’ culture of “fighting until the end”, competitive advantages, and coaching methodologies.  Of which I agree, but these are small pieces of a larger puzzle.  An Open Source puzzle. Continue Reading

At the last AVCA Convention, I listened to Hall of Fame Coach Terry Pettit’s seminar on Program Building: The Part They Didn’t Tell You About. Terry’s message in the seminar was about telling a story.  I also read an article written by Kathy DeBoer AVCA Executive Director on USA Men’s Olympic Team Gold Medal Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon in the AVCA Coaching Volleyball Magazine, June – July 2009 issue, Building a Sustainable Model of Success (click here to read the article).  Hugh’s message, “Coaches are sales people first, then change agents.  We define principles as absolute truths, and work from there to as oppose to coerce thoughtful dialogue is the key”. Continue Reading

IN HER OWN WORDS

By: Kathleen J. DeBoer

“You must drive men, but you can lead women.” This statement by Anson Dorrance, coach of the national champion North Carolina women’s soccer team, became an example of male thinking at a seminar for women’s volleyball coaches in Richmond VA. Continue Reading

Many women lead boys volleyball teams, but for how much longer? Continue Reading