My wife and I try to give back when and where we can although we can always do better. One of the ways we do this is by coaching AAU volleyball in Clarion. Tricia and I have coached AAU volleyball teams for many years. It started when our oldest was in fourth grade (almost 15 years ago). We continued this until our youngest was a junior in high school. We then took a couple years off. However, last year we were asked if we would be open to coming back as teams were in need of coaches. We, of course, said yes and coached one of the high school teams and had a great year until the pandemic shut us down.
This year we are coaching the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 7th grade team. I can only imagine what was going through the minds of these young ladies as they were thrown into “our” world of volleyball. It is always interesting to see how the girls on the team will react to our coaching style. Admittedly, Tricia and I tend to expect a lot from our team and we let the girls know our expectations up front.
One of the first things I said to the girls on the first day of practice was, “It is okay to win.” I said this because the girls seemed to be a little tentative. I quickly followed it up by saying, “However, the goal is to improve each day. If we lose, we will lose graciously, but when we win we will be good sports about it.” I think the girls took this to heart. They became more upbeat, and each day it is so awesome to see the girls work hard to learn more and get better with each practice. We still have some work to do to get where we need to be but with the attitudes these girls have, I am sure we will get there.
It is funny how this sports team reminds me a lot of our team at ISH. Yes, it takes some time to get use to someone’s coaching style and everyone should know what is expected of them. Each day we come to work to do our job to the best of our ability, getting better each day, and in the end know that it is okay to be the best healthcare system around.
Until next time……
