Bitten by the Injury Bug

Former Patriots Coach Bill Belichick says that an athlete's career depends on ability and durability. 

Coach Scott Celli has noted that a team's ultimate destiny depends on skill, luck, and health. Some players and their teams were bitten by the injury bug, limiting their ceilings. Apologies to those omitted.

1) Laura Irwin  Laura was one of the most powerful outside hitters in MVB history. She had a major role in the upset of Barnstable and played with All-Time MVBers Hannah Brickley and Colleen Hanscom. Laura sustained serious ankle injuries during two postseasons which makes long time fans wonder what could have been. 

2) Caroline Higonenq   Carol missed her entire junior season with a knee injury and rebounded to be one of the top players on MVB 24. Her late season fluke injury against Stoneham was costly as she was out for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. 

3) Sofia Papatsoris   Sofia teamed with Sabine Wenzel during MVB 24 as one of the top area middle hitter duos. She had 23 kills in the postseason match against Longmeadow and was instrumental in the signature win at Duxbury. Her "trivia answer" was that she racked up 123 kills during each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. It would have been more but she also suffered serious ankle injuries during both of her varsity seasons. 

4) Karen Sen   Karen enjoyed a distinguished career as a middle hitter from 2002-2005, earning All-Scholastic honors twice and All-State recognition as a senior. She missed about half of her MVB 05 season with a significant back injury. 

Here's a consult from ChatGPT about volleyball injuries:

Volleyball players—especially those at competitive levels—are prone to specific injuries due to the sport’s repetitive jumping, quick directional changes, diving, and overhead arm movements. Here are the most common types of injuries among volleyball players, grouped by body region:

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🦶 Lower Extremity Injuries

These are the most frequent due to the jumping, landing, and lateral movement involved.

1. Ankle Sprains

   • Most common acute injury, often from landing on another player’s foot at the net.

   • Lateral (inversion) sprains are more frequent than medial ones.

2. Patellar Tendinopathy ("Jumper’s Knee")

   • Chronic overuse injury due to repetitive jumping.

   • Pain localized just below the kneecap, worsens with jumping, squatting, or stairs.

3. ACL Injuries

   • Less frequent but serious.

   • Often non-contact, occurring during sudden stops or changes of direction.

4. Shin Splints & Stress Fractures

   • Related to repetitive impact and overtraining.

   • Seen more often in younger athletes or those playing on hard surfaces.

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💪 Upper Extremity Injuries

These stem mainly from repeated overhead hitting and serving.

1. Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy or Tears

   • Caused by repetitive shoulder use (e.g., hitting and serving).

   • Leads to shoulder pain and decreased power.

2. Shoulder Impingement Syndrome

   • Due to inflammation and compression in the shoulder joint space.

   • Can progress to rotator cuff issues if untreated.

3. Finger Injuries (Jams, Dislocations, Fractures)

   • Common from blocking or digging hard-driven balls.

   • Require early management to prevent stiffness or deformity.

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🧠 Head and Spine Injuries

Less frequent but serious.

1. Concussions

   • Can occur from diving headfirst, collisions, or being struck by the ball.

   • May be underdiagnosed due to subtle symptoms.

2. Low Back Pain and Stress Injuries

   • From hyperextension during jump serves and attacks.

   • Includes stress reactions or spondylolysis (especially in youth athletes).

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🔁 Overuse Syndromes

These develop gradually and often go unreported early.

• Overtraining Syndrome

  • Physical and mental fatigue, increased injury risk.

  • Can lead to chronic injuries and performance decline.

• Tendinitis (especially Achilles and Shoulder)

  • From repeated loading and poor recovery mechanics.

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Prevention Strategies

• Strength and stability training (especially core and lower body)

• Proper landing technique

• Dynamic warmups and cool-downs

• Load management and rest

• Finger taping or bracing for at-risk athletes

What Is Your Vision of Excellence? *

*Adapted from my basketball blog

What motivates players? It varies by individual - minutes, role, recognition, starting position, winning, competition, excellence. Do we ask players what motivates them? 

Words change lives. After a loss to the twice-defending D1 State Champions, Coach Lane said, "you lost because you didn't believe in yourselves. The better team lost. We will not lose to them again." The beatdown raised us up. We won two rematches, including the sectionals.

What Coach Summitt did for me & what I hope to do for my players 💙 pic.twitter.com/VUrHNE1b37

— Kara Lawson (@karalawson20) January 8, 2022

What have you specifically told players that made a difference? 

"You're the best player I ever coached." 

"How you play is how you live your life." 

"I believe in you." 

"It's not enough to put in the time. Put in the work." 

What is your vision of excellence? 

• Bill Walsh emphasized Standard of Performance across an organization
• Kobe Bryant's Mamba Mentality informed relentless work
• Abraham Lincoln and Gandhi both stand as agents of change
• Dean Smith won championships and integrated college basketball
• Anson Dorrance crafted a competitive cauldron leading to continual ascension making UNC Women's Soccer synonymous with excellence

Use mental models to help define excellence. Inversion of excellence would include surrounding ourselves with sycophants and "yes men." Catalysts spark change. An organization that is closed and inflexible dooms itself to stagnation at a current level. Feedback loops reinforce or correct performance after careful assessment. "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

Summary: 

• Be transformative not transactional. 
• Understand the power of words. 
• Establish a vision and culture of excellence

Lagniappe. If I worked that hard, what would my career look like? Kobe thread (click through).

Kobe Bryant was asked:
“What's your personal philosophy on success?”

His answer?

One simple rule - shaped by his favorite childhood movie.

It became the foundation of the Mamba Mentality:🧵 pic.twitter.com/zneSCxQeia

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) April 22, 2025

 

Cognitive Bias - Too Much and Too Little

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. 

The season flies by and the offseason "creeps in its petty pace." As a writer or a student, remember to "add value" and "don't be boring." 

MVB student-athletes benefit by growing minds and bodies. That includes acquiring more thinking tools, understanding cognitive biases and mental models.  

12 Cognitive Biases that are holding you back pic.twitter.com/QObP9AtsPj

— Book Therapy (@Book_therapy223) June 26, 2025

Select a few for application.

1) Status quo bias. Restate as "great is the enemy of good." Good, related to platform skills such as serve receive can be better.

2) Confirmation bias. Most people choose to read and study information that supports their existing beliefs. For example, compare jump serving to conventional serving. USWNT Coach Karch Kiraly, a triple Olympic gold winner (Men's indoor and outdoor, Women's indoor coach) teaches conventional service. 

3) Groupthink. Some choose to adopt the popular wisdom as opposed to alternatives. "Utilize strengths, attack weaknesses," said Sun Tzu. Fundamentals, ball control, and consistency beat flash. Will more points mostly arise from the outside or the middle in 2025?

4) Framing effect. How we present a solution impacts its public support. During the Vietnam War era, Henry Kissinger presented three alternatives to President Nixon - withdrawal, nuclear attack, or status quo (muddle along). That omitted other alternatives. Nixon considered only one failing stratagy. In sport there are "good losses" and "bad wins." Selling a weak schedule with "bad wins" as progress is fool's gold. 

5) Self-serving bias. Never underestimate the power of choices made to advance one's agenda. Always be alert for choices made to serve ourselves. Sherlock Holmes' arrogance is tempered with humility. "I could be wrong...it has happened." 

Lagniappe. Know your options from attacking from off the net. Coach Jiri emphasizes diagonals, lines, or attacking the setter. Worth watching and repeating. 

The Power of Now

NEXT SEASON'S CHAMPIONS ARE...
What are YOU doing NOW? #CultureWins pic.twitter.com/jkjuqtLWMa

— Jeff Janssen (@janssenleader) June 26, 2025

Kevin Durant wakes and asks himself, "how do I get better today?"  

Build Listening Skills

QOTD: pic.twitter.com/BG1y3vIaH9

— Allistair McCaw (@AllistairMcCaw) June 26, 2025

Listening better helps you in every domain - home, school, and sports. Failure to focus and listen during key moments separates success and failure. 

Advice:

• Prioritize listening with summaries. What was the message? "Don't just watch the ball; get to your spot." 
• Listen actively and ask clarifying questions.
• Use eye contact.
• Minimize distractions.
• Check your listening practices (am I all in?)

MVB churns out elite student-athletes. Own high performance in school and should model excellence for all teammates. “How you do anything is how you do everything.”

Proven suggestions from DeepSeek:

1) Active listening

2) Mindfulness 

3) Team-based listening

Here are three evidence-based approaches that athletes can use to develop better listening skills:

**Active listening during coaching sessions.** Research shows that athletes who practice focused attention techniques—like maintaining eye contact, asking clarifying questions, and paraphrasing instructions back to coaches—retain significantly more tactical information. This involves putting away distractions, mentally summarizing key points as they're being explained, and confirming understanding before moving on. Studies in sport psychology demonstrate that athletes who engage in this type of deliberate listening show measurable improvements in skill acquisition and tactical execution.

**Mindfulness and present-moment awareness training.** Meditation practices specifically designed for athletes, such as body scan exercises and breath-focused attention training, directly improve auditory processing and reduce mental chatter that interferes with listening. Elite athletes often use these techniques to stay present during high-pressure situations where they need to hear and process quick instructions from teammates or coaches. Research indicates that just 10-15 minutes of daily mindfulness practice can enhance sustained attention and reduce the tendency for minds to wander during important communications.

**Communication role-playing exercises with teammates.** Structured practice sessions where athletes take turns being speakers and listeners, focusing on sports-specific scenarios, build both listening skills and team cohesion. This might involve one player explaining a complex play while others practice active listening techniques, or simulating high-stress game situations where clear communication is critical. Team-based listening exercises have been shown to improve not just individual listening ability but also overall team communication effectiveness and trust.

These approaches work because they address the cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of effective listening in athletic contexts.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Lagniappe. The coach points out that with excellent platform skills, you can compete without great hitting. Without platform skills, you're toast. 

Easy and Hard, "Show Your Work"

"Austin had a professor in college who returned her class’s graded essays, walked up to the chalkboard, and wrote in huge letters: “SO WHAT?” She threw the piece of chalk down and said, “Ask yourself that every time you turn in a piece of writing.”" - from Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

Make every time you step in class, on the court, in the weight room special. Coach John Wooden's father taught him, "Make every day your masterpiece." 

Whether it's class, practice, or a game, have an "accomplishment game plan." There's a saying on Wall Street, "Plan your trade. Trade your plan." 

Ask yourself three questions. 

• How can I improve today? 
• What do I need to remove from my game? 
• What isn't in my game that needs to be?

Dot b. Stop and take a breath...and get better. 

Make your game everything it can be.

Lagniappe. Father's Day lessons that can benefit us all. 7. Parenting will give you a crash course and a lifelong lesson in patience.

11 Father's Day Lessons

I often say that everything I learned about leadership came, not from books, but from being a dad. With a 26 year old daughter and 25 year old son I can tell you that parenting is leadership.

I also learned many lessons from my Dad who raised me from… pic.twitter.com/oyS77AOfgS

— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) June 17, 2025

Lagniappe 2. MVB doesn't 'strictly speaking' toil in anonymity. 

And MVB is not just local. Recent hits by country:

 

The Mind of a Winner

"We wake up every morning and decide who we want to be."

What do you want?

How badly do you want it?

How much are you willing to suffer? 

Refuse to be a victim. 

 

Process Better - Habits Define Us

QOTD: pic.twitter.com/8veP5lkREV

— Allistair McCaw (@AllistairMcCaw) June 25, 2025

Place process before results.  

If we want to be healthier, eat healthy foods. 

If we want to be an accomplished student, study more.

If we want to be in peak condition, put in the work not just the time.

Lagniappe. If you want to jump better, then work at it. Some of the exercises require no special equipment. 

5 Plyometric Drills

11 Year Olds ➡️
High School Athletes ➡️
Professional Athletes pic.twitter.com/hnn9ni0FuQ

— Joey Bergles (@JoeyBergles) June 25, 2025

The Most Important Thing

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own.

What’s the most important thing you learned from playing sports? Take a minute. Write some ideas down and your thoughts.

Relationships. “The game is about relationships.” You will remember and stay connected to some teammates for your whole life. 

Sacrifice. Sacrifice works miracles with shared vision, shared work, and shared rewards.

Teamwork. “I can go faster alone but we can go farther together.” - African proverb  There's something special about being on a team and leading a team.

Learning. “Learn every day; love your losses.”

Commitment. All exceptional teams master the work.

Preparation. “Every battle is won before it is fought.” - General Sun Tzu in The Art of War

Intentionality. Practice and play with purpose. The Newton club team was named SMASH because that's their first priority, learn to hit hard.  

Intangible skills. Many skills are "unmeasurable" - focus, hard work, toughness, playing hard, being a great teammate.

Persistence. Never quit.

Respect. Respect all opponents, officials, coaches, and teammates. 

Urgency. “How you do anything is how you do everything.” Belief and patience can achieve competitive greatness.  

Sportsmanship. Play the game the right way.  

Leadership - Everyone can be a leader. Lead by example. Never be a distraction. Be the hardest worker in the gym. Coaches notice.

What's your most important thing? 

Lagniappe. You probably have a few books to read for the summer. Read for thirty minutes a day and you'll soon be done. 

"Writing a page each day doesn’t seem like much, but do it for 365 days and you have enough to fill a novel." - Austin Kleon in Steal Like an Artist

The MVB blog has over 4,600 posts...enough to fill about 15 novels...

Lagniappe 2. Excellent approach video... 

What Are You Reading Today?

All opinions expressed are solely mine.

Summer vacation is not "Summer Deactivate Your Brain." Neither is retirement. Learn every day, training body and mind.

I recently finished Karin Slaughter’s "False Witness" and Austin Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist." 

That meant a trip to Bpl.org and checkout of Anne Lamott's "Small Victories." She teaches writing and is an author and humorist. Her signature work is "Bird by Bird." I’m also reading “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Harari.

What are you reading today? "Nothing" is an unacceptable answer.

Suggestions:

"On Writing" by Stephen King (write better).

“The Boys in the Boat” by Dan Brown (sports meets history, brilliant storytelling about the 1930s including the 1936 Olympics). 

Lagniappe. 

View on Threads

Lagniappe 2. Slides... 

Parents

Some of you know an old joke about coaching. "What's the perfect coaching job?" Coaching in an orphanage.

Parents make incredible sacrifices in time, money, travel, and emotion during their children's 'career arc'. Great sacrifices often are unrewarded with high performance and satisfaction.  

In the old sci-fi television show, Star Trek, the Prime Directive of the Federation was never to interfere in the development of a less developed society. The Prime Directive of parenting is advocating for one's children. That can translate to "what is good for my child (playing time, role, and recognition) comes before the well-being of the team." That conflicts with the coach's job of putting the team first. 

There no 'best way' to interact with parents, varying with the age of the player. Coaching young players, everything runs through the parents. No matter how hard a coach works to create value for teams, players, and the best "experience," some dissatisfaction is unavoidable.

Here are thoughts which did not arrive on stone tablets:

• "Never be a child's last coach." 
• Always have 'hard conversations' with another adult in the room.
• Give and get feedback. 
• Ask "what does it feel like to play for me?"
• Remember to praise publicly players who get less playing time. 
• Deflect praise to others. 
• Regularly emphasize teamwork. 
• Figure out how much transparency is right for you. I sent emails on progress using the "sandwich technique" placing needs amidst strengths.
• Per Coach Brian Williams, "Playing is not a union job. Seniority cannot decide how we treat people." 
• Never discuss a player's situation with another parent. 
• Follow the '24 hour rule' in responding to criticism. An ML12 hoop coach (who has won three State Championships) got a phone call on the bench five minutes into the season asking why his son wasn't playing. The phone stayed off after that. 
• Don't discuss strategy with parents. Strategy is the domain of the coach. 
• Remember the words of Coach Bob Knight, "If you listen to the fans in the stands, soon you'll be up there sitting with them.
• All players are not equal. Hoop guru Herb Welling taught me, "When you get the "once in a lifetime" player, take care of her." 

Read a guide for parents and coaches, "The Politics of Coaching" by the late Carl Pierson. He tells it all, including parents of upperclassmen trying to exclude younger players to protect the older players from competition. 

Lagniappe. Brief ChatGPT summary of five top principles of The Politics of Coaching. Melrose has been fortunate to have exceptional coaching leadership and stability from Coach Scott Celli. 

Carl Pierson’s The Politics of Coaching is a practical guide that addresses the non-technical challenges coaches face — particularly the interpersonal, political, and ethical dynamics of leading a team within a school or community context. Here are five top principles from the book:

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**1. Relationships trump everything.
Success in coaching isn't just about X's and O's — it's about building trust and navigating relationships with athletes, parents, administrators, and fellow coaches. Pierson emphasizes proactive communication and transparency to prevent misunderstandings and diffuse potential conflicts.

---

**2. Document everything.
To protect yourself and your program, keep written records of important interactions — playing time decisions, discipline actions, parental conversations, and more. Documentation provides clarity and serves as a safeguard in case of disputes or accusations.

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**3. Define and defend your program values.
A coach should establish a clear vision and value system (e.g., accountability, effort, respect) and reinforce it daily. When your standards are transparent and consistent, it’s easier to stand firm when challenged by parents or others pushing personal agendas.

---

**4. Be politically aware but principle-centered.
Coaches must understand the political landscape — who has influence, what motivates them, and how decisions are made. But Pierson warns against compromising your integrity or enabling unethical behavior just to appease power players. Influence should be navigated, not surrendered to.

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**5. Support other coaches and build unity.
Pierson stresses that isolation breeds vulnerability. Coaches should collaborate across sports and levels, supporting each other against divisive pressures. A united coaching staff presents a stronger front to school administration and community stakeholders.

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These principles aim to help coaches stay grounded, professional, and protected while fostering a positive and ethical team culture. Let me know if you'd like these framed as discussion questions or slides for staff development.

T-H-I-N-K

“There’s only one rule I know of: You’ve got to be kind.” —Kurt Vonnegut

Because we can choose to be something, choose to be kind. 

• If we're not playing as much as we'd like, own the work to play more. 
• Be a great teammate not a 'grate' teammate. 
• Don't punch down. It's a bad look. Always. 

Part of our ethos, our 'reason to be', should include the acronym THINK before we speak.

T - Is it true? 

H - Is it helpful?

I  - Is it inspiring?

N - Is it necessary? 

K - Is it kind? 

The great mathematician Carl Jacobi advised "invert, always invert" when solving problems. Consider the opposite of kindness.

• Criticizing our team, teammates, coaching. Where's the benefit?
• Taunting opponents 
• Talking trash online about opponents

There's a difference between criticism and reflection, especially concerning ourselves. Part of "The Fourth Agreement," “Always do your best," is being kind to yourself because you gave your best, which isn't always good enough to win. 

Melrose has been fortunate to win a lot - league, sectional, and a state title. What seldom gets mentioned is MVB also won the MIAA Sportsmanship Award. Be kind. 

Lagniappe. Here are the ChatGPT highlights of Ruiz's fourth agreement:

The "Fourth Agreement" in Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements is “Always Do Your Best.” While the principle may sound simple, it carries profound depth. Doing your best isn’t about perfection; it’s about consistency, presence, and compassion for self. Here are the top five elements of this agreement:

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1. Your Best Changes From Moment to Moment

Ruiz emphasizes that your best is not a fixed standard. It fluctuates depending on factors like health, energy, stress, and life circumstances. On good days, your best may be outstanding; on difficult days, it may be simply showing up. Recognizing this prevents self-judgment and guilt.

🔹 Insight: This flexibility allows space for self-forgiveness, helping sustain long-term effort without burnout.

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2. Doing Your Best Prevents Regret

When you do your best, regardless of the outcome, you have no reason to judge yourself later. This frees you from the "what ifs" that come with half-hearted effort or procrastination.

🔹 Insight: The act of giving your full effort helps you accept results with peace, knowing you honored your responsibility.

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3. Doing Your Best is an Act of Self-Love

Striving to do your best is a way of respecting yourself. You’re not aiming to impress others but to live with integrity. It's a daily practice of affirming your own worth through action.

🔹 Insight: This transforms “doing” from a burden into a form of self-care and self-expression.

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4. Consistency Builds Mastery

When you do your best consistently—over time—you create habits that align with the other three agreements (Be impeccable with your word, Don’t take things personally, Don’t make assumptions). This repetition builds character and internal freedom.

🔹 Insight: Doing your best becomes the engine that turns abstract ideals into concrete behaviors.

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5. It Keeps You Present

When you focus on doing your best in this moment—not yesterday or tomorrow—you are drawn into the present. That presence helps reduce anxiety and distraction, enabling fuller engagement with life.

🔹 Insight: This presence is also where joy and meaning live; it’s not about performance, but being.

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Summary

Doing your best is not a benchmark of perfection—it’s a fluid, forgiving, and empowering commitment. It allows you to live without regret, builds self-respect, supports the other agreements, and keeps you anchored in the moment. It's not just advice—it's a way to live with grace.

Plan to Win

Everyone remembers MJ’s shot.

But the timeout before it - that's when Dean Smith won the game.

Roy Williams called it the "greatest timeout in the history of sports."

Here’s exactly what Dean Smith told his team and why it matters:🧵 pic.twitter.com/Hs3AWTE5W3

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) June 19, 2025

 Timeouts have an abundance of value:

• Momentum change (stopping runs)
• Refocusing, clearing heads
• Strategy changes
• Rest
• Substitution

This thread addresses a sequence of possibilities leading to a UNC national title. 

Coaches have a lot of concerns during timeouts, having the full attention of players, avoiding transmitting too much information, and maintaining intense play without being 'emotional casualties'. 

Lagniappe. Timeouts. "Run your own race."

 

The Blog I Want You to Read*

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. 

*Stolen from my basketball blog

"Write the book you want to read." - Austin Kleon in Steal Like an Artist

Why write multiple blogs daily and a weekly column? Write the blog you want to read. 

• Confront the "tyranny of the blank page."
• Challenge oneself for idea generation.
• Use both creative and critical imagination.
• Share what you love.
• Crystallize vague or mistaken ideas about a topic.
• Encourage research on specific basketball areas.
• Praise the praiseworthy and expose the guilty.
• Deploy analogical thinking. 
• Climb the Everest of better writing.
• Inspire young players to read (and write). 

Because the "idea food truck" failed to stop by:

Watch volleyball with a critical eye for each team's "intent." And then judge, given the available talent whether they are successful. 

If a team has no cohesive plan, the coach owns it. Director Ron Howard says, "The Director is the keeper of the story." 

Admire (or question) the quality of offensive and defensive organization.

Have we taught our players to watch video with "coaches' eyes?"

Ask rhetorically, "Can we correct bad volleyball?"

Take pride in the quality of the product (people) whom we help develop. When asked about his team, Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg reportedly said, "Ask me in twenty years and I'll be able to give you a better answer." 

Celebrate teamwork as young people transform from individuals to a cohesive group. 

Recognize and consolidate or lessen the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and teams.

Share what worked and failed and why. 

Inform the joy of stealing without plagiarism. "There is nothing new under the sun."

Become more proficient in using writing and editing tools including artificial intelligence. All "AI Platforms" are not the same. Check a "readability score" from time to time.

The faintest stroke of a pen is more durable than the sharpest mind. So, "Keep a scrapbook and cut and paste things into it, or you can just take pictures of things with your camera phone." - Austin Kleon in Steal Like an Artist.

Lagniappe. Swipe a swipe file. 

Lagniappe 2. Use your imagination in player development. 

View on Threads

Lagniappe 3. Find advice that we could take (after editing). 

View on Threads

Volleyball - "Show Your Work" *

*Adapted from my basketball blog

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely mine. 

"If you happened to be wealthy and educated and alive in 16th- and 17th-century Europe, it was fashionable to have a Wunderkammern, a “wonder chamber,” or a “cabinet of curiosities” in your house—a room filled with rare and remarkable objects that served as a kind of external display of your thirst for knowledge of the world." - from Austin Kleon in Show Your Work

Once we called these "prized possessions" collected over a lifetime. Sport fuels our memory machines, the sum of our experiences. No two are alike. 

This is not Jason Selk's "highlight reel" in 10 Minute Toughness. What artifacts might we unearth along our wunderkammern memory lane? 

• Scrapbooks
• Books
• Trophies
• Videos and CDs
• Photographs 
• Cards and letters
• Awards and honors 

Imagine having an Olympic Gold Medal in volleyball as an indoor or outdoor player or a coach. Karch Kiraly has all three. 

Treasures like those make our collections seem small.

 

                              Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli

 

Our craft never springs full grown like Botticelli's "Birth of Venus." Our work emerges after painstaking practice and preparation over a lifetime. My first exposure to art history was Fine Arts 13 at Harvard. Learning about the craft of masters matters as much as hearing Newton's Laws. 

We never know the origin or our next athletic memories. 

"Show your work." Build connections with others. 

Lagniappe. "There’s a healthier way of thinking about creativity that the musician Brian Eno refers to as “scenius.” Under this model, great ideas are often birthed by a group of creative individuals—artists, curators, thinkers, theorists, and other tastemakers—who make up an “ecology of talent." - from Austin Kleon, "Show Your Work"

Think about your 'ecology of talent' the factors encompassing your volleyball experience. 

 

Design and Implementation*

*Adapted from my basketball blog

Learn across domains. First, a quote from Walter Isaacson's biography, "Elon Musk." 

"It was a philosophy that he would carry through to Tesla, SpaceX, and then Twitter. Separating the design of a product from its engineering was a recipe for dysfunction. Designers had to feel the immediate pain if something they devised was hard to engineer."

Understand the possible linkages between your program design (e.g. ideas, program building) and engineering (implementation). 

Implementation could include:

• Player acquisition (e.g. recruiting, youth programs)
• Player development
• Offensive and defensive systems 
• Budgeting/fundraising
• Coaching staff 
• Compliance 
• Public relations

My high school coach, Sonny Lane, explained that a coach proposed an offensive system to him, saying, "I understand it perfectly." Coach Lane answered, "Your players will never understand it." The 'engineering' mismatched the design. 

Coaching youth players, I considered a "run and jump" ("trap and go") secondary defensive system. It became clear that our players or my teaching would not work. The engineering failed.

Design counts and practical engineering, the 'nuts and bolts' of system implementation, absolutely matters. A change from a 6-1 to a 6-2 system might work in concept but not in practice.

Believing that collegiate systems translate into youth and lower level play recalls Pete Newell's warning, "copies are generally poor reproductions of the originals." 

The take home should be to invest time to consider how theory will transfer to practice. 

Lagniappe. Quote from Kobe Bryant's The Mamba Mentality, "What separates great players from all-time great players is their ability to self-assess, diagnose weaknesses, and turn those flaws into strengths."

Lagniappe 2. Short-lived edges...from 49ers executive Kwesi Adofo-Mensah "You think you have an edge—now, that edge goes away in this business, just like that. Every year you have to tweak, evolve, adapt." - from "The Why Is Everything" by Michael Silver. 

Lagniappe 3. Playing Time (repost)

This is an amazing outlook on playing time

Young players watch this

“Stop trying to blame it on the coaches..what are you doing to give the coaches confidence to put you on the court?”

(Via @BballCoachMac 🎥)

pic.twitter.com/BxjNMqWu3B

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) May 26, 2025

Want to Become a Dominant Attacker?

Then learn to pass better 

Deadly Sins that Destroy Teams*

*Adapted from my basketball blog. All opinions expressed are solely mine.  

John Harbaugh says every team fights 4 silent forces - every single day.

He and his brother named them years ago.

You won't always see them. But they shape your culture and define your team.

Here are the 4 hidden threats every organization faces:🧵 pic.twitter.com/TFATzwrHXh

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) May 31, 2025

Follow the Harbaugh brothers thread to their four "silent forces" that compromise teams:

1) Division within (blame, complaints, excuses, etc.)

2) Noise (from media and others)

3) Fatigue (how do we measure that?)

4) Complacency ("the wind blows hardest at the top of the mountain."

Strong leadership from your coaching staff helps regulate these issues. 

Everyone has their own version of "deadly sins." I offer these:

1) Selfishness. Selfishness puts our individual wants, needs, and desires above those of the team. It's the first of the deadly S's - selfishness, softness, and sloth. Preach team as the primary core value. A Middlesex League team fractured years ago when a player "stole" another player's boyfriend. The split knocked a strong team out of the playoffs. Team first. 

2) Envy. Like selfishness, envy can become contagious. Players, families, and entourages can envy teammates with more minutes, bigger roles, and recognition. Ego is the enemy. Madeleine Blais' excellent "In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle" addresses this brilliantly. 

3) Distraction. Success demands focus. The "noise" listed above counts as distraction and other issues (e.g. problems with significant others) can likewise pose problems. 

4) Partying. Player alcohol and substance use keep coaches awake at night. "There's nothing to do in this town." Coaches only have so much control of immature and self-destructive behavior. Strong leadership within the team can help. "This is who we are. That is who we are not." Coach Saban says players need to understand what must be done and what must not...and then do it or keep themselves from it. 

Lagniappe. Few actions inspire us more than hearing others express confidence in us. 

People don’t always need lectures & speeches, sometimes they just need someone in their corner that says:
“I believe in you”
POWERFUL. I challenge you to do it today! 🗣️@BallisPsych pic.twitter.com/Nyv7lXFGIL

— Hayley Hollis (@MsHayHollis) June 14, 2025

Five Simple “Rules”

MVB '25

Success doesn't belong to 'wanting'. Don't believe in the myth that "success goes to those who want it more." Every team that makes it to championship play wants to win. 

Excellence has common features. Excellence leaves fingerprints. 

“Control what you can control.” A leading tenet of Stoicism is controlling what you can control, which is why professional teams across sports have adopted it. You control your attitude, choices, and effort. Hard work is a skill. 

“Always do your best,” from The Fourth Agreement  When talent meets competitive character, great things happen. Excellence requires no skipped steps, no cutting corners. 

“Share something great.” Teammates who share lessons from experience, and from principles handed down through the decades give their team and themselves the best chance to succeed. 

"Team first." Put the team first. Rafael Devers is an excellent hitter who earned a big contract with the Red Sox. Reading between the lines, we can speculate that he may not have fulfilled all of the team's requests to put the team first. We can't know. When you graduate from MVB, let your legacy be, "she was a great teammate who put the team first." 

Ask “how can I help?” Everyone feels helpless sometimes. In those moments, remember to ask what we can do to help. Mr. Rogers said, "Look for the helpers." Be a helper. 

Lagniappe. Don’t go back to the basics; never leave. With two months to go before the 'kickoff' of the season, be humble and hungry.