The Hay Is not in the Barn (and That's OK)

Champions don't skip steps. When the whistle blows in September, some say "the hay is in the barn" because they know their job, take care of the details, put the team first, and do the job. 

But even then, is the hay really in the barn?

What helps put the hay in the barn? 

Skill 

Skill evolves during the season. There are ebbs and flows depending on player development, health, and team spirit. 

Communication

Communication may grow at a pace exceeding individual or team skill. Poor communication will limit both of the above and can separate success and failure. Communication has to arise in the first tryout and grow from there. 

Collaboration

 Historically, MVB clubs have improved substantially during the season. A sense of urgency is needed as the regular season starts with experienced, strong teams in the ML12. 

Athleticism

Training balances preparedness (power, quickness, conditioning, balance) with needs for maintenance and avoiding fatigue during the season. Some athletes excel and training and sell themselves short with recovery (hydration, nutrition, sleep, muscle recovery, etc.). 

 Volleyball IQ

Studying volleyball theory, video (e.g. college video, coaching clinics), and watching your team and individual video are all elements that help raise volleyball IQ. Current players have a greater duration and breadth of experience than MVB players from 20 plus years ago. That doesn't mean they're all better, but across the roster the experience level is higher. 

Resilience

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." MVB has had many memorable five set matches where resilience and talent triumphed. In 2002, Melrose outlasted Dracut 38-36 (games to 30). In 2005, Melrose defeated Division 1 Andover in five sets and an outstanding Central Catholic (future D1) club in the playoff quarterfinals. Defeating Bishop Fenwick in the 2010 Sectionals was another five set marathon as well as the epic comeback versus Billerica in the 2021 playoffs.  

No team is too resilient. 

The hay is in the field. Over the next few weeks, we'll see if MVB 26 can get it into the barn. 

Lagniappe. Dreams. 

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Standards, Character, and Competence - MVB and Film

All opinions expressed in the blog are my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization.

You inform your career arc. In retrospect, every method is obvious. 

Art imitates life. There’s a reason certain films stay with you. They’re not about explosions or plot twists. They’re about people doing their job under pressure.

Different settings reveal the same truths. On a submarine, in a courtroom, in the  dugout, or on the court. 

Build the System First

In Apollo 13, the mission goes wrong. What saves the crew isn’t luck. It’s a system built before the crisis:

• checklists
• communication
• trust

No one improvises chaos. We fall to the level of our training. That’s team sports.

Character Reveals Itself Under Stress

In Bridge of Spies, Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who refuses to bend. He does hard better, because it’s right.

There’s a line in coaching:

“Character is what you do when no one is watching.”

Maybe this is better:

Character is what you do when everyone is watching and it would be easier not to. Sport reveals character. 

Competence Earns Trust

In Moneyball, the edge isn’t effort.

It’s clarity.

• What matters
• What doesn’t
• What wins

Billy Beane's assistant Peter Brand says that teams are "buying wins." More precisely, they're "buying runs." 

Competence defines repeatable performance. Players who weren't the most famous, the most desired, or the best paid achieved stunning success. 

Teammates trust players who:

• are where they’re supposed to be
• do what they’re supposed to do
• over and over again

"Repetition makes reputations."

Leadership Is Decision-Making

Every option carries risk. There is no perfect answer because there ar better and worse decisions. Coach Scott Celli can’t wait for certainty. He projects and makes the best decision available under the current conditions.

On a court, that player action looks like:

• taking the right swing
• making the right read
• living with the result

Indecision is friction.

Standards Are the System

In Crimson Tide, the conflict is simple:

What is the standard? Who decides? Good teams don’t argue about effort. They don’t negotiate toughness. The standard is set.

• How we communicate
• How we prepare
• How we respond

Sean McDermott challenged his Buffalo Bills, "That’s what it gets back to in terms of earning the right to win. How we meet, how we talk, how we work out, how we practice when we do practice, how we play – that’s the standard we’re trying to get to every day.”

The Connection

Great films and great teams share the same foundation:

• Character says, "do the right thing."
• Competence allows us to execute the thing right.
• Standards permit us to do it the same way more often.

For Players

Ask yourself:

• Can your teammates trust you? Team first...
• Do you know your job? Attention to detail...
• Do you do it the same way every day? Consistency...

Bottom Line

Build your system on:

• character
• competence
• standards

Lagniappe

"As the twig is bent so grows the tree." The best teams don’t look surprised when things go well. They look prepared. Because execution follows preparation.

Watch the 2011 team against a D1 powerhouse...execution at a high level. Efficiency doesn't have to be spectacular. 

Day 1 Is in the Books

41 hopefuls appeared for the opening day of volleyball tryouts. August heat showed up with temperatures forecast to moderate slightly over the next few days.

It was also the tipoff for new varsity assistant Gia Vlajkovic, predicted to be a “great addition” by Coach Scott Celli. Gia, a two-time sectional champion for MVB, starred as a setter as a junior and “all-six” outside hitter as a senior.

Melrose returns thirteen varsity players this season with intense competition at all positions. 

Melrose kicks off the season on September 8th at Reading, one of the Middlesex League favorites in 2026. 

Make an Impression as a Teammate

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When I coached, we had one award, "Best Teammate."

The players voted on it and it wasn't an MVB award, it was a vote for the best teammate - the person you enjoyed playing with.

I thought of it as the "Foxhole Guy" - the person you wanted next to you when times were tough.

Lend a helping hand. Compete for the team not against your teammates. 

NFL - "Not for Long"

The player who 'coasts' at practice insults the process.

"I made my first Pro Bowl.

Then I went out to practice and coasted.

My position coach ripped me in front of the entire team when it was over.

And what he said was almost word for word what a high school teacher told me years earlier:

You bust your tail.
That's why you're good.
You can't come out here and flop around at half speed.

That's not who you are.
And if that's who you become, you won't be here long."

Your process separates you from your peers. The better your process, your ability to focus, play with purpose, and make the next play, the better your outcomes. "The score takes care of itself."

I was at a random basketball game twenty years ago. A stranger approached me saying, "I love the way your girls play. They play like boys." It was a disturbing compliment.

Bring your ferocity, your "game face" every day. A critic called Abraham Lincoln two-faced. Lincoln answered, "if I had another face, don't you think I'd wear it."

It's opening day. Bring it. That's who you are.

One Coach's Approach

Joe Mazzulla refuses to call himself a championship head coach, because he doesn’t want his identity to be attached to outcomes

“I’m not a championship head coach. I’m just a guy that won a championship with a bunch of other people. It comes back to the identity piece. You start… pic.twitter.com/VswPFGtBLL

— Josh Chambers (@JoshChambers) August 23, 2026

Imagine this situation, names withheld. A former NFL coach is known as a guy that takes credit for wins and throws players under the bus for losses. Who wants to play for that guy? 

Control what you can control. Most high school coaches:

• Can't recruit
• Can't coach outside of the season
• Don't control the officiating 
• Don't have input on the postseason rankings

Wins and losses are one metric for judging coaches, yet aren't the whole picture. Access to practice, video, and other measures of team performance add grist for the mill but are imperfect measures. 

Longer-term performance coupled with a detailed understanding of a sport and the coach's process give you a chance at a more accurate assessment. 

Celtics' coach Joe Mazzulla clearly understands the limitations. His roster reflects NBA payroll realities and he's scheming a process to give his team the best chance to win. 

Coach Scott Celli and his staff have a young but experienced team and will make changes dictated by the performance of the players. 

The players ultimately decide the lineups by their performance. The earlier post, "Finish your plate" is accurate. 

Lagniappe. "Attack the attack."

Lagniappe 2. In baseball, it's "Slow feet, quick hands." In volleyball, "short arms, quick hands." 
 

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"Finish Your Plate"

Austin Rivers is really good at this

When players told him they weren’t getting enough minutes or shots, this was his advice:

“Finish your plate first, and THEN ask for more. Dominate your role and you will be asked to do more”

Good stuff pic.twitter.com/YjOUs7lkny

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) August 19, 2026

Doc Rivers son, Austin, explains it all. 

Dominate your role. Whatever they ask, "own it." 

Then, expand it.  

Excel, then expand. 

Sabine Wenzel had one kill as a freshman. You read that right.

Roger Clemens went 9-4 with a 4.32 E.R.A. in his first season, on the way to 354 career wins.

As a newly minted doctor, you work 80 hours a week (limited by law, not tradition) and after work, you go home to sleep, not party.

Earn the coaches' trust. "Finish your plate," then get more.  

 

Opening Day

And they're off. MVB 26 kicks off with the first day of tryouts.

Each season arrives with a cartload of hopes and dreams, manufactured by player and family sacrifices. 

Control what you can control.

Take care of "what's inside your boat." "ACE" the test with attitude, choices, and effort. When problems arise, and they do, take care of business.

"Always do your best," the Fourth Agreement

In the long run, you cannot outperform giving your best. "To all my overachievers out there: The path to personal growth is paved with self-love, kindness, and forgiveness… not criticism, judgment, and punishment." Give yourself grace for complete effort. 

Play with joy. 

Be a lightbulb, illuminating yourselves and others. 

"Light bulbs, that's what I call them. Light bulbs. There's an intangible feeling a coach and a player have that you can delight in. When Armond Hill was at Princeton and he'd go up and down the court in warmups, that's excited me. Frank Sowinski walked onto the court in practice. I could be dead tired: I saw him, I felt good. Billy Omeltchenko. Craig Robinson. I call them light bulbs. They walk on the floor, the light goes on." - February 6, 1991. - Pete Carril

Lead.

Lead by modeling excellence in how you perform, how you treat others, and never become a distraction. You all know the Golden Rule. Also live the Silver Rule, "Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you."

Seize the opportunities to lead - lead a drill, be positive, encourage teammates who need a boost. 

Be a great teammate.

Everyone cannot be a great player, but everyone can be a great teammate. As a coach, I gave out one award, voted on by the players, the "Best Teammate Award." It wasn't designed to be the Best Athlete or the MVP, but the player whom the team felt best illustrated teamwork.

Compete.

As you enter the competitive cauldron, bring competitive spirit to the court. The memorable players, the champions, are fierce. Play with force.

As James Kerr wrote in Legacy, "Leave the jersey in a better place."

What do these have in common? They aren't dependent on size, athleticism, or an intelligence test. They're about character. "Sport doesn't build character, it reveals it." 

 

"Special"

Years ago during a scrimmage at middle school travel basketball tryouts, the girls kept calling a girl, "Special." I asked one of them, how the girl got that nickname. She answered, "It's BESHEL, not special." Alrighty, then.

Everyone wants to be seen, heard, and respected. That's great. Not everyone wants to be special. With a critical mass of players who want "special," great achievement is possible. 

“Normal is doing what you have to do to get by.
Special is doing everything you can do to be the best that you can be,”
- Nick Saban pic.twitter.com/ZnFRhm2B8Z

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) August 21, 2026

Lagniappe. Right side.  

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Lagniappe 2. Another way to run slide attack. 

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Gratitude

A message about gratitude might be odd timing as tryouts approach. Or not.

Coach Dick Bennett distributed material to his players including five priorities:

• Passion (purpose)
• Unity 
• Servant leadership
• Humility
• Thankfulness (gratitude)

My acronym for Coach Bennett's approach is PUSH-T (push through).

During the run up to the Olympics, USA Men's Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski gathered his elite players together at practice. He told them to picture the one person most responsible for their being there. That brought tears to NBA stars. 

When they returned to their rooms, their USA uniform was displayed out on their bed. How motivated do you think they were in that moment? 

Gratitude adds fuel. 

Make a difference, just as people have made a difference for you.

Great Advice for This Week, Next Month, and All Season

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Keep it simple. Great advice. 

"Always do your best."

Compete.

Bring the best version of yourself. 

Be a great teammate.  

Communicate.

 Have fun with your friends and teammates. 

 

Image created with ChatGPT Plus 

Tomorrow's the day. "Be excited, not anxious." 

 

 

 

Five Questions

Coaches solve problems. To solve problems (e.g. diagnose), we have to ask questions and then seek answers.

1. "What does our team need now?" 

That means different things at various points in the season. At tryouts it relates to skill, strategy (volleyball IQ), athleticism ("sport rewards athleticism") and resilience (competitiveness, mental toughness, fit). Later in the season, it can mean a hard practice or a day off. 

2. How does this combination bolster our strengths and reduce weakness?  

Coaches look not for the best 'six' players but the players who play best together. I've mentioned how moving Alyssa DiRaffaele to libero strengthened the team and transformed her into Middlesex League co-MVP. "Win-win." 

3. Does my decision foster 'continual ascension'? 

Coaches want to do well out of the gate and grow in power over the course of the season such that a team becomes a "tough out" during the postseason. The teams that go deep in the postseason are those who rise. "Every day is player development day."  

4. What are our musts? "We have to do these."

Strong teams score points. Positive points come off serves, attacks, and block-kills. To beat strong teams you have to defend (take away their scores) and score more on your own because they don't beat themselves (that's why they're a strong team). 

Attack as a blocker - push over the net while staying out of it. 

5. What do we have to stop doing? 

In basketball, I like to say, "stops make runs." Runs come about not only from good offense but exceptional defense. Great defense inspires - the key block, the great dig, the solid pass not the exceptional one. 

That mean read plays sooner to "look faster" and playing consistently. Read the setter to anticipate the attack quicker. Read the server to get to the short ball. Serve with intent - attack weaknesses (short, seam, sideline, softer defenders). 

Making the team is necessary but not sufficient. Players rise from JV to varsity every year. Last year multiple players made the jump in-season. And making the team doesn't always mean immediate contribution. After you're on the team, you'll compete for a role, then for a bigger role.

Lagniappe. Coach Scott Celli is your coach, not your friend. That's a responsibility, making the best decision within boundaries. 

I consider him a friend and understand his process. I'm not an assistant coach or "Ernie Adams." But I could have a sign on my desk, 

 

 

 

 

Two Days

 

Two days until tryouts kick off. 

Relationships

You will forget tryouts, practices, and a lot of games. What "sticks" in life are peak experiences, end experiences, and emotional ones.

You will remember your teammates, coaches, and the memories that you craft together...even more than half a century later. 

Gregg Popovich has always been about more than basketball.

TEAM.
Trust.
Adversity.
Roles.
Unselfishness.
Doing the right thing.

10 lessons from one of the greatest coaches of all time.

A lot of GOLD in this graphic. https://t.co/N1yNCM2bBY pic.twitter.com/l1EgtTWSpi

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) August 16, 2026

Of course, your memories will always be in color! 

 

Situational Practice

Starting fast makes your life easier. Plus there are “gotta have it” situations. Let’s imagine areas that could merit “special situations” practice. Melrose has always practiced special situations. 

Final set (Tiebreaker)

• Leading 14-13, serving
• Trailing 13-10, receiving
• Trailing 14-13, receiving

One set each

• Tied at 24, receiving
• Trailing 24-22, serving
• Leading 24-23, serving

Closing out up 2-1

• Leading 23-20, receiving
• Leading 23-22, receiving

Back to the wall, down 2-1

• Trailing 23-20, serving
• Trailing 23-22, receiving
• Tied at 23, receiving

Pressure degrades performance. The best teams and the best players have less drop off than lesser teams. What's your strategy?

Practice special situations 

Total focus including communication 

Positive body language

Dot b. (Stop and take a breath) 

Lagniappe. "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." Note how Elena Soukos encourages Autumn Whelan...then Elena's attack gets Billerica "out of system" and Gia Vlajkovic sets for the win. 

Melrose traveled to unbeaten Duxbury in the playoffs.