Lagniappe 2. You're not going to get "pass, set, hit" through the setter every play. Last year's team played out of system balls (not through the setter) well with an experienced defense.
When people comment about how special an athlete is, are they thinking about how hard she worked, how much she sacrificed, and the support system (especially family) around her?
Set priorities. Warren Buffett uses the 25-5 rule. Distill a list of 25 priorities to five.
Navy SEAL and author Jocko Willink said a 'teams' member told him to give him a list of the top three because he couldn't remember more than that.
Coach Nick Saban asks, "Are you spending your time or investing it."
How can we commit to improve our attention?
Build a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness increase attention in children as young as six.
Use power words such as "now", "focus", "special"
Be aware of distractions around us (cellphones, television)
Lagniappe. Manage attention. Consult AI (ChatGPT)
Attention is a challenge amidst a sea of distractions. Suggest your three best ideas to recognize distractions and manage attention.
ChatGPT said:
Here are three strong ideas to help recognize distractions and manage attention:
1. Name the Noise
Why it works: Awareness is the first step to control. Giving a label to common distractions—“scroll hole,” “worry loop,” “fake urgency,”—turns them from invisible currents into visible patterns.
How to do it:
Keep a small tally for every time you get pulled off task during the day.
At the end, review and name the top 1–2 culprits.
Ask yourself: “What triggered this? What did it cost me?”
“You can’t fight what you can’t see. Naming makes it visible.”
2. Use the ‘One-Window Rule’
Why it works: Each open tab, app, or notification is a silent invitation to multitask. Limiting what's visible forces focus.
How to do it:
Work in full-screen mode with only one task on screen.
Phone goes face-down, ideally in another room or on airplane mode.
Use apps like Freedom or Cold Turkey if tech temptation is high.
“Simplify the battlefield: one task, one window, full attention.”
3. Install a “Mind Check” Trigger
Why it works: External reminders pull you out of autopilot and back into intention. A cue can prompt a 5-second reset.
How to do it:
Set a phone chime or smartwatch buzz every hour.
Ask yourself: “What am I doing? Is this the most important thing?”
If not, gently shift back.
“A mind check is like a lighthouse: it brings you back before you drift too far.”
Another powerful technique is the Pomodoro Technique of twenty-five minutes on and five minutes scheduled off.
Character doesn’t show up on the scoreboard, but it shows up in the locker room, the classroom, and life. That’s the real win. pic.twitter.com/C4GSaoRKYb
— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) May 29, 2025
Most people want to be liked, respected, maybe even admired. You could be the best in your sport and he a "problem person," mean-spirited and abusive toward others.
Players get 'ostracized' from team sports because they are toxic, verbally and sometimes physically abusive.
Empathy, understanding how others feel, is a skill worth developing. Someone makes an error that contributes to losing. They feel badly without our piling on. Without exception, everyone has bad moments in sports. Sports gambling has made that worse with some pro and college athletes getting death threats after a loss. "Lighten up, Francis."
Strive to be focused, coachable, hard-working, and a great teammate. Your teammates will appreciate and remember.
Lagniappe. If our attitude is off, we have already lost.
"There are two ways to play...one is avoiding failure and the other is approaching success and letting it rip." - Karch Kiraly
Lagniappe. Kiraly has won Olympic gold indoors, in beach, and as the US coach. He shares opinions on character, via ChatGPT
1. Character Drives Team Culture
Karch often says that team culture eats strategy for breakfast. He believes that character—not talent—is the foundation of a strong culture. For him, character shows up in how athletes handle adversity, how they support teammates, and how they pursue continuous improvement.
“We need people who want to be great teammates as much as they want to be great players.”
2. Response to Adversity
Kiraly emphasizes the importance of how players respond when things go wrong, not just when they’re going well. He looks for athletes who show resilience, humility, and accountability.
“We talk a lot about being your best when your best is needed. That often means responding to stress with poise and to failure with determination.”
3. “Give Us the Right People”
In many interviews, Karch has noted that the national team looks for "the right people" over just "the best players." This means athletes who elevate others, commit to the grind, and leave their egos at the door.
“We’re not just trying to win matches—we’re trying to build a team full of people who make each other better every day.”
4. Leadership and Selflessness
Karch praises leaders who lead by example and by service. He has highlighted the importance of servant leadership, where players with strong character think first about the team’s needs.
“We’re looking for people who ask, ‘How can I help?’ Not just, ‘How can I play?’”
5. The Everyday Champions
Kiraly values the "everyday champions"—those who show up consistently, put in the work when no one is watching, and stay connected to the team’s purpose. Character, in this sense, is about what you do daily, not just in the big moments.
Summary:
Karch Kiraly sees character as a competitive advantage. He believes:
Character shapes a team’s identity.
It’s revealed in pressure, not created by it.
It’s as coachable and essential as any technical skill.
Teams built on character sustain excellence.
Lagniappe. Study video. It's not always the biggest hit but the well-placed ones that succeed. Watch the end of Melrose at Winchester 2023...
You've heard this story before. I told a player's parents that she always represents herself as friendly and respectful. Her mom replied that she was every bit as helpful and responsible at home. The player? Kayla Wyland.
Take care of business. Have your priorities straight.
Family comes first.
Academics matter. Bring your best version daily.
When you 'cross the red line', focus on volleyball.
Everything matters.
Lagniappe. LA Rams coach Sean McKay comes from a football family. He believes in positivity and attitude.
"“The way we build the ‘we, not me’ thing is, we tell the players, ‘Hey, nobody is above being coached.’ Every single time, he follows it with ‘Especially and including myself.’" - From The Why Is Everything by Michael Silver
Draft day. What are you talking about? There's no draft.
Talent, the sum of skill, athleticism, size, decision-making, experience, motivation, and resilience is the number one determinant of long-term program success.
Connecting with youngsters is where that starts.
The Crovo sisters (Stephanie - left and Victoria with Liz Sheerin) left MVB legacies. Stephanie played on the 2012 title team and Victoria became an All-State player playing 'all-around'.
Coach Scott Celli and MVB players 'recruit' student-athletes from the community and the middle school. Excellent programs seek "new blood" to refresh their talent pipeline.
MVB 24 saw three freshman 'break through' and earn varsity time - Elise Marchais, Ella Friedlaender, and Sadie Smith.
You don't have to make varsity as a freshman to have an exceptional MVB career. Kayla Wyland played on the freshman team (now JVb) and ascended to three years of varsity play, three sectional titles, and a State Championship.
Lagniappe. What is the most important part of the body for the athlete? It's those six inches between your ears.
Business and sport principles overlap, however imperfectly. For example, business seeks profitability and growth with risk management. This requires effective use of people, strategies, and operations to serve multiple 'stakeholders'.
Great businesses serve shareholders, employees, customers, and society. MVB doesn't have shareholders per se, but collaboration and trust act to serve coaches, players, families and the broad community.
MVB has worked to develop success measured by its graduates and their volleyball individual and team achievements, seeking sustainable competitive advantage.
Here's a digression to AI from ChatGPT (with some annotations)
Volleyball Program as a Business: An Analogy via The 12-Week MBA
1. Leadership = Culture + Purpose
Business lens: Leadership is about defining a shared vision, building trust, and creating an environment for others to thrive.
In volleyball, this plays out in how the coach leads both emotionally and structurally. The team culture, accountability, and tone-setting mirror a CEO’s responsibility to embody and communicate the company’s purpose.
🏐 Example: A coach who prioritizes “we over me” and empowers captains is doing what a good founder does—creating culture carriers, not just enforcing rules.
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." Culture seeks to align everyone's interests, raising all boats. Culture is the totality of a program ecosystem - how a team meets, trains, grows, and especially how they treat each other, regardless of their class or status within the team.
2. Strategy = Game Plan + Adaptability
Business lens: Strategy is aligning goals with capabilities and making clear trade-offs to compete in the market.
A volleyball program’s strategy involves building a style of play that fits the players’ strengths—tempo, defense, risk tolerance—and evolves over time. Like a company adapting to shifting market conditions, a coach must respond to opponent trends, injuries, and team development.
🏐 Example: A team that starts the season running a fast offense but adapts mid-season to a slower tempo due to personnel changes is practicing agile strategy.
It's always tempting to make bold predictions about the future...and flawed. Multiple goals exist including personal and team development, competitive character, and bringing the best version of yourself to school and extracurriculars every day. It takes strong direction, specific and clear teaching, and coachable, motivated players to grow.
3. Finance = Time + Energy + Opportunity Cost
Business lens: Finance is resource management and trade-offs—understanding where the money flows and why.
In amateur volleyball, you're not managing dollars so much as time and attention. Every drill is an investment. Every meeting has opportunity cost. Conditioning, rest, video—these are your budget lines. You must maximize return on rep, not return on capital.
🏐 Example: Choosing to spend extra time on serve receive instead of blocking because it impacts more rallies is a capital allocation decision.
Warren Buffett is one of the great investor-leaders of all time. When Berkshire Hathaway "buys" a business like See's Candy or Jordans Furniture, Buffett allows current ownership a lot of leeway. What he does is control salaries and capital allocation. And he is a master of capital allocation. Roster management, practice time, and playing time are all examples of capital allocation.
4. Operations = Practice Planning + Systems + Consistency
Business lens: Operations are the systems that translate goals into action, sustainably and efficiently.
In volleyball, this is practice design, logistics, team rituals, and how you manage the day-to-day. Great operations mean players know what to expect, how to improve, and what success looks like. A well-run program reflects operational discipline.
🏐 Example: Using a consistent drill-feedback-reflect cycle is like a company running on OKRs and weekly sprints—measurable, repeatable, improvable.
Operations flow on direction. It's ready, aim, fire not fire, ready, aim. Dr. Fergus Connolly, Human Performance expert, emphasizes that everything at practice should impact game play and performance.
🧩 Imperfect But Instructive
Business Element
Volleyball Equivalent
Leadership
Coach and captains setting values and modeling behavior
Strategy
Game model, opponent scouting, player development choices
Finance
Allocation of time, energy, attention
Operations
Practice systems, schedules, feedback loops
🏁 Final Take
A volleyball coach is like a founder-CEO of a startup with no budget but deep emotional capital.
They build a team from scratch, allocate resources under constraints, pivot in real time, and create culture intentionally. The analogy is imperfect, but useful: business builds products and services, sport builds people—but both are systems of motivation, decision-making, and execution.
Legendary basketball coach Don Meyer had a saying, "Every parent would rather have their son be All-State than win states." There's always the tension between individual and team achievement. MVB needs exceptional individual play to maximize team achievement. Work to embrace the meaning of the sign in the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer locker room, "EXCELLENCE IS OUR ONLY AGENDA."
Few approaches will benefit you more than learning how to learn. Invest time in studying metacognition, "thinking about thinking." Because you are young, you have decades to benefit.
Layer turkey, cheese, and slice (1/2 avocado) on medium flour tortilla.
Melt about 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a medium frying pan. Place flat tortilla on the melted butter on medium heat. After about two minutes (less depending on your range), fold tortilla in half, cooking about 45 seconds. Then flip the tortilla over for another 45 seconds.
Instant turkey/cheese/avocado quesadilla. Cut into quarters for convenience. Estimated 420 calories...
We sink to the level of our training. BUDS (Navy SEAL initial training) is a grueling six month course, punctuated by "Hell Week" of overwork, minimal sleep, constant harassment, and undernutrition. Those with a unique blend of physical and mental toughness survive. And THEN, graduates invest two years of additional training before deployment.
Your athletic output and your sport resume' depends on your training. You hear the same platitudes again and again.
"Do the work."
"The unrequired work separates players."
"Leave your comfort zone."
"Sacrifice."
"Have a sense of urgency."
A zebra foal stands and walks within an hour of birth. Stripes are not well-defined early on. Most humans require about a year to walk and far longer to achieve independence.
Discipline defines destiny. Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, says "obsess the product." James Clear reminds us that "our habits are a vote for the type of person we want to become." Writers write, elite students study, athletes train.
I coached a player who didn't listen and rebelled against coaching. She had good skills and superior athleticism. Eventually she became an All-League player in multiple sports (not in Melrose). I sent a note of congratulations to her mother. She answered, "eventually my daughter figured out that coaching was there to help her and that's when she took off."
It's natural and easy to tell ourselves, "it can wait." Excellence won't wait.
Leaders say it different ways.
"Habits are a vote for the person that we want to be." - James Clear That applies to study, rest, recovery, diet, hydration, practice, everything.
"Discipline defines destiny."
"We're not going to talk about what we're going to accomplish, we're going to talk about how we're going to do it." - Nick Saban
"It takes what it takes." - Nick Saban
"Here's something I know I'm supposed to do that I really don't want to do...can you make yourself do it...here's something you know you're not supposed to do...can you keep yourself from it?" - Nick Saban
We had lost a middle school basketball one-point game to a small but highly aggressive team. Before the rematch, I emphasized quicker decision-making, ball movement, and aggressiveness. We led 22-2 at the half and the visiting parents said we had gotten new players. Same players but a new attitude.
In volleyball, the more aggressive team usually wins. Players lacking confidence will seldom play aggressively.
Lagniappe. Volume passing drill.
Lagniappe 2. Develop a collection of phrases to calm and reassure teams.
Enjoy playing in meaningful games on the biggest stages.
Iron sharpens iron. More than half the MVB schedule promises tough competition with four challenging non-league games and at least seven tough league contests.
This isn't new. Non-league matches dating to the early 2000s included Haverhill and AC at their peak, Central Catholic, Andover and North Andover. The ML12 didn't exist and Melrose competed in the North Shore League then. Reading, Lexington, and Stoneham were the top Middlesex League opponents.
The ML12 continues to improve each season and that affords better competition and opportunities for growth.
The offseason affords players the chance to leverage their craft finding more ways to score.
Retired Alabama football coach Nick Sabab may be the greatest college football coach ever. As a boy, he helped run his father's service station/car wash. His father inspected every finished wash and made his son rewash the whole car if there was even one defect. That explains a lot.
Nick Saban literally gave one of the best explanations of teamwork and commitment pic.twitter.com/ADMhGV8XYp
— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) May 18, 2025
What resonates? No individual has the right to sabotage the team. "There is an "i" in "Win." That "i" includes:
Intelligence, make great decision on and off the court.
Intensity, compete at your best level at all times.
Immediacy. Focus on the now, this play.
With nine seniors graduating, Melrose gets younger. That's neither good nor bad. It depends on the quality of the effort, the mindset, and the progress of the younger players.
Here's a harsh truth. Coach Scott Celli and his staff don't decide who plays, their roles, and their recognition. The quality of YOUR EFFORT defines your individual and team destiny. You write your story. Make it memorable.
Lagniappe. There's a profile of Alex Bregman in today's Boston Globe. Here are a few quotes:
“They (his parents) just told me if I wanted to do anything, I better work — work for it every day.” Do the work.
Bregman, armed with an iPad, digested at-bats, pitches, and plays. He talked about approaches, mechanics, mind-sets — seeking and giving feedback to hitters, pitchers, and anyone else. Be a great teammate.
Bregman talks of “falling in love with the work before the game” and then allowing himself to treat the game itself as the reward for everything he does over the rest of his day. Process over results.
“I know for a fact he’s made some of our younger players better [be] hungry, and [helped them] understand this is what greatness is.” Exceptional players show the will to become exceptional.
Success demands having competitive players. Back in the day, somebody described a kid saying, "he was always the kid picked first in pickup games, no matter what the sport."
Coaches want those guys. The best coaches excel in identifying, developing, and using that guy. As a player, be that guy.
Trust. From Boston Sports Journal, guest columnist Gregg Cosell said, "What do defensive coaches always talk about? They want to be able to trust their players. Sometimes they may not put the best athlete on the field because another guy can go out there, and they know that he won't make mistakes." Coaches 'need' to believe that the player will make the right decision and make the play in the moment.
Ascending players. UNC Women's Soccer Coach Anson Dorrance had an expression "continual ascension." Coaches want players who keep developing. Sometimes a program has problems because a prospect becomes a suspect. The player doesn't make the transition from a tiger cub into a tiger.
Competitive character. Brad Stevens talks about competitive character, the skill and will to be impactful. You've heard it said other ways such as 'foxhole guy', the person you want next to you in the foxhole.
So far as MVB goes, I speak with an outsider's perspective. Being at practice regularly allows coaches to see dimensions like leadership, mentoring, teamwork, supportiveness, and other intangibles. Young players can absolutely contribute beyond expectations with competitive character.
Lagniappe. Get help...and give it. Young players...as Mr. Rogers said, "look for the helpers." Veterans, give help because you want to be a champion.
Lagniappe 2. Foxhole guy (from ChatGPT):
In sports, being a "foxhole guy" means being the kind of teammate others want beside them in the toughest moments—the pressure situations, the grind-it-out games, the times when things aren’t going well. The metaphor comes from the idea of being in a literal foxhole during war: you're under fire, stakes are high, and trust is everything. A foxhole guy doesn't flinch, complain, or look for a way out. Instead, they stay focused, bring calm or intensity when needed, and always put the team first. They're dependable under pressure, emotionally steady, and often make the hard plays that don’t show up in the box score.
More than skill, being a foxhole guy is about character. Coaches and teammates value these players because they lead through example, hold themselves accountable, and help others stay grounded. They might not be the loudest voice in the locker room or the flashiest player on the court, but when the game is on the line, they’re the ones you trust to do their job, support their teammates, and compete with toughness and composure.
All opinions expressed are solely my own. "The blog" is not an official publication or policy statement of any Melrose organization.
People succeed in many ways - academically, parenting, athletically, artistically, in their vocation, literally their calling.
As a coach, I shared success stories of women and men.
Arlene Blum lead an all-women's expedition to climb Annapurna, one of 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters. Two summitted, two died trying. Women can achieve great adventure with the same benefits and costs that men experience.
Frances Perkins, labor leader-reformer and the first cabinet level woman as Labor Secretary under President Franklin Roosevelt
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Bowdoin rhetoric professor turned Civil War hero helping win the Battle of Gettysburg
Their history is our history.
In a high school "mimeograph," certain careers were suggested as available to women - teaching, nursing, seamstress. Yes, it was over fifty years ago that Ellen and I graduated from high school.
One of the books I'm reading now is "How to Invest" an anthology of interviews by David Rubinstein, including one with Paula Volent, an investment manager at Bowdoin who produced astonishing returns eclipsing those of 'the Ivies'.
Sharing a few quotes from the article might remind us that women can succeed in any field.
She began her career in art history and through chance ended up in a business career after working closely with Yale's superb investor David Swensen. While at Bowdoin from 2000-2021, she helped grow their endowment from $465 million to $2.72 billion. She understands risk management.
Invest in yourself. Read.
Coaches become experts in asset allocation - practice time, roster formation, playing time. deployment of strategies.
Success in any field requires self-reflection, understanding your field and pressing your strategic advantages in people, strategy, and operations (how you play).
Strive to think clearly and communicate well. Present yourself well in speech, writing, and nonverbal communication.
Changing people and strategies creates a regular challenge for coaches. Supporting a struggling player can yield benefits or failure. When we miss our exit on the highway, we don't drive forever. We look for the next exit. "The next exit" in sports can result in sadness and hurt feelings. But the best coaches know they need to act.
Volleyball tryouts are about a hundred days away. Players can raise their game a lot in that time.
Focus on three areas that apply to you and will impact winning.
1) Improve your serve. None of the most effective servers in Melrose history - Cassidy Barbaro, Alyssa DiRaffaele, and Brooke Bell - had powerful jump serves. The former two had short step, low toss serves that had topspin and sidespin. That meant reading and reacting to ball movement in a short time. Brooke mixed in a devastating short serve that drove receivers batty. A simpler routine and toss make for more reproducible serves.
2) Read the attacker first to allow for anticipation and reaction. Return to online game video to see what the powerful servers "gave away" to give you extra time for decisive play.
3) Build athleticism. Goblet and split squats, single leg (rear foot elevated) squats, pogos, serial broad jumps, tuck jumps, box jumps, and maximal jumps can increase your jumping by another few inches before August. Don't focus on the time; focus on the work.
Lagniappe. ChatGPT discusses reading attacks:
Improving a volleyball defender's ability to read attackers is a high-impact skill that separates reactive players from anticipatory ones. Reading the play allows defenders—especially blockers and back row players—to move earlier, position smarter, and react more decisively. Here's a breakdown of how to improve this skill:
1. Train Visual Cues: What to Watch
Goal: Help players know where to look and what to notice.
Ball trajectory: Teach players to read the set—its height, speed, and location reveal the attack options.
Hitter’s approach: Body language often telegraphs intent. Open shoulders and high elbows usually signal line or cross shots. A slower approach might mean a tip.
Arm swing and contact point: A fast arm swing and high contact = power; hesitation or open hand = off-speed or tip.
Eyes before the jump: Good hitters often glance at the block or open court—reading this can reveal intention.
Drill Idea:
Use pause-and-predict video sessions. Show clips of hitters and pause before contact—ask defenders to call shot type or location. This trains pattern recognition.
2. Repetition in Contextual Drills
Goal: Recreate game-like reads with volume and variability.
Use live or semi-live hitting drills where defenders must read the attacker.
Incorporate "read and release" blocking drills where blockers must read the setter or hitter before moving.
Small-sided games (like 3v3 or 4v4) allow more reps and decisions per minute.
Drill Idea:
Run Reading Waves: three hitters rotate through while defenders stay in for extended reps. Make each wave feature different styles—power, finesse, lefty, etc.
3. Teach Patterns and Tendencies
Goal: Build situational awareness.
Help players recognize common tendencies:
Right-handed outside hitters hit cross when the ball is tight, line when it's off.
Setters jump set = faster tempo; non-jump = slower, more readable.
Back-row attacks often go sharp angle or seam.
Scout opponents and review film to reinforce patterns.
Practice Tip:
Incorporate “scouting moments” in practice—e.g., “this hitter only tips off a slow tempo set”—and see who can adjust in real time.
4. Emphasize Mental Reps and Film Study
Goal: Create mental reps even when physical reps aren’t possible.
Assign video homework with prompts: “Where is the hitter most likely to attack here?” or “What gave away this tip?”
Have athletes narrate what they see in short clips. Speaking reinforces processing.
Tool Tip:
Use platforms like Hudl or Coach’s Eye to let players mark up video or leave notes. This makes them active participants, not passive watchers.
5. Build Confidence Through Feedback
Goal: Make players trust their reads.
Reinforce correct decisions, even if the execution fails.
Praise early movement based on correct reads.
Debrief missed reads without punishing effort—this keeps players curious, not afraid.
