The Hard Truths

"Any idiot with a whistle can coach." - Anonymous

Coaching well takes a lot. Coach Berge lists some hard truths.  

The 10 Inconvenient Truths of Coaching

1. Not every kid wants to be great.
2. You will be misunderstood, often.
3. Some parents care more about minutes than the team.
4. Your best players aren’t always your best leaders.
5. No system works without buy-in.
6. Winning doesn’t…

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) December 15, 2025

Precious few coaches "mail it in" and pick up a check. They don't get paid a fortune around here.

No coach reaches everyone. Distractions, health (e.g. ADD), attitude, and other factors interfere.

Great coaches:

• Work to improve.
• Study the game - watching the game and video. 
• Connect. 
• Reflect on their performance, looking to improve. 
• Model excellence. 
• Stay positive even amidst struggles. 

Two or three points in one or two sets often decide victory. It's finding the difference makers - an extra block, dig, ace, or winner that does. 

There's a story about an Army soldier who walked around picking up papers, looking at each one, saying, "that's not it, that's not it." Eventually they took him to Medical and decided to separate him with a medical discharge. On his last day, they handed him his discharge paperwork, including his DD-214. He looked at it and said, "That's it." 

Exceptional coaches never stop looking.