MVB Diehard Jeopardy

How long have you been an MVB fan? Here's a good test. 

Online Jeopardy Maker - JeopardyLabs!

Let's See How Far We've Come - Banquet Preview Post from 2007

 Post from 2007 for MVB diehards. 

Questions to Ask to Change Your Game

Alabama football coach Nick Saban tells players to focus on two things - do the things necessary to be successful and avoid doing the things that prevent success. That's a tall order for most players. 

These are questions that players should ask. 

1. What did Gia Vlajkovic and Sadie Jaggers do to change positions and perform at a high level? 

2. "Every day is player development day." What are you doing today to improve your skill, athleticism, physicality, or resilience? 

3. Can I find a teammate to share workouts to elevate both of our games and drag us into the top ten percent of players? 

4. Am I coasting through off-season workouts or giving maximum effort? How you do anything is how you do everything. 

5. Have I found a mentor? "Mentoring is the only shortcut to success." Ask your coaches what you need to do. 

6. What's my long-term personal development plan. Have I written it down?

7. Can I be a better teammate? Encouraging and energizing others comes back to us. 

8. What is the volleyball skill that gets and keeps me on the court? 

9. Teams that win championships ordinarily have three dynamic hitters. Who plans to step up and assume those roles? 

10.Am I tracking progress? There is ALWAYS room for improvement. Add to your game with front row players being able to set each other, get more setter dumps, improve service and platform skills. 

11.Do I utilize cellphone video and game video to study the details? What's your runup as a hitter? How can I close the double block better? Where is my 'contact point' on attacks? A low contact point over the net means getting blocked a lot, even if tall. 

12.What's my strength and conditioning plan? I suggest reviewing James Clear's Atomic Habits. Commit to a habit, do it regularly, and monitor. I call that PICK, STICK, and CHECK. "Don't miss twice." 

From the summary linked above:

The Book in Three Sentences

1. An atomic habit is a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but is also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth.
2. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
3. Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years.

The Five Big Ideas

1. Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.
2. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
3. The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.
4. The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.
5. Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.   

Lagniappe. Start with light weights. Always be stretched out. 

The best MVB players have done more to grow their skill, game understanding, and athleticism. "The extra mile is the one least traveled." 

Lagniappe 2. Start with Jason Selk's "Identity statement" and "Performance statement." 

For example say, "I am a dominant outside hitter with great fundamental attack and power."

Then add, "This is what I do to develop, monitor, and maintain my skillset." 

MVB All-State Photos

 Courtesy Melrose Volleyball Facebook page.

MAVCA All-State Showcase

Sadie Jaggers headlined Middlesex League All-State selectees at the MAVCA Showcase in Westborough.

 

MAVCA All-Star Showcase

Senior Sadie Jaggers and Coach Scott Celli at the MAVCA All-Star Showcase.

Alumna Followup - Chloe Gentile, Melrose Class of 2023

Chloe Gentile completed her freshman season at Trinity in Hartford, CT. The 6'0" middle helped her club to a 15-8 record. 

She had a season high of four kills at Wesleyan and three blocks versus Smith. 

Here is her Trinity full biography. 

While at Melrose she was a multiyear captain, helping to lead the 2021 and 2022 teams to consecutive MIAA Division 2 Sectional titles. She was an ML12 All-Star, and earned the prestigious "Coaches Award" for overall program contributions on multiple occasions. 

Previewing the MVB Banquet, Savor It

December 7th will be the last time some of you gather for a long time. Savor it. 

Remember that MVB readers recently learned a new word, "MUDITA." Think, "your joy is my joy." 

Here are my favorite parts of the annual event. 

1. Team sports are about relationships. Over twenty years ago, volleyball was a novelty in our home. MVB became part of the fabric of our community. Even locals who know little about the sport know about MVB. In some ways it's like an old television show, "Cheers," where 'everyone knows your name.' The banquet renews relationships, as spring reaffirms rebirth. 

2. It's about the culture. The banquet celebrates culture. MVB has its rites. Summer camps, fundraisers, lollipops, "Who Let the Dogs Out," and the warm up music weave and sustain the culture. "Anyone, anywhere, anytime" applies as Melrose scheduled the newly minted State Champions in D1 and D2 and the semifinalist Frontier in D4. As Jon Bovi sings in Just Older, "You can't win until you're not afraid to lose." 

3. Season recap. Coach Scott Celli summarizes the season. It's a celebration not a postmortem. The blend of veterans, eager new arrivals, and 'competitive cauldron' brew successful season after season. Be confident in your success. 

Confidence balances arrogance and doubt. In 2006, Melrose basketball faced off against Masco at Tsongas in a Sectional battle of 22-0 unbeatens. I asked a player when she knew they would win. She said, "in the tunnel before the game. We danced to the music; they were shaking." 

4. "This is not a union job." In the book, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches," we learn the culture and currency of the dominant plains tribe. Your horses reflected your power and wealth. You got your first horse at about age four. A great chief would control up to 1,500. After each MVB season, you're back to your first horse, learning the intricacies of horsemanship. 

Nobody "owns" a position. Your coaches give you tools. Coach Celli explains that he plays those who give the team the best chance to succeed. Victora Crovo as a freshman was the best player on the floor in the sectional title loss. Ruth Breen rose from back up to senior setter on a sectional champion. Gia Vlajkovic and Sadie Jaggers changed positions between junior and senior seasons. 

Your decisions define your destiny.

 

5. "Tradition never graduates." Coach Celli explains the leadership selection process. It's rigorous, thoughtful, and it works. "Attitude reflects leadership" and the leadership will always be there. As successful as this past season was, next season could be even more. 

Anticipate the gathering and savor the moment.

Lagniappe. "Be so good they can't forget you." James Clear (Atomic Habits) advises us to align our behaviors and our habits with whom we desire to be. Empower yourselves with confidence.

Write down your successes. Control a positive narrative. Find role models, especially women. Have elite attitude, values, and character.

1. "Count yourself in." 

2. "Give yourself 20 seconds of courage."

3. "Take a seat at the table."

4. "Cheer for other people's success." (Don't pull up the ladder.)

5. "Confidence is born in all we've achieved."

6. "Celebrate constantly."

  

“Be

soC

good they won’t forget you!”“B“Be so good they won’t forget you!”e so good they won’t forget you!”

A Few Suggestions to Think Better...and a Batter Bonus

I'll work on the presumption that we achieve better results with better process.

Our primary "processor" is our brain, fast, vast storage capacity, and portable. The problem is our potential for error, partly by "heuristic" back-of-the-envelope calculations and overdependence on reflexive (fast) rather than reflective (slow, deep) thinking. 

When a speeding car races at us, we use reflexive thinking. To plan sport-specific training and education, we outperform using reflective thinking. That includes some understanding of mental models, cognitive biases, and habits. 

I'm not telling you what to believe but rather suggest we all do better asking, "is that true" and "what is the quality of that information?"

1. Reading. Invest time in reading and learning how to learn. You might think, "I was too busy in school to think about learning." Truth? 

2. Thinking time. Whether you read Adam Grant's "Think Again" and have a rethinking scorecard or not, taking even a few minutes a day to ask "what did I learn today and how can I apply it" might pay dividends. 

3. Mental models are thinking tools. Here are a few quick ones:

• Circle of competence. Our circle is a smaller circle within 'what there is to know'. I am not knowledgable enough about volleyball to coach. 
• Inversion. What would it mean if the opposite of what I'm proposing to do is true? It's not the quick, "I wonder, what if, let's try" that works on Sesame Street. 
• Sample size. "I went to Rochester, NY in February 1977 and it was snowing and ten below zero." Rochester is nasty.  

4. Cognitive biases often distort our thinking. 

• Confirmation bias. We read literature or opinions that agree with our existing beliefs. "The world is flat." If we look at a photograph of windmills at sea (below), we see that cannot be true. 
• Endowment bias. Because we 'own it', it's better. "My dog's better than your dog." My kid's smarter, better, handsomer than yours. 
• Loss aversion. We dislike and feel pain from loss than we do from gain, so that alters our risk-taking and sporting behavior. 

5. Blind acceptance. We're 'wired' to believe what we see and hear. That's why magic holds fascination and why disinformation or plain 'repeated lying' changes what we believe. Vaccines are dangerous and no good. Do you remember that time when your family had polio? No, because vaccines for polio, developed in the 1950s, helped nearly eradicate it. 

Challenge ourselves to think better and apply to your volleyball experience. 

Lagniappe. MasterClass cinnamon sugar pancakes

Or breakfast for dinner with a cheeseburger pancake with pickles inside...

Grace Gentile Commits to Emmanuel

Middlesex League All-Star, Melrose tri-captain, libero Grace Gentile commits to play volleyball at Emmanuel College. Her sister Chloe currently is a freshman playing at Trinity.

Grace had an excellent season as the backbone of the back line defense and helped Melrose to its third consecutive sectional final. She had especially strong outings in a couple of big games against Burlington and Billerica.

Congratulations, Grace!  

The Champion Is Westborough

Westborough claimed consecutive titles with a 25-15, 25-13, 25-23 win over Canton in the Division 2 State Championship. Canton rallied from a 23-19 deficit in the third to make it close but an Anderson spike ended the Bulldogs' title quest. 

Certainly a heavy dose of Quinn Anderson was the key ingredient, but Westborough's maturity and poise weren't all about Anderson.

The Rangers got excellent setting and leveraged height to contain Jess Wright's attacks. 

Congratulations to Westborough the deserving champion. 

Water-Resistant

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast."

Few cultures are 'waterproof' but excellent ones are water-resistant. Only the players and coaches understand the circumstances at practice, in the locker room, on the bus, and surrounding the team ecosystem.

Outsiders make inferences based on what we see. I see passion on the sidelines from players who aren't always in the game. That's compelling evidence of 'water-resistant' culture.

If a player is a reserve and unhappy when the team does well, that's a sign they need work on attitude. 

10 characteristics to evaluate your culture

1. Player interaction in the locker room, after & before practices/games

2. Player interaction away from 🏀 (includes off season)

3. Player effort & enthusiasm at practice

4. Engagement of players on the bench during the game

— Matt Hackenberg (@CoachHackGO) November 17, 2023

Unrequired

"Champions do extra," writes James Kerr in Legacy about the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team. Exceptional means doing the 'unrequired' work. 

Success demands more - more attention, more work, more sacrifice. Coach Sonny Lane reminded us over and over, "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." 

“Be driven by the work, not the reward”

(Via @TeamCoachBuzz 🎥)

pic.twitter.com/z3coMb06go

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) November 17, 2023

Your work, combining attitudes, choices, and effort, defines you. 

You Don't Need an Expensive Gym Membership to Work on Your Physicality

Just as you develop your study habits, you develop your workouts. 

Curious how you can add stuff like this to YOUR upper body training?

Want insight on how we program some of this?

Want your upper training to be more than just heavy lifts?

Want to build upper power?

Get a FREE off-season upper sample here: https://t.co/KMFl5XZzyt pic.twitter.com/gXq7jnodas

— Gerry DeFilippo (@Challenger_ST) November 17, 2023

Here's a link to an older New York Times article on 'body weight exercises'.

Nothing works unless you do. 

Get your personal calendar and put a big 'X' through every day you work out. It won't be hard to see who gets more court time. 

Taking It to the Next Level

Celtics GM and former coach Brad Stevens asks the key question, "what does my team need now?"

The 2023 season is in the rearview mirror. Top players completed their careers; opportunities arise for others to rise. 

In Above the Line, coach Urban Meyer talks about the difficulty of achieving 'escape velocity'. You don't want to live along Mediocrity Row. Melrose first escaped mediocrity in 2003 with its first sectional title. Don't go back. 

Multiple programs are on the rise in the Middlesex League. Wakefield will be better. Woburn was young and will improve. Burlington made it to the Final Eight. Winchester and Belmont are established programs. Melrose returns experienced player along the front and the back lines. 

It won't be easier along the way. Newton North had a freshman setter. Canton has a sophomore setter with over 1,000 assists already. 

At the banquet, Coach Scott Celli always emphasizes that every job is open. This is not a union job. There is no seniority system. If you're the best at a position, you play, freshman or senior. 

Ask yourself, "what is my MVB varsity skill?" In 2005, Michelle Foley earned time as a designated server. In 2012, Cassidy Barbaro's serving proficiency helped win a state title. Leah Fowke's primary role in 2022 was serving. This year, she emerged as a full time setter... #3 among Massachusetts juniors in assists, #4 among Division 2 setters in assists, #1 among ML12 players. 

That's seizing your opportunity. 

Last year a parent asked what a player has to do to play all-around like Elena Soukos in 2021 and Gia Vlajkovic in 2022? Impact winning when playing in both the front and the back row. Maybe someone emerges with the size, athleticism, and talent in 2024. Maybe not. 

 

Old Picture - Two Underrated Players

 

Two of these players from 2004 (Amanda Hallett, left, Kerry Dillon, right) were highly underrated.

I didn't know much about volleyball then. Amanda was a setter who whirled around the court like R2D2. Kerry was a libero who had a great career. The twins in the middle were also pretty good. 

And yes, the old photo was partly torn. 

Gender Bias and Sport

You might call it "male privilege." Society doesn't see women and men as equals and women in sport often get devalued.  

Post by @adamgrant

View on Threads

The only way we correct bias is to become conscious of it. If I say "sports star" and your mental picture is a football player, that's 'unconscious bias'.

Coaches help take local athletes where they cannot go alone. Players like Cecilia Kay leveraged size and athleticism with elite work ethic to achieve.

Be seen, be heard, and be valued.  

Variety Is the Spice of Training

Build explosiveness. Develop your own routine to raise your quickness, lateral movement, and jumping ability.  

8 ways to add some diversity to your box jumps

1. Quadruple pogo to box jump
2. Half-kneel to SL landing
3. Lateral half kneel to bilateral landing
4. Pulse to box jump
5. Forward to lateral to box jump
6. Reverse pogo to rotational jump
7. Lateral to box jump
8. Skater to box… pic.twitter.com/TCaDnMx0HO

— Gerry DeFilippo (@Challenger_ST) November 16, 2023

Your athleticism allows you to execute vital skills.  

Leaving Our Comfort Zone

There's value to "leaving your comfort zone." Whether it's school, sports, job training, the military, or professional training, trainers routinely demand change for our good or the well-being of the organization. 

Yes, 'egocentric' attitudes are expected. "I don't think that's good for me."

Rarely, 'idiosyncratic' approaches replace conventional wisdom. 

 

An anecdote suffices - a little girl watched a woman mogul skier go down the hill. She told her, "I love how you ski... you never fall." The skier realized she was being too cautious, holding back, and developed a more aggressive style...and became a champion. 

To perform at a high level in a big moment, you have to develop mentally and execute at practice day after day. Practice has to translate into game action. 

Lagniappe. 

Coaches often tell players who don’t play much or at all, to “keep working; your time will come” & it will. Usually when you least expect it. So players, when your number is called you better be ready. Keep putting in the work! You can’t cheat the process. It takes what it takes!

— Jon Beck (@CoachJonBeck) November 16, 2023

The tall freshman got a surprise call to the middle during the game at Winchester. She helped spur a second set Melrose win in the game although Winchester claimed a 3-1 victory. That Melrose team went to the State Finals before yielding to Westborough. Her name? Emily Hudson, on the career kills lists and All-State in 2020-21 pandemic spring season. 

 

Being Professional

Matt Painter on what he excepts from his players who aren’t getting a lot of minutes

"I don't want them to be happy, but be professional. When you get mad and stew, when you get your opportunity you won't do as well"

(Via @Rick_Sports10 🎥)

pic.twitter.com/WvyL5ipsfW

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) November 15, 2023

"Do more to become more; become more to do more."

Coaches want players to be mature, to become 'professional'? A player might respond, "I'm sixteen years old. How can I be professional?"

• Take care of business at home. Be responsible to your family as they support your journey.
• Achieve academically. I don't mean 'show up'. Shine. 
• Always be on time. 
• Never be a distraction. 
• Be coachable. 
• Be a great teammate. 
• Model excellence. 
• Make everyone around you better. 
• Be the hardest worker at practice.  
• Put the team first. 
• "Always do your best." 

I'm proud to have coached Sadie Jaggers as a young basketball player and to see the person and athlete she has become. 

And I'm proud to have her former teammate Cecilia Kay sign her National Letter of Intent today to play at American University. 

Both embodied the attitude, belief, and character needed for success. They and their families deserve the credit. 

When you coach, your family never stops growing.