We have a serious case of stir crazy going on in the house. It seems like it's taking forever for our first practice to get here, but I imagine in 3 months I'll remember this break fondly. They will practice Monday and Thursday from 7:45-9:30 and on Sunday's at a time TBD. Late practices are fine by me; no traffic to Bellevue. And even though there has been some concern from DD about missing FlashForward, Community, and The Office, we will survive thanks to TiVo. Coach said parents hanging out at practice was fine, so I'm happy about that. Do all clubs let parents hang at practice? I've never been one to idly sit by without giving 'advice' to Kate, but I'm really going to temper it now. I was the assistant coach in soccer so I had a fair amount of latitude when it came to suggesting how Kate did her job, but I won't have that latitude here. I think this is probably an important time in the father-daughter relationship. Criticizing and berating will do much harm. Being 100% supportive, listening, and letting her know that I am here if she wants to discuss her play will do much good. It's kind of up to her now. If she stays hungry and strives to work harder than anyone on the team, she will succeed. I want her to be extremely successful. I think she can be a really good player. But her success or lack thereof will never temper who she is to me. I do see great things in her, and I hope she goes for it.
One of the parents took the time to send out a roster already and has recruited some others to help with team stuff. A good omen; the parents on the soccer team were great. They worked behind the scenes on snacks and transportation and let the coaches coach. Sounds like we may have good parents on this team too. The roster listed one of the girls with a birth year of 1998 who went to Bellevue HS. I thought maybe we had an 11 year old club volleyball prodigy on board, but alas, it was a typo. The next big step is to come up with a team name. Has to be an animal and has to start with 'M'. My suggestion to Kate was the Maggots. I think it sounds scary. How would you like it if you had to face the Maggots in a tourney? Intimidation, right? Sadly, I think Kate will not bring my suggestion to the group. Look for Meerkats, Monarchs or Mermaids. Here are a few of my other suggestions: Millipedes, Mackerels, Midges, or Mastadons. Anyone can be a Meerkat. I will keep you posted!
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Ok. I'm officially obsessed. I look up your blog update before Prep?! And, today...I actually laughed out loud (in my office-by my self) for a good 2 minutes. Sad, I know.
ReplyDeleteHowever, YOU CRACK ME UP.
I vote for: Maggots. It's just wrong and funny to say. Don't be surprised if you wind up with:
Moxie Moles or Macaques (if some Mom goggles an animal). What about Moxie Monkeys?
Can't wait for Thursday's update.
Ok--tip. RESIST no matter how difficult the temptation...don't get up from your camper chair to 'shag' balls at practice. DON'T do it.............Unless you formerly played on the AVP tour, then it's cool.
SBL
LOL. It seems that most of my time being an assistant soccer coach was spent chasing soccer balls that were kicked over the goal and into the parking lot. Why should volleyball practice be any different? I'm sure I will do a post of parent practice etiquette after I've been to a few!
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest pet peaves is parents on the sideline yelling things to their kids trying to give "advice". Half the time (maybe more) the advice is plain wrong and usually the other half it is mostly wrong or just stupid. I have 37 years playing, coaching and being a volleyball parent. I sit there and cheer (or take stats or pictures) but I do not yell advice to anyone, especially my daughter (except under my breath).
ReplyDeleteThey are called "coaches" for a reason. We are called "parents" for a reason. I wish people would realize they are not synonyms.
A few years ago I attended a presentation at school. I don't remember who the speaker was, but their point was there are four "hats": player, coach, parent and ref. For any season you can choose, in advance, which hat to wear. You do not get to wear more than one hat. So, if you want to make line calls, become a parent. You want to coach, be a coach. But if you are a parent then you do not get to ref, coach or play. You get to cheer. That is your job and leave the other jobs to people wearing the other hats.
ReplyDeleteOne of my wife's favorite comments when I don't like a call is "What hat are you wearing?"
On the other hand, for middle school I wear the "coach" hat. I have to remember that I am not wearing the "parent" hat and that brings some interesting limitations also.
Oops, freudian slip in there. "So, if you want to make line calls, become a parent" should obviously, be "become a ref". What was I thinking?
ReplyDeleteI agree with that other "anonymous" poster. I have also added your blog to my favorites. I also love PirateVbFan's latest comments. Our DD's club team had a team meeting last night and much of what was said very much related to the very things addressed in PirateVbFan's post.
ReplyDeleteClub Volleyball Dad, keep up the good work!