Sunday, February 21, 2010
Good News-Bad News
The good news is that I am home in time to watch the USA-Canada Hockey game. The bad news is that we had Power League #2 today and it was a disaster. We were 1-3 in one of the lowest pools and it's plain that this team is not competitive with the other clubs in this region. I'm very glad now we did not agree to go to Spokane or Yakima or out of region tournaments because it would really be frustrating to spend that much money to see the girls just get slaughtered. I was fuming on the drive home in only a way that a parent can and trying to figure out what's wrong and what can be done to right the ship; of course, when I signed up for club volleyball as the dad, I made a mental note that I would not get confrontational and I will stick with that commitment...but between us parents, the coaching philosophy is starting to irritate like poison oak on flesh. As I was watching the pregame chat for the hockey game, one of the analysts was asked what the Americans needed to do to win. The other one responded "the coach needs to put his best players on the ice and not worry about bruised ego's." And then it struck me that we really need a coach that believes in that philosophy... but it aint gonna happen. The philosophy of this club is 'everyone plays' and that's great if you want the girls to have fun, but not great if you are trying to win. So I'll suck it up and just ride out this year as a learning experience. Kate played great, never missed even a single serve, and was a leader through and through. It was a beautiful day, Highline is not that bad with only 4 courts and we all will live to fight another day.
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I can understand your frustration, but let me offer a different perspective...
ReplyDeleteWould you be OK if your daughter had made one of teams where the coaches do only play the best players, and it was your daughter sitting the bench tournament after tournament with no significant playing time?
My daughter's first year in club ball she was placed on the top team in one of the top clubs in our region. We went to tryouts expecting that she would end up on a developmental level team because she had no real experience in volleyball, but she has a lot of height and natural athletic ability so she was bumped all the way up to the top team. Every other kid on that team had years of club experience, many had parents that had played volleyball in college, and the girls were really, really good. There were nine girls on the team, and watching the first practice, my daughter was clearly player #9.
Tournament after tournament she sat with 25% playing time or less. The team either won or came in second in nine tournaments that year. All those medals didn't make up for the fact that she didn't get a lot of time on the court. By the end of the season she did develop into one of the top players on the team, but it was unbelievably tough on her mentally to get to that point.
If we had to do that first year over again, we would have only allowed her to play on a developmental team with a philosophy of lots of playing time for all.
I know it is frustrating to have Kate on a developmental team, but if on the rides home you focus on how she did individually, and put aside the win/loss ratio, it will make for a much better ride! Some of my daughter's best playing days have been in tournaments where her team didn't even place. Next year when Kate moves up to a competitive team, there will be a whole other set of issues come up that may make you look back on the Moxie year as the "good old days."
LC
I know...and you are right. It is frustrating to see your team lose. Kate doesn't feel this way and it's wrong that I do...plus its making my blood pressure skyrocket. :) Time for an attitude change on my part...I just want Kate to have fun, get reps, build skills, and do her best. Now if I could only get out of the dog house for not buying the $32 SETTER sweatshirt that they had on sale at Highline!
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