Episode Three

Third tournament.

Third time where I'm hitting my head against a brick wall.

I've come to understand something that my coaches have said in the past. Something that my father ingrained into my head from an early age up until...well until now. Listening is a skill.

I first really understood this phrase when I was in 12 or 13. I was at a basketball camp where we not only learned techniques to make us better, but philosophy, and morals to make us better players and better people. Pretty heavy stuff for kids that aren't even in high school yet, but at the same time it is a moment and a camp that I will never forget.

"The difference between hearing and listening is the same as glancing and looking. When we glance we just see the big picture with one or two details. When we look we see the big picture with all the details. When we hear we catch the important parts without understanding the meaning. When we listen we hear the important parts and actively understand the meaning."

Heavy stuff.

Every practice I've been stressing the importance of talking, cheering, making any kind of noise on the court. I'd be happy if I heard one of the girls shout "Hamster!" It got to the point where at last practice I divided punishments up by the time in practice. If the player contacts the ball without saying anything in the first third of practice they had to do five diamond push-ups. If the same thing happens in the second third of practice the punishment increases, five diamonds plus sidelines while play continues. If the same mistake happens in the last third of practice the whole team gets punished, they all have five diamonds and sidelines and play stops.

I continued the punishments through our last tournament and the girls knew it. Things were better, for a while. If you extrapolate three contacts per point, 45 points per set, two sets per match. You get 270 opportunities to talk, to say anything. We passed up on 41. All in all that's pretty good.

But think about it this way. Every time "we" don't talk "we" loose the point. That's 41 points. To draw an analogy from another sport. Not talking in volleyball is the same as missing a shot at the charity stripe. It's easy, and should be routine.

So. 205 diamond push-ups.

If the girls weren't mad enough about losing - still taking fourth place, but losing to get it - they were furious about the push-ups. All I said when they kept whining, "That's not fair" was "Then maybe you should have talked during the tournament." I had and have no sympathy. I told them before we started playing, "Sunday night at practice you owe me for all of the times you didn't talk on the court. As a team. Everyone pays for one person's mistake."

Tonight, I was foiled. Three girls showed up. Two were sick, one was coming back from Minnesota with her Show Choir (second tournament she's missed along with the 8th practice. Guess who's questioning her commitment to club volleyball? ME!) one was coming back from a ski-trip, the last one I have no idea where she was, or why she wasn't at practice.

Because of coach not knowing from the girl about three of the absences the team gets their punishment from the tournament pushed to Tuesday. The girls that were here tonight don't have to do as many. Because I'm gonna double it. 410 total. Plus the normal punishment for not telling the coach about missing a practice which is the dreaded 10 ball. They way I'm thinking right now, which is much calmer than I have been, is that that the whole team is gonna do 10 ball. Encourages movement, and the count starts over when you don't call the ball. I've already thrown out one of the rules because we aren't good enough where the count resets when you miss one. I hated 10 ball.

I don't know. Any advice on expressing the Listening is a skill idea to my team? I can only say it so many times before I go further insane.


Grrr. Arrgh.
Buck.