Creating an "Alphabet Team"

-By Tom Houser

A Question For Coach Houser:

Hey Tom: As I said, I have some good news and
some bad news.  And, they're the same thing!  As
of Friday, I am the new head varsity coach for my
high school.  While I took on many of the "head
coach responsibilities" for the past couple of
years, it was never my show, and I had none of
the pressure on me.  And, unfortunately, our new
administration is dead set on winning.  I'd
rather have them look at success rather than
wins.   The team was 3-18 last year, and if they
start passing 3's and hitting near .400, and
finish 9-13 (we have a tough league), then it's a
huge gain from last year, but still not the
winning that the higher ups seem to want.

So, here's the question for you:   If you're
taking over a weak team, and their skills aren't
what you want, what do you do?  Basically, what
are your top 3 priorities in starting a program?
Do you concentrate on one skill, or an offense,
or just the basics?

Coach Houser's Reply:

Hey Coach! Thanks for sharing the good news that
you\'re now the head coach! And, I agree, the
pressure you sound like you\'re under can be bad
news!  No doubt!

Hey man, let\'s get busy!  I have a few comments and
questions for you.  Now, if you really want to
accept the job as the head coach with the
knowledge that the principal demands wins, then
that's your decision.  But I don't think I could
do it.  Dear Abby says, "No one can make you
miserable unless you allow them to do so."
Personally, I think you're setting yourself up
for just that--misery.  But it's up to you, dude.

PART I:  I\'d Have A Talk With The Powers That Be:
 

I guess what I'm saying is, I'd tell the AD
something like this:  \"Mr. Smith, I like to win
also.  But we're in a tough conference.  The team
was 3-18 last year.  I'm not a magician.  I can't
work miracles.  There is only one thing that I
can promise:  We WILL be an Alphabet Team:

* A: the kids will have great Attitudes;
* B: the kids will have a Blast;
* C: the kids will be Committed;
* D: the kids will display Discipline;

I can guarantee those things, and only those
things.  And those things may generate 3 or 4 or
5 more wins, but the \"Alphabet\" will only take us
so far.  Alphabet teams don\'t guarantee (i)
athletes who (ii) know the game.

Now, if you assume I have athletes who know the
game, then hey we may win 10 or 15!  But If we
don't have any of those kids to work with, then I
just don\'t see how we can have a great season
this coming fall.  That's the way it is for
bball, sball, fball, vball, and we all know that.
Do you still want me to coach?  If so, keep me
and praise me if I produce an Alphabet Team. 
Fire me if I don't produce an Alphabet Team.  But
don\'t fire me because I\'m not winning."

Now let's get down to what I'd do to improve the
program.

PART II:  THE PLAYERS' GOALS/DREAMS HAVE TO JIVE
WITH YOURS.  

This is really important, but I'm ashamed to say
that I've only discovered it the past couple of
years.  New coaches have to find out what their
team wants.  That may sound silly.  You may say,
"My team will conform to me."  But, if you expect
a high level of dedication (effort, hours in the
gym, respect, etc.) and the girls are only
willing to give you an average level, then I'm
afraid either you will quit the job eventually or
the girls will quit the team eventually.

Here\'s an example.  Last fall, I didn't decide to
make my team\'s first practices 2-a-days.  My team
did.   I said in June, "You have 3 weeks until
tryouts start.  If you have any objections to
2-a-days, email me within the next 2 weeks.\"

I sent the parents a note AND an email with the
same info.  I got ZERO concerns/complaints.  WOW!
So I knew everyone was on board, I knew the
girls wouldn't be skipping and the parents
wouldn't be complaining. 

Next, in a really secret ballot, I asked
the girls the following questions.  I told them
to answer them truthfully, because how they answered
them would determine how I coached them! 

1)  How much do you like to compete/win?  Answer
with a number 1 through 10.  A "1" means you hate
it and you wish score wasn't even kept.  Put a "5"
if you don\'t care.  Put a "10" if you like to win
at everything, even when you play grandma in
checkers, or a little nephew in Old Maid.

2) How dedicated are you when you commit to
something.  "1" means......."5" means......"10"
means..........

3) How much are you willing to sacrifice for
something that you are dedicated to?  "1"
means........."5" means......."10" means..........

Coach, the average answer to each of these three
questions was above 8.5!!   I reported that fact
to them the next day on big sheets of poster
board that were taped to the gym walls!  They
were excited!!   Their response?   \"See?  we told
you Coach Houser that we care!"  "This is so so
cool!!"  "We're going to have a great season!!
etc. 

I told them later that I didn't want to waste
time trying to sqeeze water from a dry towel.  So
I had to know "how much water was in their
towel"!!  And after the 8.5's, I could see there
was plenty of water!!

PART III:  YOU MUST BELIEVE IN THE FOUR PRACTICE
PRIORITIES! I\'ve told you about the team that
went from 1-13 to 9-9?  These are the four areas
of concentration!

a) BALL CONTROL

b) OFFENSE/DEFENSE/TRANSITION

b) MAKING OUTSTANDING EFFORT A HABIT

c) GETTING RID OF THE LOSING ATTITUDE

a) BALL CONTROL:

In order for my team to be able to play at even
a decent level, we had to be able to serve
receive, serve and set.  I put hitting in the
back seat and I put blocking in the trunk!! 

We passed frees, passed serves, dug spikes.....

* Some drills were timed;
* Some were competitive;
* Some had rewards, some had penalties;
* Some had goals.

But we focused 40% of our practice every day on
ball control, regardless of the team who just
beat us or the team we were going to play.  Why?
Nothing else matters in basketball if you can't
dribble and pass and defend.  Nothing else
matters in baseball if you can't pitch, catch and
play defense. 

b) OFFENSE/DEFENSE/TRANSITION:

But I think this is a close 2nd place to ball control.
In other words, passable balls end up as aces if the
girls don't know who should take the ball.  Settable
balls end up on the floor if your setter doesn't
have adequate instruction.

So we did the following: 

Serve Receive:  After only a few years of
coaching, I got so so tired of saying (and
hearing) "Call it!!  Call it!  Who wants it?
Someone get it" etc., that I took upon myself to
create my own serve reception team RULES!  
"This person passes this zone,
period.......PERIOD!!  You know it's yours if
it's (whatever you want to say!).   Now, this
person passes this zone, period.........PERIOD!!
You know it's yours if (whatever your want to
say)."

Free Balls:  I did the same thing.

Digging the Attack:  I did the same thing. 

All this took a while for the girls to get used
to.  Day after day they heard me say, "Remember,
that's your ball, not it\'s not yours."  I gave
written quizzes on it, I questioned them on it, I
stopped a drill and made the girls go through all
the variations:  "Hmmmmm..  That ball should have
been dug.  These 6 girls, ready?  Go to base.
Ok.  Double block right.  OK.  base.  ok.  Single
block middle.  Ok.  Free.  Ok.  Ok, back to the
drill."    For example, we'd run a drill that
required the players to attack on the 3rd hit
on 6 of the next 12 serves or we\'d have \"Dig
the Coach" drills, or "The Pit" drills, etc.
Just make 'em up!

Setters:  About twice a week during tryouts and
preseason, we'd have setter clinics before or
after practice for 45 minutes.  We'd go over hand
position, footwork, talking, what to do if you
have to take the first hit, leadership, dumping,
etc.

Stations:  DURING practice we'd go to stations
about once a week.   MB's over there, OH's over
there, setters/opposites over there. 

c) EFFORT:

"There may be more teams with more skill than us,
but there will no team with more heart than us."

It's maximum effort all the time.  \"Girls,
practice doesn't last 4 hours.  It only last 1.5
or 2 or 2.5.  So you will give me all you have
during that time.  That's my rule.  There can be
no slacking off.  I won't allow it. You agreed to
this, remember?  You were a 9.1, remember?  OK,
let's GO!!\"

The second worst thing a person on my team can
hear me say is, "That's not enough effort," because
she knows that she's either going to be kicked
out of the drill, she's going to get a private
chat, she's going to be taken out of the game,
etc.   (By the way, the absolute worst thing is:
"You've disrupted the team.\")

d) GETTING RID OF THE LOSING ATTITUDE:

There are many ways to do this, but don't forget
creative scheduling!!  Find a few poor/weak teams.
Schedule them, even if it means Saturday night
matches, Friday night matches, Labor Day matches,
etc.   Add wins onto your final record TO ENSURE
the girls feel good.  If you don't know young
athletes very well, the final record is EXTREMELY
important to them.  EXTREMELY.  Nine wins was a
miracle to my girls.  But to be honest, the only
reason we finished 9-9 was because I emailed a team
who was just starting a program.  We played them
and beat them easily.  You may think that's
cheap, but going 3-18 is a very difficult season
to endure.  I will do nearly ANYTHING to avoid
it.  When I was at the inner city school, we
scheduled some local private schools as
"scrimmages," so every girl could get playing
time.  Well, we "won" both scrimmage 2 games to
1, so we counted them as WINS!  We finished the
year 4-14.  The previous year, so many girls
quit, the team was disbanded.  So four wins was
considered remarkable.  

Tom Houser
Head Coach, Roanoke 15N, JOVC Participant
Director, STAR Volleyball Camps