On the State League side of things, last entry we were having a bad trot at Heidelberg being 3 and 3 at the half way point of the season. Well the next week this went to 3 wins and 4 losses with a five set loss to Southern Cross and we were sitting 3rd from the bottom I think. After that game we had a meeting and everyone had a chance to speak their mind, I really feel this was a catalyst for the form reversal that was about to happen. Aside from our talk we also decided to increase our training load in the run up to the finals, we went to Monday, Thursday and Friday night training with the game on Saturday afternoon. For the rest of the season we focused so strongly on our style of play, playing together as a tight unit and most importantly working really hard on the court. I have no doubt we play our best volleyball when we are feeling the stress of the game.
The next week we beat an under strength Falcons team 3-0 which started our run of being undefeated for the rest of the season and winning eight games consecutively including the top two teams twice each including finals. I feel so happy for the players for getting such an amazing comeback result from where we were. The comeback in the first final 0-2 down and five points down in the 3rd set was a testament to the belief the players have in each other and our system.
Well done boys you all deserve it and I hope the horrible fitness work I put you guys through not only throughout preseason but right up to the finals now feels totally worth it.
At St Michaels we took a good step forward in the volleyball program getting the year 8, year 9 and Open Boys (year 10-12) 1st and 3rd teams in the grand final. Unfortunately we only came away with 1 win from our finals but that was the Open boys 1st team beating Westbourne Grammar in five close sets. What made the win even more special was that during the season we played them twice and lost both times, 2-3 and 0-3. The 1st boys opted for a similar approach to what we did at Heidelberg, they requested more training to the Master of Sport so we started training Monday, playing Wednesday and training Thursday. From the start of the season to the end the boys totally changed their game, we worked very hard on positive speak and how we relate to each other on court. This really brought the boys together not only on court but off it.
In terms four and one it is girls’ volleyball at St Michaels and I hope we can have even better success with the girls program
I also took on the job of coaching the Billanook Open Boys Honours team at Victorian Schools Cup in August. While we only had a limited preparation for the event we did manage to go through undefeated and take out the Championship in a very close five set match with Eltham High School. Now we are looking towards National School Cup in December with the aim of winning that also. Unfortunately I only train the whole group once a week on Friday after school but the application and dedication from the boys is very impressive for a bunch of school kids.
With all the teams I have been coaching I have used a similar team idea. We talk about how we can relate positively to each other on court, look each other in the eye and expect others to do a great job. I am beginning believe it is not making errors that will lose a game of volleyball for a team, it’s how we react to those errors that really counts and that will eventually begin to decrease the amounts of errors made itself.