May We Please Leave a Court Up?
Fri Nov 20 10:28:00 -0500 2009
Over 20 years ago I was working with the University of Colorado program, working with several club teams to merge them into a single varsity program. In this process, I reached one of my top 10 goals in volleyball, that of having a single volleyball court always up for any level of play to… Read More
A Long Month of Champions
Sun Nov 15 22:13:00 -0500 2009
This is may be the best volleyball "month" in the year -- from late October in Wyoming to mid-December this year in Florida-- as some 49 states host district, regional and then final State High School Championships, while the NCAA and NAIA see their over 1,500… Read More
Tryouts and Our Deepest Fear
Wed Nov 11 08:32:00 -0500 2009
Tryouts can bring out our deep fears, as the talent pyramid begins its inexorable narrowing. From six elementary schools teams, to a couple or so junior high 7th grade teams. From the those junior highs to the one high school program, an onward into the college level. No athlete… Read More
Reflections on Open Gym
Mon Nov 09 11:54:00 -0500 2009
My son Cody is a senior at the oldest high school here in Colorado Springs. We decided together to start a volleyball club at his school this year, to help grow the boy's high school club program. He is also captaining the varsity lacrosse team again this spring, as an attackman, and by my… Read More
Reflections on Net Heights & Court Dimensions
Wed Nov 04 16:29:00 -0500 2009
I find it baffling that the coaches in our sport do not understand the importance of practicing OVER the net. We take 15 minutes to set up the net - then ignore it for half an hour, letting the players pepper in front of it, throwing balls from in front of it, and generally using it as a wall,… Read More
Happy Birthday Coach Wooden
Tue Oct 13 14:32:00 -0400 2009
I was fortunate in my beginning stages of coaching in the early 1970s to cross paths with Stew McDole of Graceland College (now University), where I was mentored by Stew and coaches like Chris McLaughlin and Carl McGown. We would work seven days a week doing summer camps, putting in… Read More
Tradition Never Graduates
Thu Oct 08 12:00:00 -0400 2009
I took a trip to Chicago this past weekend, missing my own kids' homecomings to attend one of my own - hoping in part to be there to take part in the 2016 celebration that wasn't to be. Volleyball in 2016 Rio will be very big - that city hosted the first FIVB World Championships of Beach… Read More
Learning the Game at 9,500 feet
Fri Sep 11 16:05:00 -0400 2009
I journeyed back to Aspen, Colorado, for the Motherlode doubles tourney over this past Labor Day weekend, a pilgrimage I have been taking for almost 40 years. It was 1974 when I drove my VW Squareback (now with 525,000 miles but restored and owned by my son Cody) up over the… Read More
Top Thirteen Recent New York Times S …
Tue Sep 01 14:32:00 -0400 2009
I had Nurture Shock on my next thing to blog about, but today a note from Carl McGown came in this morning with yet another New York Times article that is well worth reading and sharing. This one is about great footwork,… Read More
We Coach the Way We Were Coached
Wed Aug 26 15:08:00 -0400 2009
Each fall for high school, then later when Junior Olympic volleyball clubs begin, training takes place that shows that the science of our sport has not impacted the cultural traditions of this same sport. Well intentioned and even trained coaches enter gyms all over America, and… Read More
Paralympic Sports Clubs & Military Sports Programs
Mon Aug 10 18:02:00 -0400 2009
I traveled some this summer doing mostly weekend clinics around the USA primarily for coaches and PE teachers at the youth level. I journeyed from Lander, Wyoming, to Long Island, New York, and places like Phoenix for the newly relocated Volleyball Festival, and Atlanta for the Boy’s Jr.… Read More
Back to My Iowa Grassroots
Wed Jul 29 11:22:00 -0400 2009
I have come back to the place that my coaching of coach's journey really began, to a land where nighthawks cry at dusk. Indeed, the 17 year cicadas are now on their third generation since those times, and still vibrate out their amazingly loud ascending and descending song from… Read More
OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE
Mon Jul 20 16:39:00 -0400 2009
This is one of my favorite "words" ever, and given the economic situation impacting us all, leads us into the reason for this grow the game set of options - for I see things as now here, never nowhere...There has never been a better time to grow volleyball, as not only are we a sport for a… Read More
Landslide
Thu Jul 16 10:19:00 -0400 2009
What do Tori Amos, Smashing Pumpkins, Dixie Chicks, The Dance, and Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac all have in common? Whether acapella, acoustic guitar, solo piano, or more - each have sung the powerful song "Landslide" in a beautiful way, and those songs I have been playing over and over on my… Read More
More Volleyball From Vanuatu
Mon Jul 13 11:06:00 -0400 2009
Espiritu Santo...Wrecks to Rainforest -- Vanuatu, Discover untouched seclusion and beauty...that is what Carte de Luganville - the map of this town says.... To see and do here? World class diving, SS President Coolidge, Million Dollar Point, pristine coral reefs...game fishing....adventure… Read More
Beachroots Volleyball in Vanuatu
Thu Jul 09 13:38:00 -0400 2009
I have come back to where my grandfather, father and a guy named James Michener once travelled and worked. My grandfather John Fitzgerald, based out of the Tahiti, fighting to eradicate the dreaded Elephantiasis disease from all the thousands of islands, for the World Health… Read More
Ryan Millar, Olympic Gold Medal Setter….
Tue Jul 07 12:50:00 -0400 2009
Of late, one of my favorite "trivia" questions for volleyball coaches is who set the gold medal match point for the USA Men's team in Beijing? Most guess of course Lloy Ball, the four time Olympic setter who so skillfully bettered ball after ball and gave his hitters the sweet set they desired.… Read More
Joy in Volleyball
Fri Jul 03 05:00:00 -0400 2009
Today, the USA Junior Olympic Boys' Volleyball Championships…
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Volleyball and Fly Fishing
Wed Jul 01 16:58:00 -0400 2009
I got a new Orvis Helios 3wt recently. Made from the same carbon fiber they use on the Apache helicopters, it is feather light at 1.75 ounces total, and strong as heck, for casting into the afternoon winds along my favorite little streams. The science of technology amazes me, yet in our sport it… Read More
Father's Day and Volleyball
Fri Jun 26 11:21:00 -0400 2009
My father was my role model in countless ways, and I have done my best raising my kids as a single dad to follow in his World War II veteran footsteps. Fly Fishing, backpacking, skiing, and more, my kids have also done. It may also come as no surprise that both my kids love to play… Read More
Tennis Anyone?
Thu Jun 25 14:20:00 -0400 2009
Warming up on the beach with your partner has two very powerful messages that indoor players and coaches need to listen to so that more kids find success earlier in the challenges of our sport.
First is the tradition/culture of Dig/Pass-set-hit to warm up with.… Read More
Olympism and the New White House Off …
Wed Jun 17 16:52:00 -0400 2009
The White House yesterday announced the forming of the Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sports office. I sent out news of this last night to some friends and leaders with the correct phrasing in my opinion of the new formation of the Youth, Paralympic and Olympic Sports office. More than a few… Read More
The Loser's Club
Wed May 27 17:59:00 -0400 2009
The Loser's Club and Playing Blind
One of the things about YouTube is the way contests I would never have had the chance to "see" are now things I can enjoy and learn from. The clip below by a blind piano contestant, who just made the top 12 of this year's Van Cliburn, share today… Read More
The Talent Code – Deep Practice, Ign …
Thu May 14 13:45:00 -0400 2009
Sorry for the long break in postings - with two kids in teen sports (volleyball and lacrosse) both in state playoffs and finals almost upon us (and proms, who can forget THAT cultural right of passage...) and getting ready for the important USA Volleyball annual meetings, time to free range think… Read More
Stand By Me
Tue Apr 07 17:26:00 -0400 2009
Just back from National AAHPERD Convention, big success, thousands of PE teachers learning new ideas, and will share that in a separate blog. I spent most my time with the Brazilian Director of Coaching Education and another Brazilian coach, and got caught up in their samba… Read More
TED March Teaching Madness
Mon Mar 30 14:42:00 -0400 2009
Technology Education Design posted some very important clips this month, which I feel every leader growing our sport must view, to be both a better teacher, and to give you more energy to do the wonderful things each of you are doing in that task. Three different areas, all vitally… Read More
Disabled Sports and You
Wed Mar 18 18:22:00 -0400 2009
Today thru Sunday the USA Sitting Men and Women's teams will be training and competing at the Colorado Crossroads against Canada. Come by and meet these four wonderful teams if you are in Denver. This morning Fred Wendelboe, long time USAV leader, forwarded me a link to a great story about… Read MoreAppropriate Coaching
Wed Mar 18 12:46:00 -0400 2009
Appropriate coaching is an important part of being a good coach. Some thoughts about the use of running and other physical punishment follow. I will go back a bit in time to when the term coach was used to move VIPs, who could afford to ride, rather than walk or ride a horse, from one place to… Read More
National Conversations on Good Coaching
Mon Mar 09 11:03:00 -0400 2009
Almost a year ago, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA ), a Stanford University-based non-profit organization dedicated to transforming youth sports and USAV Affiliated Organization, joined with USA Volleyball and seven other of the nation's top youth sports groups -… Read More
The Tragedy of the Commons
Tue Mar 03 16:42:00 -0500 2009
I am starting with a look back into an article that remains timely in this day and age, Garret Hardin's 1968 piece called "The Tragedy of the Commons." Many decades ago, I graduated from Colorado College with a degree focusing on bionomics. My thesis," Towards a Resourced… Read MoreTo Sit or Stand During Matches?
Fri Feb 27 10:39:00 -0500 2009
This week I got an email from a coach, who asked a great question - sit or stand during match play? Bill, a coach in GEVA, and Peter, from the USOC who I collaborate a lot with on the science of volleyball, have kindly said I can use our email discussion in today's blog, so here goes:… Read MoreThe Art of Strategy
Wed Feb 18 16:07:00 -0500 2009
One of the things that I find fascinating is the "volleyball canyon" regarding the mental game. To read about more of these gaps between what the game itself contains, and what coaches train in practice,
Volleyball Stars to the End
Wed Feb 11 15:54:00 -0500 2009
As the volleyball family grows, so do the numbers of inspirational stories, and of tragic losses. This past week I have received three emails regarding the passing of talented Jr. Olympic volleyball players: One an accidental suicide, another who fought valiantly to the end with cancer, and… Read More
Ancora Imparo
Tue Feb 10 19:23:00 -0500 2009
Lately my former teammates from my Italian Pro League days in the early 1980s, have been resurfacing into my life through Facebook of all places. Paulo Rossi, my setter, is now a coach, Massimo Raffaldi, is a doctor, and Giuseppe Gallina - whose family owned the most delicious pastry stop… Read More
How to Make Coaches Great
Fri Feb 06 10:25:00 -0500 2009
One of the sites I frequent often is posting new videos this week, as the TED conference for 2009 is happening right now. Yesterday I was talking with Andy Pai from our Coaching Education Program department, and realized he did not know of this website, which I share at every CAP, IMPACT ,… Read More
The Magic Hockey Helmet and More
Mon Feb 02 13:02:00 -0500 2009
I spent over half an hour this morning on the phone with a parent, who had been ejected from his daughter’s 12-and-under volleyball tournament yesterday. He has a daughter who plays another sport, where referee heckling is part of the culture and he is struggling with learning the culture… Read More
How We Make Decisions
Fri Jan 30 16:28:00 -0500 2009
Most of you reading my work over the years understand the importance I place on improving the most important skill in our sport – reading. As in reading the opponent, anticipating, judging what is going on etc. Stu Sherman took me back over 20 years ago to when his brother Craig, on his way… Read More
John Kessel - Turning Five Medals in …
Mon Jan 26 12:28:00 -0500 2009
Greetings Volleyball Family - The tremendous success of our teams in Beijing, including the Paralympic Sitting Women's team winning a silver medal last month, now opens this chance to share ideas with everyone on growing our sport together. This weekend, the Youth & Junior Olympic Volleyball… Read MoreJohn Kessel - USOC Seminar on Develo …
Mon Jan 26 12:27:00 -0500 2009
Starting tomorrow, a USOC Seminar I have been looking forward to for months, is finally happening. Take a look at this schedule! For those who have taken IMPACT, the names Schmidt and Ericsson have been seen for over 20 years throughout the motor skill section of the manual. The title… Read More
John Kessel - Growing the Game in Oklahoma
Mon Jan 26 12:26:00 -0500 2009
Today's must read is by none other than Malcom Gladwell again - an excellent new article in the New Yorker on effective teaching and "predicting" success that you can access it
John Kessel - More Street Volleyball Please
Mon Jan 26 12:25:00 -0500 2009
Hanging out at this year's NCAA Volleyball Championships in chilly Omaha, Neb., one cannot help but be warmed by the wonderful hospitality of the Cornhusker Nation and Great Plains members. Wednesday night, thanks to Sue Mailhot, commissioner of this region &ndash - which leads all 40… Read More
John Kessel - Passion, Burnout and Teaching
Mon Jan 26 12:24:00 -0500 2009
I just watched a very powerful ESPN Outside the Lines story on a very special athlete, Elena Della Donne. I strongly urge all Junior Olympic volleyball directors and coaches to watch it, as well as read the story. It has three important threads woven together – burn… Read More
John Kessel - A Coaching Challenge and Reality
Mon Jan 26 12:23:00 -0500 2009
Just back from Milwaukee where over 60 coaches shared two full days of a CAP course. I got up at 3 am to catch a 6 am NW flight there and spent a very interesting part of Friday with the Badger Region Board of Directors and Junior Leaders, sharing ideas on growing the game…
Jenny… Read More
John Kessel - HP Clinic Lessons Shared
Mon Jan 26 10:57:00 -0500 2009
So we are in the fourth day of this year's USA Volleyball High Performance Coaches' Clinic and CAP I,II, III sessions here at the Olympic Training Center. Hugh McCutcheon, Tom Hogan and Peter Vint headline a group of our sport's most passionate people in presenting ideas to teach… Read More
John Kessel - The Leave a Ball Behin …
Fri Jan 16 18:11:00 -0500 2009
Today I packed up some volleyballs to send to the deserving programs of the Special Olympics in Jamaica and to coach Wiyaka Chasing Hawk, who is making volleyball happen for kids on the reservation at the Cheyenne River Project in Eagle Butte, S.D.
These donated balls came from the USA… Read More
John Kessel - Capitalization Rates, …
Tue Nov 18 13:35:36 -0500 2008
One of the first things that came out of our USOC conference for me was to hear from Dr. K Anders Ericsson that Malcom Gladwell was coming out with a new book. Sure enough, I went online and ordered Outliers, due out in a week. It will go along side his other GREAT reads titled – Tipping… Read More
John Kessel - IMPACT and Clinic Thoughts
Tue Nov 18 10:52:04 -0500 2008
Having just done three IMPACT Webinars and a clinic for the Columbia Empire Region, including watching Saturday nite's 6A Oregon State Championships Showdown between Jesuit and West Linn...some core thoughts come to mind with what I am sharing, and want to pass along to all.
My Top 3… Read More
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Blogger: John Kessel
John Kessel oversees grassroots development and disabled volleyball at USA Volleyball. Watch here for his blog on growing our sport.
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