Q: How was the trip? What did you learn from this experience?
A: The trip was absolutely amazing. I have traveled to a lot of different places; however, China is one of the most foreign of them all. I think the amazing part is being engrossed in a completely different culture and experiencing it from the inside. We had a Beijing native as our host who lives and coaches in the U.S. but is very much rooted in China.
We experienced China through his eyes, which was a new way of travel for the entire U.S. delegation. Our itinerary changed from one hour to the next and getting clear translations was sometimes difficult. I think these are the instances, though, that add value and excitement to a trip like this. You just learn to go with the flow.
I definitely learned from a volleyball perspective that we are training the right things here at UH. I observed a lot of commonalities from both the Chinese coaches and the USA coaches in ways that we train our teams. So with that thought, I picked up some new ways to train the same things we currently train. It is always refreshing to find some new spice or new energy in which to present the same old philosophy to your team. Specifically for me, I found new concepts on training the libero.
As you know, I served as the assistant coach for the USA Development Team. From an experience like this, as a head coach, you learn to observe more then what you are accustomed to. We spend so much time talking and running the show. It was an interesting perspective for me to take the second seat as the assistant. I relearned to watch the game from a different view. In the international game, only the head coach can stand. The assistants must stay seated the entire match. I am a mover when I am coaching – up and down the sideline, back and forth from the court.
Oddly enough, it was nice to take a seat and observe all that was happening within the match. I learned a lot from the interaction the Chinese coaches were giving their players. I could see this even with the language barrier. I believe the second piece to the learning is watching collegiate American players learn to adapt to the international game or not adapt at all.
In watching, I found myself reevaluating my own team and wondering who could step up to this competition and just be an athlete. In the international game, those who are good within their collegiate programs and not always good at adapting. This observation gave me some good, new ideas for our preseason training camp.
Q: What was it like having such a short period of time to get to know new players and then traveling to foreign country?
A: The short period of time was probably more difficult for the players. There was no time to acclimate. When we started our training in Anaheim, the competition was immediately on for our team. We had three practices in two days to determine who would make the starting lineup. One bad practice or slowly warming up to the dynamics of the team could put you at a major disadvantage. For the coaches, getting to know them in a short period of time meant putting them in competitive drills and noting who came out on top consistently.
As time passed on the trip, we had more opportunities to get to know each player on a personal level. The meaningful part for me was giving information, new or old or reiterated in a different way, to a player and helping her game improve. Sometimes hearing the same piece of information but in a different way can turn the light bulb on for players. I also enjoyed hearing about each one’s individual college experience and how it either differed or compared to what we are doing at UH.
Q: What was the competition like?
A: The competition was very good. The difference for the most part is the Chinese players’ ability to be more than one-dimensional. We get into a habit in the USA of pigeonholing kids into one particular role or position. The players we played against could do several skills well, not just those particular to their positions. I believe the serving was much tougher as well. If we struggled with anything, it was passing consistently every single set.
They definitely put us at a disadvantage with incredibly tough serving. The higher level teams that we played, had a much better knowledge of the game. If we took away one shot with the block, their attacked would hammer the ball the opposite way. It was apparent these kids had played volleyball for a long time. The competition was great for us.
Q: How big of an adjustment was it to go over there and have to immediately have to adjust to the time difference and get to work?
A: I think getting there is a little easier because of the excitement of being in a new place. When we finally arrived after such a long trip, the entire delegation was ready to just get to doing something. Playing volleyball was great and got us moving. I think Tim Kelly, who led our delegation, did a great job preparing the players as well. They knew they were coming to represent U.S.
They were ready to do so by playing some competitive volleyball. Several days into the trip proved to be a little more difficult. I would say even more so as we neared the end of the trip. I think the main reason being adjustments to food or should I say lack thereof. Several of the players were not feeling great a few days in just because of the digestive reasons. Once you get seven, eight, ten days into a trip like this one, the foreign part starts getting to you a bit. They all handled the traveling and playing extremely well.
Q: Did you get any free time in China? What was your favorite part of the trip?
A: My most favorite part of the trip was playing in front of 3000 people in Weifang for three nights straight. I have played in front of big crowds before, but I do believe this was the biggest. We were like superstars to this town and the university. The arena was amazing and the crowd was one hundred percent into the matches. The atmosphere was very fun for the players too. Most of them had not had an experience like this one in their collegiate careers.
I do absolutely love The Great Wall. To experience such a place is hard to describe. The feeling is almost one of disbelief that you could be standing on such a piece of great history. I LOVE history. We also visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. All fascinating places and each with such stories to tell. I would still put my vote for The Great Wall. Above the sightseeing, I think my favorite part of the trip was watching, and at times fearing for my life, the movement of traffic. You have never seen such a sight of cars, buses, scooters, bikes, pedestrians, rickshaws, mopeds, etc. executing such intricate paths on the streets all at one time, with what seems to be NO TRAFFIC LAWS.
I’m pretty sure red lights do not necessarily mean stop. There is no stopping when turning right on red. At any given time, traffic can come from all four, five, six directions in an intersection. It was crazy but absolutely hysterical as well. Everyone seemed to know exactly what was going on navigating those streets in what appeared to be complete chaos.
Q: What are you looking forward to doing for the rest of the summer?
A: I am mostly looking forward to finishing the plans for our upcoming 2011 fall season. I cannot even tell you how excited I am to get back to my own team and my own staff. We have so much to accomplish. Organizing our preseason training camp is so much fun for me. The team is excited as well so that energy encourages everyone within the program to work hard.
I am also looking forward to taking the A2 Junior National Team to England, Croatia, and Italy in July to play in the European Global Challenge. We will run a training camp and play some matches with the Great Britain National Team for a few days at the beginning of the trip. We then travel to Pula, Croatia where the actual tournament will take place. We then fly out of Venice and have a day to visit the city. This will be an amazing trip! I have never been to Croatia so I am really looking forward to visiting a new beautiful country.
